Group strategy
The Nedbank vision is 'to become southern Africa's most highly rated and respected bank ... by our staff, clients, shareholders, regulators and communities'.
The vision is supported by the group's Deep Green aspirations (long-term objectives), namely to become a great place to work, a great place to bank and a great place to invest; unleashing synergies in Nedbank and Old Mutual groups; being worldclass at managing risk; creating a community of leaders; having the most respected and aspirational financial services brand; being recognised for being highly involved in the community and environment; leading transformation; and living our values.
Underpinning the vision and strategy is the group's values that drive our decisions and behaviours, namely integrity, respect, accountability, pushing beyond boundaries and being people-centred.
During 2007 the strategy was further refined as the executive team, along with 500 leaders from across the group, considered various strategic issues and their interrelationships. As a result the strategic focus areas that were identified in 2006 were enhanced and expanded. The strategic choices made in 2006 were ratified and remain unchanged, being:
- embrace the public sector by providing a full spectrum of solutions;
- maintain market leadership in corporate social investment, but take this to an even higher level;
- become a full-spectrum bank that seeks to be a leader in most market segments;
- expand the group's risk appetite and universe for new and existing activities;
- update IT infrastructure, applications and systems continually;
- have the best people across the whole business;
- expand the Nedbank presence in Africa;
- establish a boutique international wholesale presence and capability;
- focus on bancassurance and synergies with Old Mutual Group companies; and
- build the Nedbank brand, with Old Mutual endorsement, on an ongoing basis.
The group strategic focus areas for 2008 to 2010
Deliver sustainable financial outperformance
- Get the numbers - with the turnaround completed, the group is shifting its focus towards achieving peerrelated financial performance with a target of ROE (excluding goodwill) greater than 10% above the group's monthly weighted average cost of ordinary shareholders' equity and growth in diluted headline earnings per share of at least average CPIX plus GDP growth plus 5%.
Invest for growth
- Grow Retail - this strategic change thrust will see Nedbank taking advantage of opportunities in the emerging mass and middle markets as well as supporting the transformation of the South African economy. The strategy remains focused on delivering the internal vision of becoming 'South Africa's fastest-growing retail bank'. The overall strategic orientation for 2008 will see asset growth at, or reasonably above, projected market growth levels; a strong focus on NIR and transactional numbers; a conservative credit policy and focus on collections and impairments, implementing and maximising the synergies from the Old Mutual Bank integration and continuing to roll out our distribution strategy; focus on transformation, including execution of mass-market strategy; and stringent expense control.
- Take the lead in business banking - Nedbank has historically been strong in this market, but there is still significant opportunity to grow. Through the ASCENT strategy we will leverage the high-return, high-growth and high-loyalty characteristics of this market, ie Acquire primary banked clients; Sales force productivity and size; Cross-sell; Easy to do business with Nedbank; New markets and products; Talented, skilled and energised people.
- Implement a three-tiered African strategy - Africa is a rapidly growing market and the group aims to unlock this growth opportunity. The three-tiered African strategy is built on improving and growing existing businesses, pursuing low-cost entry into new countries through selected banking solutions, and making targeted acquisitions.
- Become public sector bank of choice - Nedbank will continue to improve its market share and image in this segment by building relationships and developing appropriate solutions.
Enhance productivity and execution
- Enhance productivity and execution - the group will increase its focus on lean practices to improve the client experience, while saving money.
Manage risk as an enabler
- Manage through the economic cycle - the external environment is cyclical and strategies are developed to manage the bank through these different cycles.
- Adopt worldclass risk practices - business requires enabling risk practices to drive growth and be able to compete effectively. In addition, worldclass practices such as Basel II will assist Nedbank in producing superior returns through capital and risk optimisation.
Accelerate transformation
- Accelerate transformation - transformation is a business imperative and the group needs to respond to South Africa's changing demographics. Delivering key projects and initiatives to meet FSC, dti and EE targets will remain focus areas.
Grow stakeholder relations
- Build an innovative staff culture as a competitive advantage - a differentiated corporate culture can build a sustainable long-term competitive advantage and will help to attract and retain talented staff. The various management and leadership development programmes are key enablers.
- Become employer of choice - market competition for talent is increasing. Continued focus on making Nedbank a great place to work will help us attract the best people.
- Empower our clients - this involves delivering affordable and responsible banking solutions through low-cost channels, which along with a focus on consumer education will become especially important in the mass- and middle-market segments.
- Build our brand - although a lot has already been accomplished, more brand-building work will be done, specifically in the mass market where additional marketing efforts will be required to support our sales and growth efforts. The focus on establishing Nedbank as the 'caring bank' that provides smart solutions will continue.
- Maintain shareholder and management alignment - significant work has been done in leveraging the combined strength of Nedbank, OMSA and M&F. Further opportunities exist to extract synergies already identified.
- Ensure ongoing relations with shareholders - it is essential that they are kept informed of group activities and objectives.
- Grow regulator/government relationships - in an environment of increasing regulation and compliance the group will capitalise on opportunities to engage with policymakers and participate in policy development.
- Lead as a corporate citizen - social and environmental issues are important to clients and stakeholders. The group is well-positioned to enhance its established lead in these areas.
- Focus on clients' needs - the group will continue listening to its clients, understanding their needs and delivering. Worldclass service remains a key focus and area of differentiation for the group across multiple clusters.
| This page was updated on 21 August, 2008 |  Return to top |
For Nedbank products, services and branch details please visit www.nedbank.co.za.