NAB looking to support advisers, not re-enter advice

Speaking on an upcoming episode of the ifa podcast, Adam Holster, professional services banking executive at NAB, echoed the sentiments of chief executive Ross McEwan on the possibility of the big four bank re-entering advice post-QAR.

Asked about the Quality of Advice Review’s (QAR) recommendation to allow banks back into advice in July, Mr McEwan told the House standing committee on economics that the change in legislation would have to be “dramatic” to “convince” the bank to “go back into that market”.

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“I have no plans to do so at this point in time,” Mr McEwan said.

He explained that it would have to be done in “quite a different way” that allows for affordable advice that is good for customers and that NAB itself could afford.

“We’re out of that space,” Mr McEwan said.

“It would have to be quite a change in legislation to twist my arm to go back into it.”

When asked about the outlook for banks in advice, Mr Holster pointed to the CEO’s comments, adding that he is “focused on supporting our advisory customers and clients” with growing their business in a way that supports their ambitions and goals.

“We’re just in such a privileged position to be able to support these growing businesses that are working in the best interests of their clients,” he told ifa.

Mr Holster added: “I think certainly from NAB’s perspective, my focus is business banking and supporting our clients. I think I could refer you to someone in a boardroom somewhere that might have a view on re-entering the industry. But at the front of my mind is how I support our customers in their growth aspirations.”

Speaking about the growth of advice firms, he highlighted the findings of the bank’s recent report, The People Profession: New Opportunities for Growth, which found that more than half of the firms it surveyed are looking to buy, having realised that they need scale in order to meet increasing compliance and regulatory requirements.

“My hope is that we do land in that place that Steven Jones is gunning for,” Mr Holster said.

“We’ve certainly seen over the last couple of years advisory businesses in M&A and growth and acquisition mode. If we unpack the report, we draw on some real-life practical examples, where we had one of our fast-growing clients comment on what the findings of the report was.

“Certainly, there was that sentiment there around growing, getting scale within the business [so] that you can specialise. But also, it does allow you to be able to absorb some of the bumps along the way that invariably the industry is going to be able to throw at it.”

The full podcast with Adam Holster will be available next week.