AMP still assessing fallout from enforceable undertaking

AMP Financial Planning (AMPFP) does not expect to determine immediately the effect of its enforceable undertaking to the corporate regulator, but has put procedures in place to reinforce the public’s confidence in the financial services brand.

“It’s a little too early to know what the impact of the situation has been because tracking of the brand is done over the long-term and not the short-term. So at this juncture we would not be sure as to the long-term implications,” AMPFP managing director Michael Guggenheimer said.

“What we know from a customer’s perspective, and that’s the perspective we try to look at when it comes to brand, is that they place a lot of trust in AMP and see it as an iconic brand. Therefore, it’s important that when we do make mistakes the rectification or the remedy to the mistake is done really, really well,” he added.

Guggenheimer pointed out that since the enforceable undertaking had been given to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) a complaints line had been set up for customers who had any queries regarding the turn of events and only a very small number of people had called in.

In terms of AMP financial planners, he said some had expressed disappointment over what had happened regarding the enforceable undertaking.

“It’s fair to say some of our advisers are naturally disappointed because any publicity of this ilk is not necessarily good publicity,” Guggenheimer said.

He noted that each financial planner under the AMP banner was probably assessing the implications the enforceable undertaking had for their practice differently. As such, the financial services firm has committed to conducting one-on-one meetings with every planner in the dealer group to help them through the process.

“We’re having one-on-one meetings with every single authorised representative around the country over the next eight weeks to say, ‘You’ve heard about the changes, we’ve made some changes to the documentation and the process, how are you feeling about that and, most importantly, which are the areas that you need assistance and support in to enable you to make these changes a reality in your practice?’,” Guggenheimer explained.