A cracking rate of asset growth is not enough for Western Australian-based lender Goldfields Money, which is in the throes of a hunt for a new chief executive to drive a more expansive vision. David Holden, the CEO since the demutualisation and listing of the then Goldfields Credit Union in May 2012, will be leaving, the bank said last week.Michael Verkuylen, the chief financial officer (and a former senior manager with Ernst & Young) will fill in while the board searches for Holden's replacement. Allan Pendal, chair of the Goldfields board, explained to Banking Day that his "executive summary" of the changes was that Holden "was appointed CFO when we were lining up our ducks in 2011 and 2012, prior to demutualisation. Not long before that date, the CEO we lined up resigned.
"We knew David was not the person we wanted in the chair [though he] worked very hard," Pendal said. "We've been spinning our wheels for three years regarding our agreed strategy. David has not been able to get us where we want to. "We realised at the time of demutualisation we could not be a bank primarily involved in mortgage lending and achieving the size and shareholder returns we wanted."Even so, Goldfields' asset growth is superior to that of almost any other ADI. Its assets have grown from around A$60 million ahead of the listing more than three years ago to reach $160 million as of June this year.Pendal cited pressure on interest margins in the context of declining interest rates as one concern.  "We don't have a lot of other income. We just couldn't organically grow and compete for the mortgage market.  "We had to look at business opportunities outside, whether by establishing outside relationships or by acquisition. These things haven't happened quite enough, so David moved on. "We will source someone who can take us to that next level." Pendal said "that means we will be capital constrained, so we've got to go and get some more capital, which we are preparing for." He said: "We've got to look at other financial services opportunities. We won't be buying gravel quarries or tugs or anything, but looking at other financial services opportunities or by acquisition."David Holden declined to comment.