ANZ's super regional strategy Five-year progress report
Five years ago, at the start of the 2008 financial year, ANZ embarked on a strategic transformation which recognised that there was a unique opportunity to create value for shareholders by becoming a super regional bank – a bank of global quality with regional focus.
The move recognised that a once-in-a-century shift was underway in the global economy as growth opportunities moved from the developed economies of the West to Asian economies and China in particular.
Despite the size of the opportunity and significance of Australia’s trade and investment links with Asia, ANZ’s shares were initially marked down reflecting market scepticism about the opportunity in Asia.
Five years later, as Australia has opened its eyes to Asia’s importance, ANZ’s super regional strategy has growing momentum and the Group’s share price is now performing well against our domestic peers with investors ranking ANZ highly for its long term growth strategy.
The scale of transformation at ANZ over that time has been significant, based on five key themes and a systematic and coordinated program of action in every area of the bank.
- Super Regional Building Blocks – changes put in place early to enable us to successfully execute our strategy.
- Global Financial Crisis (GFC) Remediation and Opportunity – addressing legacy issues requiring significant remediation while also taking advantage of opportunities resulting from the GFC.
- Establishing a Real Franchise in Asia – how we moved from having a presence in Asia to establishing a real business in the region.
- Strengthening Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific – building strategic advantage in our core domestic businesses through a focus on strategic growth opportunities, business simplification and connectivity.
- Adapting to the Lower Growth Environment – the changes underway to ensure we are successful in a lower growth world with materially higher bank capital requirements.
From early in the 2008 financial year, ANZ began a series of fundamental changes to enable us to successfully execute our strategy.