Alex Thursby, group CEO of NBAD, highlights the importance of liquidity as he discusses the bank’s new customer-focused strategy.
February 12, 2016 | Neeti AggarwalThere has been enormous change within National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). New people have been hired for its bonds and syndication businesses so that less time is wasted on relationship mending and more spent on complicated structured finance, structured trade finance and project finance.
The wholesale bank has long been considered a large, bureaucratic, state-owned institution, but following the appointment of Alex Thursby as Group CEO in July 2013, the bank has started to pursue a new strategy to build on its capital and liquidity strength. For Thursby, the appointment represents a fantastic opportunity because the planned changes are supported by the Board and can be brought about within a stable, growing region with the long-term backing of its major stakeholder, Abu Dhabi Investment Council.
A customer-focused strategy
Thursby has set about modernising the bank around a customer-focused strategy based on two pillars: Pillar 1 centred on commercial and retail banking and Pillar 2 focused on wealth management and very concentrated areas of wholesale banking, specifically, trade finance, capital markets and targeted market segments.
He acknowledges that the new strategy has meant changing the organisational structure and bringing in new people but claims to have found some really talented people within the bank who have now been given new opportunities to excel. Despite its strong government business base, the bank has substantial non-government business that requires high levels of customer service and it is here that much of the recent efforts have been focused.
When asked if improving customer service levels represented a cultural challenge, Thursby strongly rejected the notion by asking, “How does Emirate Airlines or Etihad do it?” before acknowledging that a new team will work on the customer service proposition for the next three to four years. The emphasis is on two facets: responding to quickly re...
Categories:
Customer Centricity, Leadership, Retail Banking, Transaction BankingKeywords:NBAD, Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, Customer Service, Wholesale Banking, HKMA, Liquidity, Supply Chains, ROE, ALCO
Alex Thursby, group CEO of NBAD, highlights the importance of liquidity as he discusses the bank’s new customer-focused strategy.
February 12, 2016 | Neeti AggarwalThere has been enormous change within National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). New people have been hired for its bonds and syndication businesses so that less time is wasted on relationship mending and more spent on complicated structured finance, structured trade finance and project finance.
The wholesale bank has long been considered a large, bureaucratic, state-owned institution, but following the appointment of Alex Thursby as Group CEO in July 2013, the bank has started to pursue a new strategy to build on its capital and liquidity strength. For Thursby, the appointment represents a fantastic opportunity because the planned changes are supported by the Board and can be brought about within a stable, growing region with the long-term backing of its major stakeholder, Abu Dhabi Investment Council.
A customer-focused strategy
Thursby has set about modernising the bank around a customer-focused strategy based on two pillars: Pillar 1 centred on commercial and retail banking and Pillar 2 focused on wealth management and very concentrated areas of wholesale banking, specifically, trade finance, capital markets and targeted market segments.
He acknowledges that the new strategy has meant changing the organisational structure and bringing in new people but claims to have found some really talented people within the bank who have now been given new opportunities to excel. Despite its strong government business base, the bank has substantial non-government business that requires high levels of customer service and it is here that much of the recent efforts have been focused.
When asked if improving customer service levels represented a cultural challenge, Thursby strongly rejected the notion by asking, “How does Emirate Airlines or Etihad do it?” before acknowledging that a new team will work on the customer service proposition for the next three to four years. The emphasis is on two facets: responding to quickly re...
Categories:
Customer Centricity, Leadership, Retail Banking, Transaction BankingKeywords:NBAD, Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, Customer Service, Wholesale Banking, HKMA, Liquidity, Supply Chains, ROE, ALCO
