Mike Baird is the first Australian politician to make the leap from parliament to business with a more than even chance of having a shot at becoming the chief executive of a top 100 company.
But in order for that to happen he has to use every one of his diverse array of skills to turn around what is clearly the country's worst performing corporate and institutional banking business.
As one industry expert told Chanticleer on Tuesday, NAB's corporate and institutional bank has been "batting four out of four" for a decade.
Baird admitted at a press conference on Tuesday that the task ahead of him was tough given the low margins earned by the bank's corporate and institutional business and NAB's need to maximise the use of its precious capital.
NAB is a laggard in corporate and institutional bank for two reasons. It is not competitive in the two segments of the market that are critical to success – transactional banking and financial markets.
In transactional banking the two leaders are Westpac Banking Corp and Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Having control of a corporation's transactional banking business goes a long way towards providing them with a range of other more profitable services.
When it comes to financial markets - debt capital markets, foreign exchange and money markets – the industry leaders are Westpac and ANZ Banking Group.
The big question that was left unanswered on Monday was this: Has NAB's chief executive Andrew Thorburn given Baird the mandate and the resources to take on his rivals?
There is only so much Baird can do without actually spending large wads of money on poaching top talent from rival banks.
The word from inside NAB is that Baird had about a dozen offers following his resignation from politics on January 19.
Chanticleer understands that he only took four of them seriously, including one offer from another big four bank. That Baird's list was short of possible destinations was probably because of his strict requirement that his next job should be based in Sydney.
NAB's Thorburn, who contacted Baird two days after his resignation as premier, has given his new recruit the flexibility to attend to urgent family health issues if necessary.
Baird's decision to go with NAB says a lot about his energy and passion for a new challenge.
He will be one of 10 direct reports to Thorburn, who was appointed CEO in August 2014 and can be expected to remain in the job until at least 2020.
Baird's people skills and depth of knowledge about finance would put him on an equal footing with NAB's existing favoured candidates to replace Thorburn – chief operating officer Antony Cahill, head of consumer and wealth Andrew Hagger, head of business and private Angela Mentis and chief risk officer David Gall.
He has joined an elite group of highly paid executives. Based on what his peers earn, Baird would be on a base pay of $1.2 million with short term and long-term incentive targets that could easily make his total package of around $2.5 million.
Baird has a number of advantages over other politicians who made a new life in the corporate sector.
His first advantage is that he has spent more time in banking than in politics. He was a politician for 10 years including premier for three years and spent 17 years in banking including stints at NAB, Deutsche Bank and HSBC.
The second reason Baird has the edge on other politicians is that he is actually running a significant business. As a standalone entity, the corporate and institutional bank would rival many commercial banks around the world.
NAB's total corporate lending exposure is $261 billion. However, that includes small business lending.
Most politicians who leave parliament go into corporate affairs, lobbying or glad handing roles.
The other career stream for former politicians is as chairmen or non-executive director positions.
Former state premiers who ended up as non-executive directors include John Brumby, Steve Bracks, Keith de Lacy.
Former politicians who became chairman or non-executive directors include Mark Vaile, John Anderson, Martin Ferguson and Peter Costello.
Politicians who have gone for corporate affairs or lobbying roles include Alan Carpenter, Anna Bligh and John Brogden.
One outstanding success among former politicians is Warwick Smith, who has had a range of different roles at ANZ Banking Group and in the Kerry Stokes empire.
Baird has another distinct advantage over most of these other politicians in business and that is his youth.
He will be 49 on April 1. That means he has sufficient time to turn around the NAB corporate and institutional banking division and work in another line job at NAB.
Success in both these endeavours would give him a better than even chance of putting his hand up for a CEO position whether it is at NAB or elsewhere.
