ANZ's new Global Wealth and Private Banking division will double its salaried planners as it focuses more on advice, says its CEO.
Joyce Phillips was appointed CEO of ANZ's underperforming wealth business and private banking in March. In presentations to analysts and media yesterday, she said that after six months of work on its strategic agenda, the division now had "the opportunity to change the game".
She said the division planned to invest A$80 million to $100 million a year over the next five years.
Some of this would go towards improving ANZ's "underweight" position in superannuation and investment, said Phillips. ANZ figures show that among the Big Four it has consistently had the lowest proportion of customers with a wealth product from their bank.
Phillips said the Global Wealth and Private Banking division had 1100 aligned planners and just 300 salaried planners, and wanted to double the size of its salaried planner group.
"The global financial crisis has changed the attitudes and behaviour of most investors," she said. "The bottom line is they have become much more focused on advice."
Phillips said that in some ways the bank had been late to take a whole-of-bank approach to wealth. But this would now allow it to take "a more nimble and innovative approach".
She resisted setting public targets for the division, a move which
annoyed some analysts.