Coles is considering becoming a member of the powerful Financial Services Council, giving it a seat at the table among the nation’s leading wealth managers just as the supermarket giant gathers momentum for its own aggressive push into the financial services sector.
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The supermarket group has begun talks with the Financial Services Council, run by former New South Wales opposition leader John Brogden. It's keen to plug into the lobby group’s deep network of members and gain access to its insights into Australia’s trillion dollar finance sector, Fairfax Media has learned.
If Coles were to eventually sign up as a member of the council it would become the first pure retailer to join its ranks, with the 125 existing members drawn exclusively from the insurance, funds management, trustees, financial planning and superannuation sectors.
“Coles has spoken to the Financial Services Council about potential membership but has not as yet made a decision on applying to join,’’ a Coles spokesman confirmed.
The move by Coles dove-tails with its wider strategy of pushing into the sector by offering its supermarket customers a growing range of financial products.
Earlier this month Coles unveiled a joint venture with global finance giant GE Capital to issue credit cards, personal finance products, and from next year on small personal loans.
The supermarket group already offers insurance products and credit cards and is speculated to be also keen on acquiring a banking licence which would allow it to take deposits, following an overseas trend where many large supermarket retailers have developed highly profitable banking arms.
The Financial Services Council carries a lot of weight as its members combined represent more than $2.5 trillion in savings on behalf of Australians.
Current members include companies such as AMP, BT, CBA Wealth, ING Bank, IOOF, MLC and Suncorp.
Joining the club would trigger a flow of important non-financial benefits to Coles such as access to the industry's lobbying activities in Canberra and crucial insider information about important trends within the financial services market.
In June, Coles triggered a major reshuffle of its operations that underlined its keen interest in financial services when it appointed Rob Scott to take up a new position as managing director of Wesfarmers Financial Services. He will start in October.
It is believed this division will take a lead in furthering Coles’ ambitious goal to break into financial services.
