Q&A with George Crosby
Q&A with George Crosby
05 April 2025
It’s been just over 12 months since George Crosby stepped into the shoes of Chief Investment Officer at ANZ Investments. We sit down with him to get his take on the year gone by.
You’ve spent a year in the role now – how would you sum it up?
A great challenge. We’ve been going through significant change at ANZ, which is really exciting, as we’re investing to grow the business. Change always brings about challenges but it also opens opportunities – and that is positive.
What have been the standout moments or achievements from the past year at ANZ?
Establishing a partnership with BlackRock, one of the world's leading financial institutions. While we maintain all active investment decision-making responsibility, through our partnership we get access to their technology platform and the analytics from their experts. On the other side, closing our wholesale business was a major moment as that was where ANZ Funds Management started.
What’s been the biggest challenge in the role so far?
Managing the overall investment risk while still seeking high returns!
How do you foster a positive and productive team environment?
Trust is the foundational base in my mind. Ensuring we have transparent and honest communication – that helps healthy debate and, along with clear accountability, I find that creates a positive and productive environment.
What advice would you give to someone aspiring to a leadership role in the investment industry?
I would recommend looking to gain breadth of experience. A successful leader doesn’t need to be an expert in everything. Having a broader range of experiences enables a leader to think about problems from different perspectives and maximise the skills of the team.
How do you see the investment landscape evolving over the next 12 months?
Geopolitical uncertainty and policy changes will be a major cause of volatility – we’re seeing that play out right now with US tariff announcements. In addition, the impact of artificial intelligence, both from an expenditure perspective as well as productivity and ways of working, will be a theme.
What are your top priorities for the coming year, personally and professionally?
The top priority is generating great investment returns for our customers. We’ve got a fantastic team of investment professionals here at ANZ, so making sure we have the right tools in place to manage the portfolios and a positive culture for the team to succeed is what I’m focused on.
Top productivity tip?
Explore the benefits of AI. We’ve recently rolled out Microsoft’s Copilot tool at ANZ and it’s highlighted to me why artificial intelligence is seen as so disruptive. I’m a novice, but from my limited usage I can see the potential productivity gains could be enormous.
Finally - last year, you and your family were starting to tick off the DoC great walks. How’s that going?
We haven’t made as much progress as I would have hoped! The highlight walk with my family last year was the Aotea Track on Great Barrier Island. I would recommend that as a great getaway with spectacular views.
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