NAB Makes Asian Asset Management Acquisition

Post by Sharat on November 18, 2009 · Under Business News, Company News, Mergers & Acquistions, Wealth Management, banking · Comment

Australian banking major, National Australia Bank (NAB) has bolstered its wealth management business further by agreeing to purchase for an undisclosed sum, a Hong Kong based asset management company, Calibre Asset Management.

The acquisition comes as NAB and other Australian lenders seek a foothold and expand into the fast growing Asian asset management industry.

Earlier in the year, rival ANZ acquired selected Asian assets of troubled British lender Royal Bank of Scotland, for $592 million. The Australian quoted an unnamed source as saying the NAB acquisition will cost the lender approximately $5 million.

NAB’s Hong Kong based general manager; Andrew Macintosh says the acquisition was a way for the lender to retain customers.

Mr. Macintosh says that NAB has seen a 60 per cent increase in its deposits and assets under management as investors flee to higher rated financial institutions.

NAB is one of eight AA-rated banks in the world.

Mr. Macintosh said that recently, many investors had shifted their assets from deposits into property investments in countries such as Australia, UK and Hong Kong, adding that the lender expects that investors would continue to look for more investment options going forward, including equities and managed funds.

The ability to provide asset management will give NAB clients additional options, with the lender seeking further acquisition opportunities in Asia Mr. Macintosh said.

The acquisition represents NAB’s re-entry into Asian asset management, after the lender sold its asset management business in Hong Kong and Indonesia in 2006 to AXA Asia Pacific Holdings for $575 million.

At the time NAB said it wanted to divest non core businesses in order to concentrate on building businesses in private, wholesale and small- and medium-size business banking services.

Calibre was started in 2002, and advises clients on investment strategies. It will become a unit of NAB and maintain the Calibre name.

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