The irony in the sudden resignation of long-serving NAB chief executive Frank Cicutto this year, amid a $360 million currency trading scandal, would not have been lost on AMP chief executive Andrew Mohl.
Cicutto’s resignation effectively marked the end of a determined if inept NAB takeover bid for AMP during a period in which the financial services group was experiencing dire financial problems of its own.
Cicutto led the bank doggedly through an ambitious plan to buy 15 per cent of AMP, but in the end he walked away with less than 5 per cent, paying a premium price of $6 per share for the privilege.
Mohl could also be forgiven for a sense of personal satisfaction at the way things have turned around at AMP since his appointment as chief executive in 2001.
Earlier this year he publicly expressed confidence in a “reversal in the fortunes” of AMP, which remains Australia’s largest financial planning group in terms of adviser numbers.
The group reported a record $5.52 billion loss for a financial institution for the year to December 31 2003, reflecting writedowns and losses made in a demerger of its UK arm.
Had things not turned around, the fallout for advisers and investors alike could have been enormous.
“Our priority last year was to fix AMP’s problems, while the focus this year is on ensuring AMP lives up to its potential.”
