IOOF makes big promises

IOOF has promised shareholders it will deliver 15 per cent growth in earnings for this financial year.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Melbourne yesterday, IOOF chief executive officer Tony Robinson said market conditions would help achieve this figure.

“We are in a terrific market and superannuation continues to grow,” he said.

“We are well placed to continue our growth and we will be focusing on organic growth while developing new products and distribution channels.”

However, Robinson warned growing volatility in equity markets and inflation risks could impact on IOOF’s growth prospects.

“Growth in equity markets helps us to drive up revenue and profit, but it is not without risks,” he said.

“The other risk to our business is losing staff.

“The financial services industry has full employment, so it is very difficult to replace good staff if somebody leaves.”

Robinson said the focus would be on keeping existing staff, although he did not explain how this would be achieved.

The poorly attended AGM only produced one question, and that was from former IOOF chief executive officer Rob Turner, who wanted to know why the former general manager of corporate operations, Susan Foley, was paid almost three times her salary in termination benefits.

She was paid $871,474 in termination payments on a base salary of $239,999. This gave her a leaving package with other benefits of $1.129 million, which compared to former chief executive officer Ron Dewhurst’s leaving package of $1.123 million.

IOOF chairman of the remuneration committee Kate Spargo said the figure was based on the redundancy component of Foley’s package, but the company had revised these policies for future senior executives.

IOOF has ruled out a dividend reinvestment plan in the near future, although it will continue to review the decision.