Andrew Thorburn’s NAB team shows the human face of banking

NAB customers will want to know what a Trump presidency means when they hook up with bank executives this week.

NAB chief Andrew Thorburn expects some economic stimulus from the Trump administration. Picture: Stephen Cooper

Like a lot of people, National Australia Bank customers will want to know exactly what a Donald Trump presidency in the US means for their businesses when they hook up with the bank’s senior executives this week.

NAB bankers, led by chief executive Andrew Thorburn, are fanning out across the country for their biannual listening and learning tour.

Over three days, they’ll meet 800-1000 customers and about 600 NAB employees at a range of branch events, customer briefings and on-site visits.

It’s all about presenting a human side to banking as trust and respect for large institutions continues to evaporate, leading to voters paradoxically throwing their support behind a billionaire US property developer who has threatened to tear the house down.

As much as it defies common sense, all it took was a victory speech from Trump that was shorn of his usual bile — floating, instead, the idea of spending more on infrastructure — for equity and debt markets to recover some of their animal spirits.

Thorburn’s early take on the US election result is that Trump will control Congress and in all likelihood will deliver on his promise of higher infrastructure spending and lower taxes.

“That means some economic stimulus, at least in the short to medium-term,” he says.

“But you can’t keep raising the deficit forever.”

The prospect of the US economy breaking out of its low-growth, low-inflation cycle has resulted in a rapid road-to-Damascus conversion for the same Wall Street bosses who earned Trump’s wrath for backing Hillary Clinton.

Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein, targeted in one of the final advertisements of the Trump campaign, said last week that change was often the agent of progress in ways that could not readily be seen “in the early days”.

“In the US, for example, the president-elect’s commitment to infrastructure spending, government reform and tax reform — among other things — will be good for growth and, therefore, will be good for our clients and for our firm,” Blankfein told staff.

On NAB’s current listening tour, Thorburn’s patch is the Victorian regional towns of Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong.

The previous jaunt took in the country’s north so the focus this time will be the south, including WA (Perth and Albany) and South Australia (Adelaide and Port Lincoln).

The other executives on tour are chief operating officer Antony Cahill, chief risk officer David Gall, acting institutional boss Cathryn Carver, chief people officer Lorraine Murphy, chief financial officer Gary Lennon and acting technology and operations boss Matt Lawrance.

When Four Pillars spoke to Thorburn, he’d already received strong feedback from a meeting with frontline staff that customers were craving simplicity in all their dealings with the bank.

That means fewer, less complicated products, and simpler processes and technology, including apps, that are easier to navigate.

The message from the top was that there’s more money to spend on the local operations now that non-core businesses like Clydesdale Bank in Britain and the local life insurance unit have been sold.

In the meantime, Thorburn is setting a high bar for the two vacant positions on his 10-person executive leadership team.

Serious candidates for the position of head of corporate and institutional banking, as well as the technology and operations role, must have leadership and transformation experience in large organisations.

“They’ll have done similar roles before, and at-scale,” the NAB boss says.

“It’s important to get the right person because we’re looking at a three to five-year horizon.”

Thorburn took a call yesterday on the progress of the searches, both of which are global and were initiated after the bank’s recent management restructure.

Carver became acting chief customers officer, corporate and institutional banking, in late July, while Lawrance was appointed acting chief technology and operations officer in early September.

Lawrance replaced Bob Melrose, who took the permanent position of executive general manager, retail banking.

Thorburn has said Carver is an excellent candidate for a permanent appointment.

The corporate and institutional businesses at all the major banks are under intense pressure, as international banks with a low cost of capital compete for local lending deals.

NAB has knocked back lending opportunities that fail to meet its returns criteria.

Commission crusader

One Nation senator and anti-bank crusader Rod Culleton has resumed hawking draft terms of reference for a banking royal commission in Canberra after ditching the idea of a Senate inquiry. Despite facing disqualification from parliament, Culleton has pitched Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten in recent weeks.

The Prime Minister, according to Culleton, “ducked for cover”, while Shorten “agreed in principle”.

Neither of those individuals would back Culleton’s version of events.

The Coalition is opposed to a royal commission. Full stop.

As for the opposition, it’s yet to examine the senator’s proposal in detail.

However, it’s prepared to talk to anyone who wants a royal commission, including Culleton.

Culleton is preparing to defend himself in the High Court on November 21 against allegations by two former colleagues that he was ineligible to nominate for the senate because he faced a larceny charge which has since been annulled.

Former Wesfarmers director Dick Lester is also seeking to bankrupt him over a $200,000 debt.

Twitter: @Gluyasr