There will be greater synergy by combining National Australia Bank's (NAB) wealth management businesses, according to NAB chief executive Cameron Clyne.
"The logic behind is that, you know, we've got really a number of businesses there that we think will have greater synergy by bringing them together in terms of providing a total wealth proposition for those customers," he said.
"We have quite a high penetration of high net worth (HNW) individuals with a series of basic banking products, but a very low penetration of those HNW individuals will turn to things like superannuation, insurance and other products."
Yesterday, NAB announced that MLC, NAB Private Wealth and nabInvest will be combined as part of a restructure of the bank.
The three divisions, which were separately managed, will now be managed by MLC group executive Steve Tucker.
"With regard to nabInvest ... it's getting to a point where it's got some potential and we think bringing it in with our core wealth management business is the right step for the future," Clyne said.
Clyne also said he doesn't anticipate a significant headcount reduction in relation to the restructuring of nabCapital, the lender's capital markets and institutional banking division.
As part of maintaining conservative settings, and reflecting the increasingly challenging external environment, NAB also said its dividend will be reduced by approximately 25 per cent for the 2009 half year.
