Credit Suisse's former top Asian private banker is facing stiffer headwinds than expected in his new CEO job in Australia – including a surprise pay cut.
Francesco de Ferrari took the top job at AMP, a Sydney-based wealth manager, nearly one year ago. His first eight months at the troubled Australian company have proven more torrid than anyone expected.
This week, AMP asked shareholders to inject A$650 million ($441 million) in a capital increase, revived the sale of a life insurance unit, and flagged job cuts to its adviser workforce, which is roughly 2,500 bankers.
The moves will have a direct impact on a lucrative payday awaiting de Ferrari, the former head of Credit Suisse in Asia who shocked the Swiss bank with his defection last year. AMP hired him as a so-called «clean skin», a non-Australian to clean up a major scandal over misleading customers and lying to its regulator.
Swiss Bank Ties
The only problem is that de Ferrari couldn't give AMP a quick boost with his entrance into the CEO job in December: the stock has fallen sharply since then. This week, AMP lowered de Ferrari's targets to factor in the company's circumstances – as well as to head off public criticism. The move translates to an A$4.6 million cut in pay for de Ferrari, according to calculations by «AFR».
«A number of shareholders have also expressed concern that the current long-term incentives may no longer be realistic,» AMP Chairman David Murray said in a statement on de Ferrari's pay adjustment. De Ferrari, who was widely tipped to take over Credit Suisse's overall private banking unit, didn't comment.
If the 17 years he spent Swiss bank now seems a world away, de Ferrari apparently hasn't entirely forgotten his roots: AMP's cap hike is being chaperoned by investment bankers from UBS – and Credit Suisse.
