Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Why is KKR buying Colonial First State?

It seems a strange time to want to buy into Australian wealth management.

The news that KKR will buy a majority stake in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA) wealth management business is striking from both sides of the fence.

On the Australian side, the seller, it shows that the banking industry’s commitment to get out of wealth management is intact, despite fears that the big four banks might renege on that idea.

Commissioner Kenneth Hayne had suggested that banks having wealth and advisory arms was a breeding ground for conflict of the kind his Royal Commission bluntly exposed.

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