Exco watch
Macquarie hands the millionaires’ factory to a savvy mortgage salesman.
Good morning.
Macquarie has handed the millionaires’ factory to a savvy mortgage salesman. That is not an insult. Greg Ward has built an over 7% local mortgage share by getting the technology right. And the board this week backed that tech expertise over the credentials of his rivals, whom he must now work to retain.
The question coming out from some corners now though, is what that skill does for a group where retail banking is about 16% of earnings, and the big money is still made in asset management, commodities and investment banking.
Regal’s Mark Nathan thinks Ward’s digital-bank cost lessons could be applied to central functions more generally. But that sounds like a productivity story, not a growth one. And Jarden’s Matt Wilson is blunter about one other risk. Keep an eye on who’s still listed on the exco page come November.
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Shares in Grant Hackett’s wealth platform Generation Development Group rocketed Thursday after the company reported record quarterly sales and a 36% lift in funds under management to $46.4 billion over FY26.
