RSP Profile

• Robinson Sewell Partners (RSP) is an independent finance credit advisory business located in NSW, Tasmania and South Australia but also servicing QLD and Victoria.
• RSP’s clients tend to be geographically remote, have limited accessibility to professional services, operate sophisticated businesses with substantial assets under management and time challenged.
• RSP assists agribusiness’ in procuring funding solutions to increase productivity, invest in expansion, and drive profitability through strategic financial restructuring, renegotiating, and refinancing their funding platform (for succession) with Australia’s traditional retail banks.
• RSP leverage off their extensive banking experience and intellectual property to construct, present, and negotiate a client’s funding requirements by a formal tender process.
• RSP’s success is measured on procuring improved cost of funds, providing additional liquidity, improved terms, flexibility and transactional capabilities for their clients.

In Brief

Ian Robinson and Brad Sewell founded the business from the distinct recognition that there was a latent demand for specialised and professional credit advisory services for agribusiness in regional and rural Australia.  The Australian banking system has extended $65 billion to Australian agribusiness alone, yet these businesses operate in remote areas without access to specialised services.  Operating from within the banking system, Ian and Brad continually witnessed that the quality of credit submissions from agribusiness clients were compromising their ability to access credit on the best available terms.  There is a broad chasm in the knowledge gap between client and bank.  RSP close that gap to the benefit of their agribusiness clients.

Brad Sewell and Ian started the business in October 2010 from inception and located their offices in Wagga and Dubbo NSW.  They were both career senior ex-bankers and very experienced with regards to the functional side of the credit advisory delivery.  However, stepping out of the well-resourced framework of the Australian corporate banks, they had to develop a business model to provide structure and protocols to deliver their service to the market.  They invested heavily into their business plan, budgets, strategic initiatives, value propositions and execution platform.   There were no industry mentors to draw upon.

Initially, there was no market awareness or penetration of their existence or any realisation that services such as theirs existed in the bush.  Their personalised service proposition entailed a target market that was spread over 810,000 km² (NSW).   They have achieved, through persistence in building reputation and trust, the adoption of innovative technology to bridge the tyranny of distance and they have leveraged off the existing broad banking network to support their clients funding requirements.

There were no shortcuts in building trust and reputation within their designated target market.  Consistent delivery of measured outcomes and financial goodwill was essential.  Remaining focused on their core value proposition did not deviate or become distracted by potential secondary opportunities.  They knew and delivered on their strengths and had clear parameters on these boundaries.

In Detail

Robinson Sewell Partners’ business values are derived from our strong empathy towards agribusiness owners and operators.

90% of all farms in Australia are family farms, most of them being intergenerational.  The farm becomes the owner’s genetic blueprint of identity.  As a result, they can endure the adversities with more fight and vigour than most as tribute to their legacy and livelihood. They also operate in geographic isolation and endure extreme financial duress during times of drought, fire, floods, disease and commodity price dislocation.  Ian experienced first-hand growing up on a sheep station, 800km west of Sydney, the tribulations that farm life can herald, and memories of bulldozing burnt sheep into pits and carting fodder daily before the afternoon dust storms rolled in is still very real.

Mental health in the bush is an unspoken issue.  The continual duress that farmers can operate under can eventually unravel their resolve.  A stoic culture forbids the recognition and release of this pain and we personally know of a dozen families that have fallen victim to suicide.  Brad Sewell was a rural councillor and has been on the front line for many years dealing with these hidden demons that prevail in the bush.

Hence, our business philosophies and values have been drawn from deep rooted experiences, in addition to our strong desire to make a real difference to our industry as part of our legacy.

Agribusiness operating in remote and rural regions of Australia have very little access to professional financial services of the nature that RSP provides.  When dealing with the financiers, their inexperience and / or inability to recognise the trappings of financial contractual agreements can result in the final undoing of their viability.  In addition, business owners unknowingly hold minimal leverage in their negotiations given their general lack of time and commitment to such a project, their understanding of credit markets and the profit drivers that financiers rely upon.

In line with our philosophy and values, RSP provides clients with the counter balance they need to procure optimal financial solutions for their business.

Our ethos and core values are embedded within our formal engagement mandate which is to provide credit advice whilst upholding honesty, integrity and sincerity in all our interactions.  Not only are they our core values, but they motivate all our activities in the market.