K: Financial and Insurance Services

Pandemic pressure for super mergers

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 27-Jul-20

The balanced options of Equipsuper and Catholic Super achieved positive returns in 2019-20, despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The two funds merged in 2019, and boast a combined $26bn worth of funds under management. Scott Cameron, the CEO of the Equipsuper -Catholic Super, says his target is still to have $50bn of funds under management within five years. He has flagged another merger deal within months, and expects COVID-19 to lead to further consolidation in the super sector.

CORPORATES
EQUIPSUPER PTY LTD, CATHOLIC SUPER

AMP culture rife with bullying: staff

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 27-Jul-20

AMP has the worst rating of any major financial services company in terms of being a place to work, according to workplace rating website Glassdoor. AMP has been in the headlines as a result of staff uproar over the promotion of Boe Pahari to the role of AMP Capital CEO despite having received a $500,000 penalty after the firm settled a sexual harassment claim against him by a female subordinate in 2017. Comments made on Glassdoor by current and former AMP employees suggest its workforce culture is ‘rife’ with bullying and intimidation by senior managers.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, GLASSDOOR INCORPORATED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ

Shape of banks’ dividend recovery will be more U than V

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 & 18 : 24-Jul-20

Brendan Sproules of Citigroup expects Australia’s banks to resume paying dividends in the December quarter, at a reduced payout ratio of just 40 per cent. He does not expect banks’ payout ratios to return to pre-coronavirus levels until fiscal 2022. Westpac and the ANZ Bank recently put their interim dividends on hold, while Citigroup expects the Commonwealth Bank and Bendigo & Adelaide Bank to withhold their dividends for the second half of 2019-20.

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN

Regulator won’t appeal wagyu and shiraz case

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Jul-20

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has ruled out an appeal against Westpac’s court win over allegations that it breached responsible lending laws. The full Federal Court recently upheld an August 2019 ruling in Westpac’s favour, and ASIC is believed to have decided that it will not take the matter to the High Court. ASIC will instead urge the federal government to make changes to credit laws in order to clarify the responsible lending rules.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Satisfaction of Australia’s banks improves amid COVID-19

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Jul-20

New data from Roy Morgan shows that customer satisfaction with Australia’s banks was at 79.5% in May, up 0.2% points on April and up 1.1% points from May 2019. The biggest improvement in customer satisfaction over the last year was from Australia’s four major banks, with satisfaction up 1.4% points to 77.2% in May. Commonwealth Bank has the highest satisfaction of the four majors in May, closely followed by NAB, ANZ and Westpac. Mutual Banks continue to have the edge in customer satisfaction and are up 0.7% points from a year ago, to 89.2%. The leading Mutual Bank for satisfaction is Bank Australia, closely followed by Bank First and Beyond Bank. The foreign banks operating in Australia have a high customer satisfaction of 85.5% in May, but this is down 0.3% points from a year ago. Of the foreign banks ING is a clear leader for satisfaction ahead of HSBC and Citibank. These are some of the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s ‘Customer Satisfaction report on Consumer Banking in Australia’. This report is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BANK AUSTRALIA, BANK FIRST, BEYOND BANK AUSTRALIA, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, HSBC BANK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CITIBANK PTY LTD

Super fund satisfaction down in May, but still up on a year ago as Australians withdraw up to $10,000

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Jul-20

New data from Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows an overall super fund satisfaction rating of 63.6% in May. This is down 0.9% points on the previous month, but an increase of 2.9% points on May 2019. Compared to a year ago the largest increase by sector was for Retail Funds, which increased 2.2% points to customer satisfaction of 58.7%. Also increasing their satisfaction were Industry Funds, up 1.9% points to 64.4%, and Public Sector Funds which increased 1.6% points to 72.7%. Although Self-Managed Funds were the only sector not to record an increase, they still maintain a high overall satisfaction rating at 72.3%, down 1.9% points on a year ago. Unisuper has the highest customer satisfaction rating of the Industry Funds, ahead of CARE Super and AustralianSuper. The highest placed Retail Super Fund is Colonial First State followed by OnePath and MLC. The report’s findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s most trusted consumer survey, compiled by in-depth interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UNISUPER LIMITED, CARE SUPER PTY LTD, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, ONEPATH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MLC LIMITED

Lockdown to trigger more loan distress

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 13 & 20 : 10-Jul-20

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that banks have deferred 18 per cent of small business loans in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Morgan Stanley has warned that that many businesses in Melbourne that have been forced to shut down for a second time may never re-open, particularly smaller ones. The APRA figures also show that more than 10 per cent of home loan repayments have been put on hold. Loans to investors account for 34 per cent of home loan repayments that have been deferred, prompting concern that there may be a surge in distressed selling.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Banks must go harder on costs: KPMG

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 9-Jul-20

KPMG partner Hessel Verbeek warns that Australia’s banks face the prospect of single-digit returns on equity in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. He argues that they will have to be much more aggressive in reducing costs. Verbeek has identified branch closures and product rationalisation as some of the areas that offer scope for cost savings. He notes that overseas banks have been much more active in pursuing such strategies; Australian banks have closed just 14 per cent of their branches since 2015, while British banks have closed 33 per cent.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Investors brace for harder hit from second wave

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 20 : 9-Jul-20

The S&P/ASX 200 has shed 3.2 per in the last three trading sessions, while the Australian dollar has retreated ahead of Melbourne going into lockdown. Damien Boey of Credit Suisse says policymakers may have underestimated the economic cost of the lockdown, which may be closer to $26bn than the $6bn that has been forecast. He adds that the new lockdown may the "straw that broke the camel’s back" for many small businesses that were already struggling. Analysts also expect the new coronavirus outbreak in Victoria to weigh on corporate earnings and dividend payouts.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Big banks accused of climate hypocrisy

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Original article by James Fernyhough
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 8-Jul-20

Market Forces estimates that Australia’s four major banks have provided a combined $35.5bn worth of loans for fossil fuel projects since 2016. The activist group, which is affiliated with Friends of the Earth, contends that this is inconsistent with their commitment to the Paris climate agreement. National Australia Bank’s chief risk officer Shaun Dooley recently stated that the bank aims to assist business customers to transition away from fossil fuels, due to the economic impact of a complete and rapid withdrawal from the sector.

CORPORATES
MARKET FORCES, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB