Smith has had some success.
ANZ now has two major hubs in Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore, and the bank derives 25 per cent of its earnings from the Asian region, up from only 7 per cent when Smith took over. All up, however, it's some way from its ambition of becoming a super-regional bank.
But there's no denying the strategy has been expensive and a drag on the bank's capital, particularly at a time when regulators are demanding banks hold more capital to make them stronger and safer in times of market disruptions in the wake of the global financial crisis. The Asian business is also less profitable than the bank's Australian and New Zealand arms.
And it's this - the cost and the lower returns - that investors have chosen to focus on rather than the potential.
When Smith started at ANZ in October 2007, the bank's shares were trading at A$29.61 ($32.39). When his retirement was announced on Thursday they closed at A$27.52, up 1.6 per cent for the day.
It's fair to say none of the big four banks have performed brilliantly over the same period, but ANZ is the third worst performer, beating only perennial laggard the National Australia Bank, owner of BNZ. The Commonwealth Bank is up about 30 per cent over those eight years, compared with ANZ's decline of around 10 per cent.
It's arguable that, among his bank CEO compatriots, Elliott has the most to gain but also the most to lose.
ANZ trades at the lowest price-to-earnings ratio of the big banks and pays the highest dividend yield - a sign investors aren't prepared to pay a premium for the stock because they don't have much faith in the Asian strategy.
The 60-year old Smith is a larger than life figure - he collects Aston Martins and Jaguars and owns a vineyard in the south of France. He has never been afraid to tell Australia's politicians where they are going wrong.
Elliott, 51, who grew up in Auckland's Te Atatu South, is quieter and has a reputation as a strong strategist and as a safe pair of hands.
He will have to build on and consolidate Smith's strategy. He has a good base from which to grow earnings. ANZ is now a diversified bank with strong growth prospects in the region. China might be slowing now, but it will be back and ANZ's Asian footprint puts the bank in a strong position.
By choosing an internal candidate who has worked closely with Smith - Elliott was previously chief financial officer at ANZ - the board is signalling it is going to stick with the Asian Strategy.
Selling commodities to Asia is great while it lasts. But as the crash in the iron ore price and the many Australian mining companies struggling to stay afloat show, strong prices don't last forever.
Building strong sustainable businesses in Asia should also be part of the mix and ANZ should be applauded for sticking with this strategy in the face of so much criticism.
X marks the Uber
A few weeks ago I wrote about how various state and territory governments are holding out against ride sharing service Uber, by making life difficult for its drivers.
The NSW government has come up with a new way to target providers of this useful and innovative service - forcing their cars off the roads by cancelling their vehicle registrations.
They have already cancelled the registrations of 40 drivers.
Once again, the government is bowing to the wishes of the all too powerful taxi lobby. Unlike in New Zealand, taxi services in highly regulated and state governments limit the number of taxi licences on the road to ensure taxi owners and drivers can make a healthy profit.
This makes about as much sense as limiting the amount of margarine that can be produced in order to protect the livelihoods of dairy farmers - something Australia stopped doing in the mid-1970's.
The Australian Capital Territory has already recognised the inevitability of services like Uber taking off, passing legislation in the past week that will make the service legal from the end of the month.
Data shows the value of capital city taxi licence plates has fallen more than A$600 million since January.
The value of Sydney's 5500 metro taxi licences has fallen from A$375,000 to A$300,000, a combined loss of A$400 million. Melbourne's 4300 metro licence plates have fallen from A$290,000 each in January to A$250,000 last month, a loss of $170 million.
