The growth of superannuation and the managed funds sector has steadily drained retail funds from banks. CBA and NAB now have the capacity to offer that full range of investment and banking services. If McFarlane is right, however, they may not have either the scale or the global capabilities that will enable them to compete in funds management in the longer term. Neither Cicutto nor Murray, nor Westpac's David Morgan, would or could accept that, mainly because on their view of the future staying out of funds management would simply accelerate and ensure their demise. They want to secure their relationships with their customers.
Credit is a commodity and one where relationships mean little.
Savings, on the other hand, create relationships and trust and brand loyalty that may extend to the full range of supporting bank services. It has to have some funds management capabilities. It doesn't, however, believe it necessarily has to manufacture its own products. A bank's strength is its distribution capabilities. That isn't a radical position.