Executives banking on change

Four WA ex-banking executives have taken new roles in vastly different fields.

DRIVEN by their love of Western Australia and the desire to raise their families here, four WA banking executives have pulled up stumps at their respective posts and taken up positions in unrelated fields.

The latest to leave is Dean Nalder, who started his new job as Australia Post's commercial manager this week after a successful career with ANZ Banking Group.

During his 18 years with the bank, Mr Nalder held 13 different roles and shifted state no less than five times. But, he insists he is still a 'Perth boy'.

"I started life as a financial planner with ANZ back in 1990, and by 2002 I was general manager of the financial planning division," Mr Nalder told WA Business News.

"To progress your career in a large organisation like that you need to go where the head office is, which was Melbourne."

About five years ago, Mr Nalder declined various job offers from ANZ and instead took the highest-ranking role based in WA, despite the bank considering it a step back in his career, with the sole intention of moving back to Perth with his family.

Based in WA for the past four years as ANZ's general manager retail banking SA and WA, he was also the chief executive's representative on the west coast.

"It was a figurehead role, like the face of ANZ for the state, the go-to person for local operational issues," Mr Nalder said.

A fellow ANZ staffer to leave the fold is Wallis Drilling chief operating officer Mark Crumby. Mr Crumby recently wound up his 20-year career with ANZ, spending the past two years in Melbourne as corporate banking executive director, before starting with the Midvale-based contract drilling service company in mid-March.

"I wanted to do five years and two executive roles in Melbourne but ended up only doing the one, but it was always my intention to leave the organisation and come back into an executive role outside of banking and finance," Mr Crumby said.

"It's not unusual, in fact it's relatively common, where WA-based parties who have been in executive roles in banking and finance move back home and go into roles outside banking and finance."

Proton Promotional managing director and co-owner Peter Clarke left banking for a very different field of work.

About three years ago, Mr Clarke amicably finished up his 20th year with Bankwest during a restructure that made his position as the organisations' national manager business banking redundant.

Mr Clarke believes plenty of skills from banking translate through to his work with the West Perth-based Proton, which provides promotional products for businesses, resulting in positive results for his clients.

"People will ring you up and thank you [in my current role], whereas in banking you can do a lot of very good work and they never say thank you, they say, 'what about the $500 fee, can you waive it?...To be honest, no, I wouldn't go back to banking."

RAC general manager people and operations Tony Pickworth is another former ANZ employee happy to be out of banking.

He wound up his 19-year career at ANZ in 2003 as its regional manager small medium business southern region, based in Melbourne.

"The reasons for leaving were family related and even though ANZ was a national company the senior roles don't exist in this state anymore, so I left and took up a position here with the RAC where I've been since," he said.