Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) assistant governor Luci Ellis has been appointed the new chief economist at Westpac, marking the first time in history that a woman has taken the role of chief economist at a big four bank.
Ellis will succeed Bill Evans, who has been the chief economist at Westpac since 1991. From January next year, Evans will begin a new role as senior economic adviser, according to AFR.
On Monday, Evans said that Westpac needed “generational change and the candidate fits that perfectly”.
“Luci is among a handful of the most qualified economists in the country,” he said in an interview with AFR.
After thirty-two years at the RBA, Ellis said she wanted a new challenge.
Ellis stepped into her role as Assistant Governor in 2016, after heading the RBA’s Financial Stability department for eight years.
Ellis’ move away from the RBA comes after a recent spate of other high profile departures including former head of Domestic Markets department Jonathan Kearns, and former-deputy governor Guy Debelle, who left in March 2022 to join Fortescue Future Industries.