ANZ’s incoming chief executive officer has announced that an aggressive home loan push will be his first priority when he enters the top position, replacing current CEO Mike Smith, on 1 January 2016.
In an interview at ANZ's Melbourne headquarters with
Fairfax, Shayne Elliott flagged a more aggressive push into mortgages, particularly in New South Wales, observing that Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank,
Westpac and its subsidiary St George had been outperforming ANZ across the premier housing state.
“We used to joke we were the No. 5 bank of four in NSW, which is true, and it's not just Sydney, it's right across the state. NSW is one of our priorities,” he told
Fairfax.
“We have the most diverse book of all the four banks and have the least weighting towards mortgages and we can afford to grow it. And we want to grow it, because it's an attractive business, and a great business for customers, an anchor relationship.
“We are not a hedge fund and we are not here to make bets on asset classes and geographies. What we are here to do is build a business that survives, grows and generates a decent return irrespective of the cycle.”
According to the latest banking statistics released by APRA, ANZ holds the smallest mortgage book of the four major banks, totalling $218.7 billion. This is 0.6% less than the third biggest home loan lender,
NAB and 69% less than
CBA.
