POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
(June-2003) Gail tests a new marketplace
There are many changes under way at Cogent, Australia’s third largest master custodian with $96 billion in assets under administration. Gail Burke joined the company last month as the new head of its Australasian operations and it has just announced a brand name change to BNP Paribas Securities Services (BPSS).
Burke arrives from Macquarie Bank where she worked for the past 20 years, most recently as the executive director responsible for the client contact centre and shared services division in the financial services group, a role that entailed managing around 550 people.
The global brand name change, announced this week, follows research done on the parent company, BPSS, which is a subsidiary of the BNP Paribas banking group which purchased Cogent from AMP last September for about $650 million. That BPSS emerged from these studies as a stronger and better known brand is probably not surprising. It does, after all, hold over 2 trillion Euro in assets under custody and is part of a global banking group.
“To compete in this business you need a global name behind you. What we are seeing in Europe and here is that size really does matter,” says Burke. “The sale process was a big distraction for the company in the 12 months before BPSS bought it. Its visibility was reduced by the uncertainty. Afterwards, the market was also concerned about whether BPSS was committed to this market and I believe that the re-branding will show that we are very committed to Australia and the region.”
Some players may see Cogent as somewhat of a niche player, but Burke believes the company is anything but.
“We don’t offer a one size fits all solution. We offer flexibility and are willing to provide innovative tailored solutions. The challenge is to change the misperceptions about Cogent without losing the good things that Cogent has established in the market, such as its outstanding service.”
In addition to boosting the image of Cogent in the market place, Burke’s immediate challenge will be to grow the business while at the same time, managing the cost base.
The market for custodians has been tough in recent times, with the assets under custody shrinking on the back of weak investment markets. But according to Burke, Cogent has held up well and has even been picking up heightened demand for its services recently.
This, she believes, stems from increased tender activity in the market in general as well as some testing of the waters by Commonwealth Custodial Services’ clients after it was put up for sale. “We’re also getting responses from the offers that we have been busy working on and the relationships we’ve been building up,” she says.
The focus over the next 12-18 months, says Burke, will be on dealing with this increased demand and on ensuring that BPSS picks up the right clients — ones that it can add value for — and manages its growing work load effectively.
While BNP Paribas has a long history in Asia, BPSS has no direct presence elsewhere in the region. Nonetheless, Burke says her focus over the next 12 months will be strengthening business in Australia and New Zealand. “While the Asian region is very important to us, we will look at it later,” she says.
BPSS isn’t necessarily planning any immediate acquisitions in the region at this stage, but Burke doesn’t rule out forming new alliances. “We want to stay in our areas of core competence, but it may be that we would offer other services through an alliance. For example, retail registry could be an area that we could examine to broaden our offering.”
Burke has certainly come a long way from her school days when her ambition was to be a computer programmer. Her career has taken her into the higher echelons of IT management and then into more general business roles which also involved outsourcing and client services, thus giving her a solid foundation to take on the world of custody and fund services.
While Burke has had profit and loss responsibilities before, she is now looking forward to having full responsibility for a region.
Asked about the “secret” of her success, she says: “I get things done. It’s all about execution and I am generally liked… I am also determined and tenacious.”
An experienced people manager, Burke believes in giving people as much autonomy or freedom as possible to extend themselves and do their best. “I empower people rather than control them.”
Burke, who was recently awarded the Centenary Medal for services to Australian society in business leadership, confesses to have been a workaholic in the past, but has learnt her lessons and now sets the limits of when she should stop work, and ensures that she has outside interests.
In her spare time, she can be found in the gym with her personal trainer or reading veraciously. She is also a trustee of the Sydney Opera House and can often be spotted at the opera and theatre. She also sings with a Jazz band, although she is quick to point out that her singing isn’t done professionally.
AUTHOR
Zilla Efrat
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