CHIEFTAIN OF THE DAY
The Chieftain of the Day for 2008 is John Stewart, Group Chief Executive Officer of National Australia Bank (NAB).
John is Group Chief Executive Officer of National Australia Bank, a position he has held since February 2004.
In that time, he has led a major turnaround of the organisation, with a particular focus on developing its executive talent and culture and setting the forward
growth strategy. Since John took up the Group CEO position, NAB's market
capitalisation has risen by 60%.
The Group comprises four key businesses: NAB - the Australian retail bank,
and MLC, the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks in the UK, the Bank of New
Zealand, and nabCapital.
John joined the Group in August 2003 as Chief Executive, Europe and
Principal Board Member.
Before NAB, John was Deputy Chief Executive of Barclays PLC, a position he
was appointed to following the acquisition of Woolwich PLC by Barclays in
October 2000. His responsibilities included management of the Personal
Financial Services and Private Client divisions, the Wealth Management
business, and the successful delivery of the Barclays/Woolwich integration
program, which delivered ongoing benefits of £400 million per annum to
the group.
John was appointed to the Board of the Woolwich in 1995 as
Group Operations Director and became Chief Executive in 1996.
John has had a long and successful career in the finance industry since he
first joined the Woolwich in 1977.
John is Chairman of the Australian Bankers' Association (ABA), a Director
of the Business Council of Australia (BCA), a member of the Scottish
Enterprise's International Advisory Board (IAB), which provides an
international perspective on and insights into Scotland's future economic
opportunities, and recently was a member of the Prime Minister's Task
Group on Emissions Trading.
