AMP offers support for client losses
AMP Financial Services has written to clients of banned advisers Andy Pal and Anthony Howarth to invite them to consider whether they can claim for lost money from inappropriately recommended investments.
Pal and Howarth, who operated under the name of the Macquarie Advisory Group (not associated with Macquarie bank), were representatives of licensed dealers Hillross Financial Services and AMP Financial Planning. During this time, they recommended to their clients investments which were not approved by either Hillross or AMP. Some of the investments have subsequently made a loss.
AMP's letter to clients of the pair offers those clients who have made a loss the opportunity to make a claim against Pal, Howarth or Macquarie, which was liquidated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) in December 1999. The letter also informs them that they may be eligible to make a claim against Hillross and/or AMP.
AMP financial services director Steve Helmich says AMP regrets the circumstances under which clients may have lost money.
"AMP and Hillross have worked closely with ASIC on this matter since we first reported Pal and Howarth to them in 1999. We acted quickly and notified the authorities promptly," he says.
Helmich notes that none of the investments recommended by the advisers were endorsed by AMP or Hillross. The pair invested more than $10 million on behalf of their clients in investments not on AMP's approved list, some of which have collapsed.
"Nevertheless," he says, "in all our dealings and in any situation the customers' interests are paramount and we will support legitimate claims, including providing an opportunity for affected clients to discuss their claims with us."
A panel of authorised financial planners will be made available to affected clients to assist them straightening out their financial affairs, Helmich says.
AUTHOR
Lachlan Gilbert
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