AMP: in your store now

AMP is set to tap into a new distribution network after launching its first fi-nancial services centre within a department store.

AMP is set to tap into a new distribution network after launching its first fi-nancial services centre within a department store.

The financial services giant has teamed up with Coles Myer to open its first fi-nancial services kiosk at Macquarie Shopping Centre in Sydney's north-west. Cus-tomers doing their shopping at Grace Bros are now able to access the full range of AMP products, from home loans to financial planning advice within Grace Bros. There is also an Internet connection with the updated AMP share price and cus-tomers are able to use phone lines within the kiosk to speak directly to AMP.

The centre will be open seven days a week, during Grace Bros' opening hours. Three AMP staff members will man the store at any given time, according to AMP, including a salaried AMP financial planner. It will operate on a trial basis for the first 12 to 18 months.

"For us this is all very new. We're very much adviser based sales," says AMP Fi-nancial Services distribution chief Neil Swindells.

Swindells says he is confident the venture will be successful, with new leads coming to AMP planners from up to 25,000 customers who shop at the Grace Bros store each week.

"We have a benchmark we set for ourselves -the business it generates and the planning leads it generates. We've already made some sales before we've opened," he says.