Australian banking group ANZ’s return on equity from its wealth management subsidiary, ING Australia, has not met the hurdle rate set for it...

Australian banking group ANZ’s return on equity from its wealth management subsidiary, ING Australia, has not met the hurdle rate set for it, according to ANZ chief executive, John McFarlane. ANZ’s 49 per cent share of ING Australia made a profit this year of A$119 million, 19 per cent below last year’s figure. Underlying performance was up 36 per cent, though, and the poor result was due to a significant fall in capital investment earnings, said Mr McFarlane. According to McFarlane, none of the big Australian banks were getting “a lot of value” from their wealth management acquisitions because of the high prices paid for them. This does not seem to have deterred the bank from looking for new acquisitions however. “We're well placed for an acquisition, as is our partner. The problem is, there's nothing to buy. We are very interested in life insurance and in wealth administration. But the truth of the matter is that anything that was to be bought has already been bought,” he told the local media.