This Chief Executive has a long-term plan to simplify his bank. The sale of a life insurance unit is a further step in keeping his promise.
Zurich Insurance Group snapped up ANZ’s Australian life insurance business for A$2.85 billion overnight. The deal came shortly after ANZ divested its OnePath superannuation and investments, and aligned dealer groups business to IOOF Holdings in October for A$975 million.
The simplification of the wealth management business was a key target for ANZ boss Shayne Elliott, who wants his bank to be a lean, mean and modern machine. The CEO is embracing fintech solutions and recruiting technology and consumer experts into key positions of his firm, in a bid to modernize ANZ.
One of the most significant and influential hires was of former senior Google staffer Maile Carnegie for ANZ's digital banking push.
Exiting, Shrinking and Partnering
Elliot said that he had broken the back of his simplification strategy: «We're more than halfway through, we have simplified by selling some partnership stakes in Asia,» he told in-house publication «Bluenotes».
The numbers bear him out: the Melbourne-based bank has let go of 17 units or joint ventures, big and small. The bank has also reduced the number of products that are available in branches.
Clearly, the CEO's strategy to win customers and please shareholders is for ANZ to do few things, but do them well. Elliott himself maintains that ANZ still have a long way to go in the simplification effort.
