Under-fire NAB boss set to return to public eye amid turmoil

NAB boss Andrew Irvine will be under the spotlight as he makes his first public appearance next week amid concerns raised by some of the bank’s investors about his behaviour and leadership style.

His return from a holiday in Europe will come more than a week after The Australian Financial Review revealed that major institutional investors had expressed concerns about Irvine.

NAB chief executive Andrew Irvine has been in the spotlight this week.

The discussion between investors and directors in June followed a raft of senior executive departures just one year after Irvine was appointed chief executive.

According to the Financial Review, the NAB board of directors held an impromptu meeting early this week before issuing a measured statement of support for Irvine. NAB has not denied any of the allegations, which include the board having to provide of fresh mentoring and leadership development for Irvine.

Industry insiders, speaking to this masthead under condition of anonymity, said the bank’s board is firmly behind Irvine but taking the concerns of the investors seriously.

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“Andrew Irvine and the NAB leadership team are delivering sound financial and operational results … the Board’s support for Andrew and his team is unchanged,” a NAB spokeswoman said.

It may not be enough to quell the disquiet from investors and analysts who have watched an exodus of key personnel – and a surprise appointment – at the $118 billion bank, which faces rising competitive pressure at its lucrative business lending division.

The executive that Irvine appointed last year to run NAB’s business lending division, Rachel Slade, has now been replaced by Irvine’s former Bank of Montreal colleague, Andrew Auerbach. Slade left the bank this month.

The announcement that Auerbach - an outsider with no experience of Australia’s banking industry - had been appointed to such a crucial role, was made in March.

This announcement included the new that NAB’s highly regarded chief financial officer (CFO), Nathan Goonan, was defecting to Westpac.

NAB appointed Rachel Slade to lead the business banking division in April last year. She has been one of the high-profile executives to depart the bank in recent times.Credit: Eamon Gallagher

The CFO role at a major bank is the most important one aside from the chief executive due to the crucial role they play with investors and at significant financial announcements.

Analysts like Citi’s Brandan Sproules were openly questioning the impact of this managerial disruption as the NAB share price fell after these announcements were made in March.

“This was driven by the news that Nathan Goonan had defected to Westpac, and Anthony Irvine had made a ‘captain’s pick’ to bring in Andrew Auerbach from Canada to lead the Business & Private Banking segment,” the Citi report said.

Sproules noted the market’s “cool reception to an outsider appointment to the business bank” which “remains under high competitive pressure.”

NAB played down Irvine’s non-attendance at the Australian Banking Association’s gala dinner this coming Wednesday night, despite the fact he currently chairs the association. It said he never planned to attend the dinner.

Irvine replaced the highly respected Ross McEwan in April last year.

McEwan had helped to steady an embattled bank after NAB lost both its chief executive, Andrew Thorburn, and chairman Ken Henry, in 2019 following blistering criticism from the banking royal commission.

Irvine ran NAB’s business lending division under McEwan before being promoted to the CEO role.

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NAB chairman Phil Chronican described Irvine’s leadership of the bank’s business lending division as “exceptional” in the conference call following his appointment last year.

“I know I have a big responsibility to continue to make things better every day and I plan on doing just that over the next days, weeks and months as I move forward with a terrific leadership team,” Irvine said at the time.

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