Why this long-serving bank boss can sleep better at night
Outgoing ANZ Bank boss Shayne Elliott says moves during his tenure to sell dozens of businesses and slash the number of major corporate clients on the bank's books will set it up for a more volatile world and the next inevitable financial crisis.
Elliott, who will be replaced by Nuno Matos next week, delivered his last result as chief executive on Thursday, as the bank posted flat half-year profits of $3.6 billion.
After more than nine years leading ANZ, Elliott cited a phrase often used in the industry – that in banking, it's better to be 'boring' – especially when the world is heading into a more disruptive era of rising geopolitical tensions and the unwinding of globalisation.
As CEO, Elliott made major shifts at ANZ including selling about 30 non-core businesses and scaling back ANZ's presence in Asia; shrinking the number of big business clients on its books; and buying Suncorp's retail bank for $4.9 billion. The Melbourne-based bank has also been slapped with a $1 billion capital charge over governance failings in its markets division, and critics say its digital transformation has been underwhelming.
Elliott, the longest-serving current big four bank boss, argued changes under his tenure had made ANZ a less risky and simpler bank, and it was much more picky about its biggest clients than when he joined as the head of ANZ's institutional bank in 2009. He said at that time, the 10 biggest clients of the bank were 'vibrant and exciting', but higher-risk and 'not a world for banks'.
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'I think banks are much better to be boring,' he said.
'I'd be very happy to say we're boring and safe in terms of our customer selection, and I sleep better at night because of that, and I know our shareholders do.'
During Elliott's time as CEO, banks have also faced major changes from events including the COVID-19 crisis and what Elliott called the industry's 'crisis around culture' – the 2018 royal commission into banking misconduct.
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