Jason Yetton

Westpac is launching Sustainable Upgrades home and investor loans for customers to make energy-efficient upgrades to their home, supported by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).

From Monday, 26 August, Westpac home loan customers can access a competitive variable interest rate of 4.49% p.a^[1] to install new features or technology in their property to improve its energy efficiency or climate resilience. Owner-occupier and investor home loan customers with an existing or approved eligible loan will be able to apply to borrow up to $50,000 with a loan term of up to ten years.

Westpac is the first bank to be supported by the CEFC’s $1 billion Household Energy Upgrades Fund (HEUF), a landmark program to help Australians access cheaper home energy solutions and affordable finance.

“Westpac’s new offering, backed by the Australian Government-owned ‘green bank’, will appeal to our customers wanting to make their home more energy-efficient,” said Jason Yetton, Westpac Chief Executive Consumer.

“We recognise more Australians want to play their part to reach a net zero future, and that starts at home. This announcement will help our customers to make more environmentally conscious choices and improve their homes at the same time.”

Research from Westpac shows nine out of ten Australians^[2] looking to renovate within five years would consider making a sustainable upgrade to their home.

“Increasing the uptake of renewable energy, storage, and related infrastructure is critical to Australia’s net zero ambitions and clean energy transition. The installation of more rooftop solar, home batteries and energy efficiency equipment will help manage household energy costs and unlock additional clean energy capacity. This means we can better manage energy demand and ultimately contribute to the creation of a stronger, more reliable and cleaner grid,” said Ian Learmonth, CEFC CEO.

Australians are increasingly looking to upgrade their homes with energy-efficient features and technologies. Close to two in five (38%) Australians would consider installing solar panels on their home, one in four would consider putting in solar batteries (27%) or changing to solar hot water (25%), and over a fifth would consider installing insulation (23%) or put in double-glazed windows (22%).

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Notes:
[1] Variable interest rates are subject to change.
[2] 89% of Australians who are looking to renovate their home within five years would consider making a sustainable/environmentally friendly upgrade to their home.

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“To sharpen our focus, we are appointing dedicated Group Executives responsible for Consumer banking and Business banking,” said Mr King.

“Over the past few years we’ve simplified the bank, including exiting nine businesses. As a result, we no longer need a Specialist Businesses Division.”

“We are also establishing a stand-alone function to accelerate our Technology simplification and will move Operations to Corporate Services, creating an expanded shared services team.”

Leadership Changes:

• Jason Yetton, Chief Executive, Consumer
• Anthony Miller, Chief Executive, Business & Wealth
• Nell Hutton, Chief Executive, Westpac Institutional Bank
• Scott Collary, Chief Information Officer
• Carolyn McCann, Group Executive Customer & Corporate Services

With the separation of Consumer & Business Banking, Chris de Bruin, current Chief Executive, Consumer & Business Banking has decided to leave the Group to pursue new opportunities.

“I want to thank Chris for his contribution to the bank. In particular, he’s led the digitisation of the Consumer bank, including the delivery of major initiatives such as the digital mortgage and payment solutions. He’s also driven our branch co-location strategy and strengthened the franchise. Chris will assist with the transition to the new structure,” Mr King said.

“The new structure will give the leadership team a greater focus on growing their businesses and delivering for customers.

“Jason has a 30-year history with the Group. His breadth of expertise stretches across all facets of banking, including time running Westpac’s retail and business banking division from 2011 to 2015. Jason has also led our portfolio simplification since 2020.

“Since joining three years ago, Anthony has grown our institutional business while improving return. He is a seasoned banker, having held executive and client facing roles at some of the world’s leading banks. Anthony is well-placed to drive growth in Westpac business banking.”

Mr King said he was pleased to have someone of Ms Hutton’s calibre join the executive team.

“Nell is an outstanding leader, who has delivered a strong performance during her time leading Financial Markets and will continue to build the Institutional Bank.”

Mr King said the Group has a significant technology and customer agenda underway.

“Scott Collary will continue to spearhead our technology transformation with a focus on streamlining our tech systems across the Westpac Group, while Carolyn McCann will lead an expanded division for customer and corporate shared services, including operations, helping to leverage the benefits of scale.”

The organisation changes will take effect on 1st August 2023 and will be reflected in the 2024 financial results.

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L t R: Jason Yetton and Brett Clark.

TAL Dai-ichi Life Australia Pty Limited (TAL), a fully owned subsidiary of the Dai-ichi Life Group which is one of the world’s leading life insurers, has announced the completion of its acquisition of Westpac Life, the life insurance arm of Westpac Banking Corporation. The transaction was first announced on 9 August 2021.

All of Westpac’s life insurance business and all existing Westpac Life policies transfer to the TAL Group today. TAL also welcomes 345 Westpac Life employees and the valuable knowledge and experience they bring with them.

Today also marks the beginning of an exclusive 20-year strategic alliance between the TAL Group and Westpac, under which Westpac’s Australian customers will now be able to access high-quality life insurance solutions provided by TAL.

TAL Group CEO and Managing Director, Brett Clark, said, “The completion of the Westpac Life business acquisition, alongside the strategic alliance with Westpac, is another significant step towards TAL’s goal of protecting more Australians in more ways, throughout their lives.”

“TAL and Westpac share a strong belief in the role and value of life insurance in the community. We are looking forward to working with Westpac through our partnership to provide Westpac customers with access to high-quality life insurance solutions that meet their diverse needs throughout different stages of their lives.”

“We are pleased to be partnering with Westpac and welcoming Westpac Life employees to the TAL team as we remain focused on delivering the best possible outcomes for all of our customers, partners and stakeholders.”

Jason Yetton Chief Executive Westpac’s Specialist Businesses Division said, “Life insurance is an important product for many of our customers and I am pleased that we will continue to support them by partnering with TAL, a leading life insurer that already provides life insurance to more than 4.5 million Australians. We are also pleased that our people joining TAL today can continue to provide the highest standard of customer care going forward.”

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Jason Yetton

Westpac Group has announced it will sell Westpac Lenders Mortgage Insurance Limited (WLMI) to Arch Capital Group (Arch) and enter into a 10-year exclusive supply agreement for Arch to provide Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) to the Group.

The sale price will be at book value^[1] which will be determined at completion. The transaction also includes small, fixed annual payments to Westpac over the next 10 years.

Westpac will record a loss on sale in FY21 from separation and transaction costs along with the $84 million write down in goodwill that was announced with our 1Q21 Update on 17 February 2021.

The transaction is expected to add approximately 7bps to Westpac’s Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio.^[2] The new supply agreement builds on the Group’s existing relationship with Arch which has provided reinsurance services to WLMI since 2011.

“Westpac is pleased to be entering into a long-term partnership with Arch as LMI is an important product that helps the Group make home ownership more accessible for more Australians,” said Westpac Group Chief Executive Specialist Businesses & Group Strategy, Jason Yetton.

“The sale continues the simplification of our business and builds on our progress in becoming a simpler, stronger bank focussed on consumer, business and institutional banking.”

Westpac will retain responsibility for certain legacy matters and provide protection to Arch through a combination of customary warranties and indemnities.

Completion of the transaction is subject to various regulatory approvals and is expected to occur by the end of August 2021.

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[1] Transaction proceeds will be determined on the basis of the book value at completion, which is expected to occur in 2H21.
[2] On a proforma 31 December 2020 basis.

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John Cummins

SocietyOne, Australia’s pioneering and leading lending marketplace, has appointed John Cummins to the new role of Chief Investment Officer, a position which reflects the critical importance of its investor funders to the company’s future growth.

John will have responsibility for all of SocietyOne’s funding requirements to support demand from an expanding number of borrower customers. This will include building on SocietyOne’s existing network of investor funders who include large financial institutions, mutual banks, credit unions, high net worth individuals and SMSFs.

John will also play a key role in helping the company to achieve its five-year goals of expanding and deepening its funding base to support growth in borrower customers to 100,000 and take a two-to-three per cent share of the $100 billion consumer finance market. John reports directly to SocietyOne’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Jason Yetton.

SocietyOne announced last month it had reached the milestone of providing $200 million in total lending since its foundation in August 2012, of which $129 million was advanced in 2016 alone. That represented growth in the loan book of 320% in just 12 months. Borrower customer numbers have since grown to over 8,000.

SocietyOne’s investor funders, who currently number more than 280, also enjoyed an effective annualised rate of return across the company’s portfolio of two year, three year and five year personal loans averaging 10.34% per annum between January 2014 and the end of December 2016[1].

Prior to joining SocietyOne this month, John Cummins was Head of Markets at FIIG Securities, one of Australia’s leading fixed income specialists. FIIG have been operating since 1999 and provide investors with direct access to bond markets and a range of term deposits and other cash solutions. They are also the country’s largest specialist fixed income provider with over $11 billion currently under investment.

John joined FIIG in December 2014 from RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Capital Markets where he was the Head of FIC for Australia and New Zealand. His 30-year career has included senior roles at Westpac Institutional Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Macquarie Bank, and has ranged from trading, sales, research, structuring and Debt Capital Markets.

John’s extensive experience has also seen him serve on committees at the Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA) and as a board member at Yieldbroker, which operates established electronic markets for Australian interest rate securities and derivatives. John is a graduate of Macquarie University, where he holds a Bachelor of Economics. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee for the ASX Thomson Reuters Charity Foundation.

“John has deep and extensive experience of financial markets and the needs of institutional and individual investors with a particular focus on delivering strong, sustainable and high-yielding returns,” said Mr Yetton.

“In particular, he has specialist knowledge of the fixed income and credit markets which will be of critical importance to our future growth given the opportunities that we offer our growing base of investor funders to earn solid returns from a new asset class.

“John impressed me from the outset with his confidence in what we are doing and what we looking to achieve and I am delighted he has joined SocietyOne to help us reach our ambitious goals over the coming years.”

John Cummins said: “From a standing start just four years ago SocietyOne has built not only an attractive proposition for borrowers but an equally significant and impressive opportunity for investor funders to secure good returns.

“I’m really looking forward to promoting the benefits that we offer investors in an asset class that has traditionally been the a very profitable preserve of the banks and helping to grow the company into one of the leading alternative players in the fixed income market.”

1 Effective Annualised Rate of Return as shown on the SocietyOne website and as calculated at 31 December 2016

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