Pacific Strategy Partners

Financial Services Industry Experience

We have worked with a wide range of financial services clients in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.  This work has encompassed retail banking, business and institutional banking, wealth management, insurance and payments.  We have worked with clients on problems of distribution, technology investments, new products, pricing, operational improvement and acquisitions.


Retail Banking

We have worked with several major Australian banks to conduct industry and portfolio analysis, improve sales force effectiveness, generate greater fee income, optimise the product portfolio, conduct branch and ATM location analysis, provide customer value algorithm development, develop customer segmentation strategies, develop differentiated service levels and restructure back office processes. Recent project examples include:

  • Investment portfolio analysis to help the central technology and operations group understand the implications of a Super Regional bank on their division.
  • Project portfolio prioritisation, business case and benefit realisation process for a >$1bn project portfolio.
  • Economics and business case development for banking core system replacement, including investments of around $600m.
  • New organisational model of $800m IT function - focused on an internal services model
  • Economic justification and business case for >$200m invesmtent in credit, risk, finance and HR systems
  • Distribution strategy and sales performance enhancement for retail branch network

Case Study: IT Economics - Banking Infrastructure


General Insurance

Our work in the Australian insurance industry has spanned areas such as corporate strategy, business unit strategy, distribution, pricing, business architecture design, customer segmentation, claims cost management, industry analysis and strategy process facilitation.  Recent project examples include:

  • Distribution strategy including optimisation of over 12 separate channels (broker, call centre, net, agent, etc)
  • Strategy and business case for >$100m systems replacement
  • Re-branding strategy for major Australian insurance brand - development of competitive differentiation, proof points and market messages.
  • Productivity optimisation and complexitiy reduction for claims processes with view to workflow and imaging systems implementation.
  • Support re-negotiation of $300m insurance product deal, including fallback plan development.
  • Strategy and business case to profitably grow a business unit
  • Conducted strategic review for life insurance direct operations and product innovation.
  • Roadmap and economics for wholesale core systems rationalisation and replacement for general insurance operations
  • Insurance fraud reduction strategy to improve awareness, deterrance and capture of home and motor insurance fraud
  • Five year strategic plan for workers compensation insurance
  • Technology end state, IT roadmap and economics for workers compensation scheme.
  • Operational performance and process improvement of treasury managed funds workers compensation scheme
  • Workflow system implementation review for insurance claims management - identification of benefits and appropriate rollout schedule
  • Growth strategy and market entry analysis, including market size and profitability estimates, competitive landscape and current dealers
  • Resourcing model development to determine staff requirements for desired service level

Case Study: Insurance Distribution Strategy

Case Study: Insurance - Claims Fraud Strategy


Mergers & Acquisitions

We have assisted clients and private equity players complete M&A transactions with industry analysis and financial modelling.  Some project examples include:

  • Acquisition strategy to restructure distribution value chain, followed by acquisition valuation and support
  • Due diligence on acquisition of insurance manufacturer who distributes through mortgage brokers

Wealth Management

  • Developed distribution strategy, customer segmentation and process improvement

Payments

  • Market due diligence for merger of Australian payments, switching, POS and ATM organisations, inlcuding development of growth strategies.

Credit Cards

  • Developed improved pricing, credit scoring and fraud detection processes and increasing fee realisation.

 
 

  • Insurance Partner Distribution

    Insurance Partner Distribution Strategy

    Our client had a long standing complex agreement for the distribution of financial services products through another ASX100 company. We worked with the client to address key issues that had arisen, developing a new operating model and organisation structure that addressed all the material issues with the current relationship, including an equitable distribution of profit and provided a growth story for both parties.

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  • Retail Bank IT Infrastructure

    Retail Bank IT Infrastructure

    Our client, a major Australian bank, had underinvested in technology infrastructure over a period in which business and technological complexity expanded dramatically. This resulted in a complex, fragmented legacy IT infrastructure with poor functionality. A banking infrastructure project was initiated to develop a comprehensive strategy to transform the IT infrastructure from a complex and high cost constraint to a simpler, lower cost enabler of future business.

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  • Insurance Provider Fraud Strategy

    Insurance Provider Fraud Strategy

    Our client, a major Australian insurance company with a centralised claims division, processed over $1b of claims per year. Processes to detect and act on claims fraud were poor, and significant claims fraud / leakage was occuring. Working with a joint client team, we developed an end to end process map of the fraud situation - including external market and perception factors. Over a three month period a fact pack was developed and diagnosis was performed.

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