Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has announced a shake-up within its senior leadership ranks, including the promotion of a new wealth management chief.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has announced a shake-up within its senior leadership ranks, including the promotion of a new wealth management chief.

Joyce Phillips starts as chief executive of global wealth and private banking, from her previous role at the bank as group managing director of strategy, mergers and acquisitions, marketing and innovation. She will retain responsibility for marketing, innovation and digital. ANZ did not confirm who previously oversaw the role. 

Phillips is credited with her instrumental role in the acquisition of the majority shareholding in ING Australia in 2009. She has held roles at American Life Insurance Company and Citigroup, where she was responsible for Citi’s global retail banking franchise.

Meanwhile, Shayne Elliott, currently CEO of institutional, will succeed ANZ veteran Peter Marriott as chief financial officer. Elliott will not officially start until 31 May, when Marriott leaves. For the next three months, Elliott will transition into the job guided by the incumbent. As previously reported, Marriott will take a step back from the bank but will retain a non-executive role. Elliott will also head strategy from 1 March, part of Phillips' previous job.

Shane Buggle will be appointed deputy CFO, reporting to Elliott. Buggle is currently CFO of institutional, having previously held a number of senior finance roles at ANZ, including group general manager finance.

Alex Thursby will take up Elliott's duties in an expanded role as CEO global institutional and Asia-Pacific, Europe and America, focused on ANZ’s largest multi-national clients globally. Thursby will continue to have responsibility for retail and commercial in Asia-Pacific and partnerships, his current job.

Elliott, Thursby and Phillips remain members of ANZ’s management board reporting to ANZ CEO Mike Smith.

Meanwhile, corporate banking, Australia, previously part of institutional, will report to Mark Whelan, managing director commercial, who in turn reports to Philip Chronican, CEO Australia. Most of the changes take place from 1 March.

“These changes support our super regional aspiration at a time banking globally is undergoing a major upheaval as a result of low credit growth, funding challenges and new regulation. This creates significant opportunities for ANZ; however, we also need to manage our business differently – we need to be leaner and more innovative in this new and more difficult environment,” said Smith.

He added that the changes create a simpler structure for the business that will allow the bank to be more coordinated between strategy, finance and treasury. Marriott’s departure also allows the senior executives to get broader experiences in order to strengthen succession planning within the group, said Smith.

He went on to underline the importance of the wealth business, which other banks like UBS and Standard Chartered have likewise highlighted as a target for growth. “Wealth represents a strategic opportunity for ANZ and by establishing it as a global line of business it creates a distinctive approach to unlocking further value from our super regional strategy.”

The bank has suffered a couple of senior departures from its wealth management business in recent weeks. Vineet Vohra, the Singapore-based general manager of wealth management at ANZ, stepped down last week on the heels of his senior colleague Nina Aguas, the managing director of the Asia-Pacific private banking division. Aguas’ replacement is expected imminently.

The bank’s leadership changes come amid substantial job cuts, for which ANZ has suffered heavy criticism. Last week, it announced it would axe 1,000 permanent roles this year, the bulk of which will go from its Melbourne-based middle management, back office and support divisions. The Finance Sector Union argued that there was no justification for the redundancies at a time of record profit for the bank, which is one of Australia's top four lenders. 

ANZ said the cuts were in response to "intense pressure on margins associated with higher funding costs, lower consumer and business demand for financial services and increasing global regulation."