Westpac Boss Gives Old Hand Senior Job

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday March 27, 2008

Danny John

THE chief executive of Westpac, Gail Kelly, has swooped on her former right-hand man at St George Bank to fill one of the most senior jobs at her new employer.

In a move that surprised the market and the industry, Mrs Kelly has brought in Peter Clare to head Westpac's retail banking and consumer finance division, the second-largest contributor to the bank's profits.

Mr Clare, who starts today, quit as head of St George's revamped technology and operations arm last November shortly after losing out to Paul Fegan in the race to become Mrs Kelly's successor at the country's fifth largest bank. His resignation came just eight months after taking on his latest job in a 5 1/2 year stint at St George.

His re-emergence yesterday among the top ranks of the banking industry was Mrs Kelly's first important appointment after joining Westpac as David Morgan's replacement last month.

The consumer divisional job had been vacant since December when the previous holder, Mike Pratt, suddenly resigned. Mr Pratt had been a contender for Dr Morgan's post and chose to leave after his hopes of promotion were stymied.

Mr Clare was Mrs Kelly's closest lieutenant at St George, having also been her first recruit to the bank after her appointment as its managing director in January 2002.

The two of them had got to know each other at Commonwealth Bank, which Mrs Kelly joined in 1997 after moving from her native South Africa.

Announcing his appointment yesterday, Mrs Kelly said Mr Clare had an outstanding track record and would bring both "innovation and transformation" to the bank's front-line customer business.

During his time at St George, Mr Clare held the key role of strategy head and helped mastermind the transformation of the largely NSW bank into a $20 billion national institution.

His arrival at Westpac, though, is a setback for the bank's up-and-coming executive, Jeremy Dean, who had filled the consumer finance management role on an acting basis for three months and was the leading internal contender to take the job permanently.

But Mrs Kelly is thought to be keen to keep Mr Dean who will return to his former post as general manager of the bank's branch network, telephone and online banking operations.

Westpac's shares rose 70 cents yesterday to $24.80.