ANZ Bank expects to convert customer deposits to wealth management products when the economic outlook clears, its chief executive said.
"At some stage, I expect we'll see a movement from bank deposits in Australia to the wealth side as people look for a higher post-tax yield," ANZ chief executive Mike Smith told a briefing.
Australian consumers have largely gone to ground following the global financial crisis, driving the national savings rate to a 10-year high.
The conversion to wealth products would not likely come about until the economic outlook cleared and financial market volatility subsided, but when it occurred, the shift would be difficult to miss.
ANZ's trading update for the nine months to 30 June showed its retail deposits had grown nearly twice as fast as those of its rivals.
Customer deposits funded 61 per cent of the bank's lending, up from 50 per cent three years ago.
ANZ said its underlying net profit, which measures ongoing operations, was $4.2 billion, up 16 per cent from the same nine-month period a year ago.
The increase was driven in part by growth in its retail and wealth divisions.
The bank's so-called super-regional strategy -- the expansion of its business in Asia -- continued to bear fruit.
"The contribution from the retail and wealth businesses has increased as the benefits of the [Royal Bank of Scotland] transaction continue to emerge and further improvements are made in product offerings and systems support," the bank said in a statement of its business in the region.
Smith said the European debt crisis could provide acquisition opportunities in Asia. He said some banks there faced capital costs higher than their returns on equity, which would spark a scramble for capital.
"They can't always tap the market at huge discounts, so at some stage, some of them will have to sell the family silver, which is the Asian assets."
