AMP queried on clients left on legacy platforms
AMP Limited has been asked why a number of its financial planning clients had been left on under-performing platforms despite the availability of other options.
Under questioning during the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, AMP head of platform development, John Keating, confirmed that 1,332 clients remained within the under-performing WealthView platform even though it had been placed “on hold” in 2016.
Keating was queried by Senior Counsel assisting the Royal Commission, Michael Hodge QC, on why AMP Financial Planning had not therefore been asked for the names of the planners representing the clients still on the under-performing platforms and why they had not been moved.
Keating responded that there could be a number of reasons, including clients being in the pension phase and the possible impacts on deeming rates and Centrelink benefits as well as, possibly, the impact on their insurance arrangements.
Hodge suggested that the failure to move clients off the under-performing platforms meant they were being charged a price incompatible with the market. Keating said that AMP had, in fact, upgraded a number of its platforms but had tended to focus on what it believed to be more contemporary products.
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