Ms Hey was previously CEO of Ericsson in the UK and in Australia. She worked with Ericsson for more than 20-years in finance, marketing, sales and leadership roles in Australia, Sweden, the UK and the Middle East.

She said she’s extremely pleased to be joining the Bank’s Board.

“When I think about Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, I think about its strong and trustworthy brand, its focus on customers, partners and communities and its ability to innovate,” Ms Hey said.

Chairman, Robert Johanson, said Ms Hey’s expertise lies within the technology, telecommunications, sales and marketing spheres – key drivers in the future success of any bank.

“Jacquie complements the existing skills and experiences of our directors and brings with her a very distinctive background,” Mr Johanson said.

Ms Hey added, “Coming from outside the banking and finance industry allows me to bring a different perspective to Board discussions, particularly around technology and how customers interact with it, how the bank can use technology to connect with its customers and how it can help customers in the future.”
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Mr Johanson said Ms Hey’s appointment brings the number of women on the Bank’s board to three. “Gender is one of a number of important criteria we look at to ensure the board has a wide experience in dealing with its business,” he said.
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Ms Hey commented, “I’ve been lucky enough to work with companies and people that have treated me fairly and with respect, and have evaluated me on my merits throughout my career. This is very important to me and I’m happy to have found it in Australia with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.”
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Ms Hey will join the Bank’s Audit, Risk and Change Framework and Technology Governance Committees. She is the Honorary Consul of Sweden for Victoria and was appointed to the Board of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) last week.

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Head of Wealth Markets, Alexandra Tullio, announced the appointments as part of what will be the continuing evolution of the new Bendigo Wealth division which was launched in April 2011, heralding an exciting new era in the evolution of the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Group.

The new Bendigo Wealth division has been warmly received in the IFA market place and is playing an increasingly important role in helping our distribution partners meet the needs of their clients.

Part of this new focus has been to generate awareness of the broader banking and wealth solutions that the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Group have on offer to the IFA market.

The new Bendigo Wealth division is fortunate in that there is a broad range of skills and resources across the Group from which to draw. “These new appointments are effective as of Monday 20 June and are pivotal in enabling the Distribution, Business Development and Manufacturing areas to deliver on expectations within the Bendigo Wealth division ”, Ms Tullio said.

New Regional Managers:

• Richard Brown, Regional Manager, WA/SA/VIC/TAS/NT. Richard joined the Bank in November 2006 in the role of National Sales Manager, WealthDeposits. For the past four years Richard has held the position of State Sales Manager, SA/NT – Wealth Distribution. Prior to joining the Bank, Richard worked in a variety of sales management, recruitment and operational roles with Hillross Financial, Colonial, Prudential, AMP and Hudson Global.
• Keith Hilsdon, Regional Manager, QLD/NSW/ACT. Keith has held manydiverse roles during his 27 years within the financial services industry,bringing funds management, financial markets, business strategy, credit assessment, training, business and retail banking experience to his role.

New Manufacturing roles:

• Darryl Drown, Senior Manager, Bendigo Wealth Manufacturing
• Gillian Carless, Senior Manager – Manufacturing.
• Julie McKay, Senior Manager – Technical and Research

New Business Development roles:

• Nick Jackson, Senior Business Development Manager (SBDM) in NewSouth Wales
• Nicola Thiel, Senior Business Development Manager (SBDM) in WesternAustralia

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Income-based strategies are likely to become more appealing to investors as companies restore their dividends and come under increasing pressure to pay out their cash piles, according to Russell Investments.

“Now is a great time for investors to consider moving back into Australian shares. With corporate balance sheets being restored, dividends are returning to normal and overall yields are competitive against term deposits,” said Scott Bennett, portfolio manager at Russell Investments.

This reporting season saw an increase in dividends for the first time in 12 months, with the majority of companies delivering dividends in line with or better than market expectations – a welcome relief from the previous two reporting seasons where many companies cut their dividends to conserve cash.

The banking sector increased the most, up 32% over the previous period. Many resource companies resumed dividends as well, signaling renewed confidence in commodity and energy pricing.

“We are seeing a turning point for dividends. As a result we expect a rise in income-based strategies as the market heads into a period of lower growth where a greater proportion of investors’ total returns could be driven by dividend income,” Mr Bennett said.

Mr Bennett explained that income strategies will be particularly useful for SMSF investors as they begin implementing their transition to retirement strategies.

In fact dividend yields are currently performing better than 90 day bank bills. Based on IBES consensus forecasts the Australian market is currently yielding a gross of 5.4% (after franking credits) compared to 90 day bank bills which are currently yielding 4.8%.

The Russell Australia High Dividend Index, an index that is representative of a high yield strategy, is currently yielding above the market average at 6.7% (gross) based on IBES consensus forecasts. The index selects companies that have a high expected dividend yield but which also meet other characteristics, including a history of paying dividends; dividend growth; and consistent earnings.

Buybacks are back

According to Russell, share buybacks is another area SMSF investors should consider for income strategies. These are set to increase as companies move away from conservative balance sheets that’s characterised the last couple of years.

“Following an extended period of capital-raisings from Australian companies, we have started to see a reversal in the trend with the likes of Woolworths and CSL recently returning capital to investors,” said Mr Bennett.

Over the two calendar years 2008 and 2009, Australian companies raised more than $110bn, according to the ASX. Australian companies had 6.5% of their assets in cash at 30 June 2010; compared with 4.3% at 30 June 2008, according to Macquarie.

However excess cash can have a negative effect on a company’s return on capital, so Russell foresees increasing shareholder pressure for companies to either put the cash to work, through M&A activity, or return it to shareholders via a special dividend or buyback.

“Woolworths’ recent off-market buyback is an example of an attractive strategy for SMSFs, as the majority of the buyback price was treated as a fully-franked dividend, therefore allowing significant tax benefits for investors,” Mr Bennett said.

To help facilitate this growing investor appetite, Russell Investments has developed several investment strategies that have been specifically designed to extract a higher level of income from an Australian equity portfolio. These strategies include Australia’s first ever dividend-focused Exchange Traded Fund, Russell High Dividend Australian Shares ETF (ASX ticker code – RDV).

It is also looking to launch a multi-manager income fund that will combine several unique income-focused strategies in a diversified portfolio.

“We have seen a positive season for dividends, and now is the time for investors to consider how a dividend approach can benefit them,” Mr Bennett concluded.

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