The ANZ has included superannuation in the elements of its wealth business it will consider selling.
The big banking group announced the possible sale of its wealth business in Australia while releasing its results to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) today revealing a 24 per cent decline in statutory profit after tax of $5.7 billion. The board declared a final dividend of 80 cents per share.
ANZ chief executive, Shayne Elliott, said a strategic review of ANZ's wealth businesses in Australia and New Zealand had concluded that while the distribution of high quality wealth products and services should remain a core component of the group's overall customer proposition, ANZ did not need to be a manufacturer of life and investment products.
The ASX announcement said the initial focus would be on the Australian wealth business where ANZ was exploring a range of possible strategic and capital market options.
"This includes the possible sale of the life insurance, advice and superannuation and investments business in Australia," it said.
The announcement said the future of the New Zealand wealth business would be considered separately, next year.
The announcement regarding the Australian wealth business follows on from the big banking group's earlier announcement this week that it had sold its Asian retail bank to Singapore's DBS.
Commenting on the outlook for the bank, Elliott said the company had a clear strategy and a consistent focus on the simplification of the business and actively rebalancing its portfolio.
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.
With private asset valuations emerging as a key concern for both regulators and the broader market, Apollo Global Management has called on the corporate regulator to issue clear principles on valuation practices, including guidance on the disclosures it expects from market participants.
Institutional asset owners are largely rethinking their exposure to the US, with private markets increasingly being viewed as a strategic investment allocation, new research has shown.
Australia’s corporate regulator has been told it must quickly modernise its oversight of private markets, after being caught off guard by the complexity, size, and opacity of the asset class now dominating institutional portfolios.