Westpac is hoarding cash to protect itself should Donald Trump return to the White House and deliver a big-spending, tariff-heavy presidency stoking inflation and forcing enterprise software costs higher, chief executive Peter King says.

Mr King, who departs the top job next month, said he is leaving behind the strongest balance sheet at Westpac he has seen in almost 30 years at Australia’s second-largest mortgage lender. That will be advantageous as global markets prepare for the fallout of the coin-flip US presidential election on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT).