Shayne Elliott, boss of ANZ, will tell us this week that he’s “out of here” after nine years in the top job at one of our big four banks. This CEO was often seen by the media as a “good guy”. He publicly supported issues that portrayed him as a caring banker, which isn’t a typical characteristic of most of his rivals.

However, as the retiring leader in a key business job position that impacts the economy via interest rates, the supply of loans and creating jobs, someone like me gets asked: “Was he any good?”

Elliott had his critics. Often ANZ’s share price was pointed to as a sign that the CEO wasn’t ‘killing it’ running his bank. The timing of his retirement makes economic sense as the bank’s share price is up 26.57% to $31.15 over the past 12 months. Undoubtedly, he’d have options, bonuses, etc., tied to his exit.

However, when Elliott kicked off the share price was $27.71, so the gain over nine years is 12.14%, or 1.4% a year! Over the same time, CBA was up close to 100%, which was a gain of close to 11% a year.

The only relatively positive thing you could say about Elliott’s showing against other banks was ANZ did better than Westpac.

This great chart from Bloomberg, shown in the AFR, graphically portrays what the best and worst big four banks achieved share return wise (this includes dividends).

So, let’s sum up ANZ under Elliott:

1. “Since he was appointed chief executive, ANZ has delivered a total return to shareholders of 111 per cent. That compares to 228 per cent for Commonwealth Bank, the country’s largest, 173 per cent at NAB and 98 per cent at Westpac,” the AFR reports.
2. He fought with the ACCC and won in taking over Suncorp’s banking business for $4.9 billion, which was the biggest merger in the sector since CBA rescued Bankwest during the 2008 global financial crisis.
3. ASIC accused ANZ’s market traders of doing a questionable $14 billion government bond deal that hit taxpayers but boosted the bank’s profits big time! The investigation is ongoing.
4. The AFR says there have been reports suggesting there was “sometimes a loose workplace environment where heavy drinking and drug-taking was permissible…”, which saw management opt for experts to assess the bank’s work culture and market practices.
5. His most recent report delivered a solid-looking $6.7 billion cash profit for the year, but it was down 8% and below market expectations.

So, who will replace Elliott?

It was thought an internal replacement was on the cards, but the bond scandal sunk the chances of that happening.

The word out there says a foreign banker will be shipped in, while the AFR reported that internal candidates, such as the bank’s New Zealand division chief Antonia Watson, retail banking boss Maile Carnegie and CFO Farhan Faruqui, could be a surprise selection.

Given that the chairman, Paul O’Sullivan, also chairs Optus (and he and Elliott are both men), maybe it’s time we see a woman heading up one of our big banks.