Australian lender Westpac has invited bids for its wealth management unit BT Panorama, worth ~AUD 1.5bn ($1.1bn) as per sources. Indicative offers are expected at the end of April. Westpac is following a strategy to narrow its focus by exiting wealth, pensions, life insurance and auto finance units. These businesses were combined into a Specialist Businesses division in May 2020 with a view to sell them. BT Panorama serves more than 230,000 customers and has ~AUD 105bn ($76.5bn) in funds under management, according to its full year 2021 presentation. The wealth management platform suffered service failures in August, locking out customers and the financial advisers from transacting and receiving statements for many days. Bloomberg notes that BT Panorama is Australia’s largest investment platform and that the details of the sale and size could change.
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