NAB’s wealth builder vows to lift the game, restore trust

The CEO of NAB’s wealth management arm says the ­industry has a moral obligation to ‘get it right’ and restore trust.

Matthew Lawrance, CEO of the nation’s largest retail superannuation fund, NAB’s MLC Super.

The CEO of NAB’s wealth management business says the ­industry has an ethical and moral obligation to “get it right” for ­Australians and that restoring trust and confidence is “what it’s all about”.

In his first interview since being appointed chief executive of the nation’s largest retail superannuation fund, MLC Super, Matthew Lawrance told The Australian that the industry needed to lift its standards.

“Look, there’s no question that we can do better," Mr Lawrance said. “We can’t lose sight of what we’re here for and that’s to look after Australians’ future lifestyle and wealth needs in retirement.

“We need to give Australians the confidence to trust that we are looking after their life savings as well as we possibly can, and certainly, with us (at MLC), that our offer is as good as anywhere they could expect to have their money looked after.”

Commenting on how to restore trust after a number of scandals that have eroded faith in financial advisers and the industry overall, Mr Lawrance said NAB and MLC faced issues as they arose.

business graphL NAB wealth earnings

“As an organisation we’re very proud of how we respond to customer needs. If something does go wrong, we admit it and we face into it and we get it right sooner rather than later.

“And I think over time people will see the organisations that do that are certainly ones where you can have confidence and trust that they’re going to protect and grow your life savings, and should anything go wrong it’ll be dealt with and fixed up as it should be.”

He also called for more balanced media commentary that would help to inform the public rather than instil fear.

“When the narrative is all about how much money is being siphoned off and how to compare investment performance and fees, what we really need is a level playing field and information that is there to inform people rather than not.”

Mr Lawrance said NAB wanted to send a clear message that the focus would be on customer needs.

“Things have changed dramatically in recent years in terms of technology and also customer and community expectations and we intend to be at the forefront of that.”

NAB has published a white paper, Empowered Wealth: Exploring the Wealth Management Models of the Future, that looks at trends in how Australians build, manage and monitor their personal wealth. It details how customers’ evolving needs are changing the industry.

“Our customers want more targeted support and advice across banking and wealth management, and so we need to invest to develop new and innovative solutions that give them the ability to engage us — whenever, however, and through whatever means suits them, whether it be digital or face-to-face,” Mr Lawrance said.

“What’s really important is trying to make advice easy and understandable and digestible because there’s a lot of information out there and trying to ensure it can be understood, relied upon and acted upon by ordinary Australians is very important.”

NAB is currently developing its robo-advice capabilities, with more details to be released in the coming months, but Mr Lawrance says it won’t replace traditional face-to-face advice. Rather, the two will complement each other.

“It’s about making sure that we evolve and that we offer the choice to the customer, whether it be robo-advice or traditional advice,” he said.

He is also targeting the large cohort of Australians who do not currently get financial advice.

“Only 15 to 20 per cent of Australians actually get financial advice so there’s a lot of people who I would say have unmet needs and there’s an opportunity for us to be more available, more accessible for those people.”