By Chris Betros

Executive Impact Sep. 22, 2008 - 05:40AM JST ( 5 )

TOKYO —

Greg Story might not have come to Japan if it hadn’t been for a Japanese TV show called “The Samurai,” which was a hit on Australian TV in the 1960s. It got him interested in Japanese culture and when the show’s star, Koichi Osei, came to Australia, he was greeted as a superstar.

Story’s interest in “The Samurai” (and Japan) led him to study martial arts when he was 17 (he ultimately received his 5th dan in Shito-ryu karate in 1985). He first came to Japan in 1979 on a Monbusho scholarship, studying Japanese at Sophia University. He then completed a Master’s Degree there and followed that up with a PhD in political science and international relations from Griffith University in Brisbane.

Japan Today editor Chris Betros visits Story to find out how he went from being an academic to Country Head of the National Australia Bank.

What was your original plan?

Having completed my Ph.D., I planned to lecture at a university as an academic. That was the time of the bubble economy in Japan. People found out I spoke Japanese and knew about Japan and I started getting calls for advice. I could see a business opportunity and started my own consultancy in Brisbane. I was then recruited by Jones Lang Wooton, an international real estate company, and worked there for three years.

Foreign investment from Japan gradually dried up, so I moved to Austrade (Australian Trade Commission) and was sent to Japan to open their office in Nagoya. I moved up to become the senior trade commissioner and consul-general in Osaka for 4 1/2 years. Later I became a minister in the embassy and simultaneously, country head for Austrade in Japan.

How did you get into the banking industry?

I was scouted by Shinsei Bank, even though I didn’t have a banking background. They needed someone who could do a sales force turnaround. I was there for four years before being recruited by NAB this year, basically to do another turnaround.

How long has NAB been in Japan?

The bank started operations in Japan in 1969 with a representative office in Tokyo. It became a branch in 1985 and in 1994, it merged with the Bank of New Zealand’s Tokyo branch after the Bank of New Zealand joined the National Australia Bank group. The bank went through a period of centralization and we’re now into a decentralization phase. The decision-making for Japan, a lot of which used to be made in our Hong Kong regional HQ, now sits squarely with me.

What are the bank’s main services?

We offer a wide range of financial services with the focus on retail and private banking. For example, we offer very high-interest term deposits in foreign currencies. That is a very big and popular part of our business. Let’s say you’ve got a chunk of money sitting around in yen in a Japanese bank, getting no interest, because you think that at some stage you’re going to send it home or do something with it. You can park it with us for 6 months in Aussie or Kiwi dollars for around a 7% interest return. Then you might roll it over and keep going, or you might send it home.

What about property financing?

Another very important part of our business, especially for expats. For example, if you want to buy a home in Japan, Australia, New Zealand or the UK, we will loan you the money at Japanese interest rates here to buy a house. If you were to borrow from a bank in Australia, you’d be paying around 9% to the bank there. Here, you’ll pay under 3% if you do it with us. You use your yen income to make the repayments on the loan.

We are also doing local property financing here. Let’s say you are paying 400,000 yen a month for rent. That money is lost to you. We can help you have your own apartment. You take that 400,000 yen and put it into your repayments for a yen loan here. That way, you build up equity in a property that you now own, rather than making the landlord rich.

I’ve noticed a lot of ads for the National Australia Bank lately in English media.

We are really working hard to target the foreign community for our property loans. We’ve been getting good results from the campaign, too. For our foreign currency deposits we focus on the Japanese local market and we do substantial advertising in the mainstream Japanese media as well.

One of your strategies seems to be building the bank’s profile.

Yes. For a couple of years before I joined, NAB basically was very quiet. You didn’t hear much about it, or if you did, you probably thought of the bank as being focused on corporate banking. When I joined, I felt strongly that we had to pick up momentum in terms of brand-building and profile. So I allocated the budgets to invest in that.

Are Japanese customers wary of you just because you are a foreign bank?

It helps our Japanese customers to know that we have been here for 40 years. We are AA rated—the best Japanese banks are only A-plus, so we are two ranks ahead of them. Overall, we tend to attract a certain demographic prepared to take currency risks and with substantial money to invest.

Tell us about your team.

We have 30 staff, including three foreigners, involved in private banking, marketing, compliance, housing loans, HR, IT, operations and finance. We are definitely going to expand. Fortunately, I have a big network, plus we use recruiters, so I think we will be able to find the right people.

What is a typical day for you?

I get up at 4:45 a.m., do some stretching and then head off to a local park for a workout of karate basics and kata. I try to have read four newspapers every morning, before I start work at the office around 7:30 a.m. The day varies. There will be a lot of meetings both outside and internal. My job is to set the strategy, create the culture to deliver that strategy and help staff become the best they can be. I try and finish around 6 p.m. I strongly encourage a work-life balance among the team. This is the advantage of working for a “gaishikei” company. What I don’t want is people just hanging around, waiting for the boss to leave, like you see in a typical Japanese company.

What outside activities are you involved in?

I am chairman of the Australia New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan. It’s very active. Last year, we had more than 80 events, mostly breakfasts and dinners. It takes up more time than I anticipated, but it is very rewarding. I have also been a lecturer and a team mentor with the Japan Market Expansion Competition (JMEC) for the last 5 years.

And do you still like “The Samurai?”

Funny you should mention that. I was watching TV late one night not too long ago, and Koichi Osei came on. I don’t know how old he is now, but he looked great. To a young boy growing up in Brisbane in the 1960s, raised on American cowboy shows and superheroes, the martial arts action on “The Samurai” with Osei as the hero Shintaro was fantastic, and who can forget the “bad guys,” the dreaded Iga Ninja and Koga Ninja! My 7-year-old son Riki is also enjoying the DVDs I bought of the show, so we watch it together sometimes.

For further information on the National Australia Bank in Japan, visit www.nabasia.co.jp.