Alexis George, ANZ's head of wealth, is spearheading the review which comes after new chief executive Shayne Elliott said the bank wanted to simplify its approach in wealth including insurance, superannuation and investments products. As revealed by this column, the bank's online broking arm is slated to be first cab off the rank in its broader sale program. Elliott certainly has a long to-do list as the bank also looks to accelerate its divestment plans for a string of minority stakes in Asia. Elsewhere in financial services, ClearView Wealth which in May confirmed that Morgan Stanley was on board to "solicit and evaluate" strategic offers, is planning to send out documents for a formal sale process after reporting earnings in August. This column in January flagged that Morgan Stanley was working with the controlling private equity shareholder Crescent Capital Partners to assess exit options. That work was conducted on a more informal basis. The interesting twist is that ClearView Wealth's chairman and avid dealmaker Gary Weiss resigned from the board last month. At the time, Street Talk revealed, he would assess a buyout of the company, as one of several options under consideration. The ClearView process comes at a frenetic time in the wealth and life insurance space, as Suncorp is also understood to be weighing options for its life business.
ANZ Banking Group is considering a complete divestment of its wealth and life insurance units for up to $6bn. The development comes as the bank attempts to move towards a simplified approach, selling its online broking arm and a range of minority stakes throughout Asia. In an interview with Fairfax Media, chief executive Shayne Elliott said ANZ's decision was not driven by any particular political or social agenda.