Blue-chip shortlist to fill ANZ chair

WITH the high-profile businessman Rod Eddington expected to rule himself out of contention for the role of ANZ chairman, it could be back to the drawing board for the long-serving Charles Goode as he searches for a successor.

By InvestSMART · 16 Jul 2009

By InvestSMART ·
16 Jul 2009

Sir Rod is expected to meet Mr Goode, the ANZ chairman, within days to discuss succession planning.

However, the former British Airways boss is believed to be reconsidering the role he was offered last November after feedback from some institutions raised concerns about his role as a director with the asset manager Allco albeit for a short term. Allco collapsed last year under the weight of $1 billion in debt.

With Mr Goode planning to retire from ANZ in February, he still has plenty of time to find a successor. However, fund managers believe he has a ready-made shortlist including two within his own ranks.

The front-runner is the former Lend Lease chief executive John Morschel who has been on the ANZ board for almost five years.

The 66-year-old has held a number of blue-chip board roles, including at Rio Tinto and Leighton Holdings, but he really carved out his reputation as a tough negotiator during his time as chairman of the materials group Rinker, which was ultimately sold to Cemex for $18 billion.

Mr Morschel is considered by investors as the most ready-made chairman for ANZ, given his banking experience after a stint as head of Westpac's retail business last decade and later on the Westpac board. Importantly for ANZ, he has a strong Asian business perspective, given he has been a director of Singapore Telecommunications since 2001.

The former Reserve Bank chief Ian Macfarlane, who joined ANZ's board in 2007, is also considered a contender. Mr Macfarlane has strong connections with government and regulators, but lacks long-term corporate experience. Still, Westpac's gamble with the former Treasury secretary Ted Evans as chairman appears to have paid off.

One outsider for the shortlist is a former Westpac director and KPMG partner, David Crawford, who led the review of ANZ's role in the collapse of the stock lender Opes Prime. Mr Crawford is also a long-serving director at BHP Billiton and the chairman of Fosters.

Another name being put forward is the former Westpac chief executive David Morgan.

Yesterday ANZ said nothing had changed from its announcement in November when Sir Rod was named as the next chairman.

with Ari Sharp