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Monash Business Review |
Australian Industry Group National Forum 2007
Canberra, Australia
www.aigroup.asn.au
August 27–30
5 th Annual Retail Financial Services Forum
Sydney, Australia
www.retailfinancialservices.com.au
2007 AIM Management Convention
Sydney, Australia
www.aim.com.au
September 22–24
Australia – China International Business Research Conference
Beijing, China
www.buseco.monash.edu.au/mgt/research/acibrc
September 24–25
12 th Finsia – Melbourne Centre for Financial Studies Banking and Finance Conference
Melbourne, Australia
12 th International Metropolis Conference
Melbourne, Australia
www.globalmovements.monash.edu.au/events/metropolis2007.html
As a presenter at this conference, I talked about the threats and opportunities posed worldwide by the entry of retailers into the financial services market. What struck me most was learning that it is estimated up to 20 per cent of US households are ‘unbanked’ – that is, no member of the household has a relationship with a bank – and that many who used to have a relationship have since decided to terminate it. This means that rather like ‘pay-as-you-go’ mobile phone users, they have no contract with a service provider (bank) instead preferring to do their financial services business on an ad-hoc basis. This is a great opportunity for US retailers such as Wal-Mart who offer low-cost services such as payroll cheque cashing, money transfers and money orders to the ‘underserved’ in the US. Wal-Mart calculates it saves a customer earning $300 per week around $450 per year by doing their ‘banking’ at Wal-Mart.
While Australia does not have such a large ‘underserved’ market for financial services, this has not stopped retailers like David Jones from seeking to enter the market and gain a bigger share of their customer’s purse or wallet spend.
Review by Professor Steve Worthington, Monash University.
Company Directors Conference 2007More than 500 company directors attended this three-day conference at the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel, Shanghai. Hosted by the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), the conference – held offshore for the first time – provided a general update for directors on corporate governance, with a heavy emphasis on the current growth and future prospects for China and South East Asia. The unique location, various briefing sessions on doing business in China and exceptional organisation made this conference truly memorable. Networking opportunities, including cocktail parties, golf and the black tie Gala Dinner, where delegates and their partners were entertained by Human Nature, were of particular significance. I have attended the AICD Company Directors Conference for each of the last seven years and will certainly be present next year.
Review by Colin J Henson FAICD, non-executive chairman of ERG and Bishop Technology Group, and a non-executive director of MYOB.
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URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MonashBusRw/2007/35.html