The the insurance, superannuation and investments product businesses in Australia will be formed into a focused unit called Australia Wealth, while wealth products and services will become part of expanded retail divisions in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, according to a statement yesterday.

As part of the restructuring, Joyce Phillips, who has been group executive for wealth, marketing and innovation, will be leaving the firm, it said. Chief executive Shayne Elliott lauded her achievements in the role. Her future plans were not disclosed in the statement.

The decision comes following a series of announcements on structural changes and new appointments (and a CFO appointment yet to come) made since the start of the year, as Elliott took over at .

“There's a lot more capital intensity, there's a lot more compliance issues to think about. And that really causes us to question the operating model and the way that we run that business,” Elliott said. “I just want to be ahead of the game rather than responding to it," he added.

Elliott said there will not be dramatic outcomes for shareholders.  

“We’ve got about 40 per cent of our capital as a group sitting in our retail and commercial businesses which are terrific; we’ve got about 50 per cent sitting in our institutional and Asia-Pacific businesses and it’s about only 10 per cent that sits in wealth. So we want to really maximise and liberate that 10 per cent of our capital in wealth and do the best that we can with it," he said.

ANZ's wealth management arm oversees assets of A$67 billion ($48.4 billion), according to an Australian financial news service.