ANZ has reported a 12 per cent year-on-year decline in funds under management (FUM) during the 12 months to the end of September.
According to the full-year results for the NZ arm of the Australasian banking giant, the double-digit FUM fall followed a string of events over the period including “the transfer of KiwiSaver default customers to other managers, Bonus Bonds wind up distributions, and market downturn”.
Nonetheless, the ANZ retains its top rankings as the largest KiwiSaver and funds manager in NZ with $34.3 billion under management as at September 30 – although overall market share has slipped under 20 per cent for the first time.
Despite its market-leading position, the ANZ asset management division barely rates a mention in the Australian bank’s 135-page 2022 financial year results released last week that show a record A$7.1 billion net profit after tax for the wider group.
The NZ funds management operation is now unique in the ANZ group, which has hastily retreated from the wealth sector over the last few years in a strategic ‘de-risking’ move, according to chief executive, Shayne Elliott.
Elliott said in a release along with the results that the ANZ wealth exit has set it apart from rival banks.
“We continued the systematic de-risking of the bank, highlighted by the sale of our margin lending business to Bendigo & Adelaide bank and just last month we completed the formal separation of our wealth business to Insignia and Zurich,” he said.
“Combined with the exit of financial planning and advice, as well as the associated remediation being at the very final stage, we are the only major bank in Australia to have removed the risks associated with wealth management for shareholders.”
In moves hastened by the 2019 Australian Royal Commission into financial services, ANZ has sold a number of businesses in Australia including investment, superannuation, third-party distribution firms, life insurance and finally its in-house advisory arm (in an agreement inked with Zurich this March).
The total ANZ NZ business reported an 8 per cent jump in net cash profit after tax for the 2022 financial year to over $2 billion as rising interest rates and a surprisingly resilient economy buoyed the bank’s balance sheet.
However, ANZ NZ chief, Antonia Watson, said the bank was provisioning for tougher times ahead.
“Many of our customers have taken the opportunity to pay down debt and increase their savings. This caution is wise given the dark clouds on the horizon,” Watson said. “… At the moment, the vast majority of our customers are in a sound financial position but we know that many will roll off fixed home loans onto higher rates over the coming year. When that happens some will be under financial pressure.”