Botherway's bank job

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Thursday, March 17th 2011, 10:00AM

by Philip Macalister

Simon Botherway’s move to ANZ Wealth is certainly a surprise – albeit a positive one for the bank and OnePath. While no doubt he will be busy in his new role, the appointment could be seen a good branding move. Botherway made his name as a successful hands-on money manager who would stand up for investors and the small guy. He was the guy mainstream media would turn to for a good comment in a story. He left the funds management industry after selling Brook Asset Management to Macquarie and, in a natural extension to his activism became more involved in a crusade for a tougher financial market regulation. The highlight here is his role as chairman of the FMA Establishment Board. This role will come to an end when the FMA is actually up and running. It’s early days in working out what his role at the bank will be. No doubt it will be pretty diverse and not a hands-on money management role. While Botherway is a bit of a celebrity appointment which can help the bank with it’s branding he does have some baggage; such as allegations of a conflict of interest with the statutory management of South Canterbury’s Allan Hubbard and his decision to join the board of DNZ when it was receiving criticism over the buyout of the management contract and listing of the company. It will be interesting to see how vocal he is at the bank, and how much reign he is given to saying what he thinks. Banks – particularly the likes of ANZ National - are ruthless protective of their image and public comments. It's not like banks to embrace a personality in its brand, but no doubt having Botherway on board does just that.

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