AMP’s George puts growth back on the agenda
AMP chief executive Alexis George says the company is “living and breathing organic growth” as it enters the final year of its business simplification program.
The firm announced its FY24 financial results on 14 February which reported a statutory net profit after tax of $150 million, following the divestment of its advice division in December and ongoing business transformation costs.
Some $60 million was spent on this in FY24 and it is expected to reach $150 million by completion, with the majority being completed in FY25.
Speaking to Money Management, chief executive Alexis George said the company is now “living and breathing organic growth” after a period of divestments. As well as the advice divestment, it previously divested the AMP Capital real estate and domestic infrastructure business, its equity interest in Resolution Life, and self-managed superannuation technology business SuperConcepts.
“For the first few years [as CEO], it is a bit of a clean-up process of the portfolio, focusing on simplification and efficiencies. Now we’ve done a lot of the hard work, it is time to reprioritise growth.
“I really see opportunities in the platform business as that proposition has always been strong. We are working on the sales capabilities there and the digital proposition, our retirement solutions are gaining traction.”
AMP saw a 96 per cent increase in net cash flow, from $1.4 billion to $2.8 billion, as a result of higher inflows from the growth in North managed portfolios which reached $19.1 billion in assets under management. During the year, the firm signed 99 new distribution agreements with AFSLs for its North platform.
Total platform assets under management stand at $79.8 billion, up from $71 billion at the start of the year.
While AMP is looking at organic growth, Insignia has been fielding bids from three private equity players to acquire 100 per cent of the firm. Although the two firms were once Australia’s largest advice licensees, George said they are different companies in their current forms, and that AMP is therefore unlikely to see a similar approach.
“They are quite different businesses; Insignia is about wealth management and advice, whereas AMP also has the bank and the partnership. AMP is also a lot further down the path on our simplification journey, so it is quite a different space.
As for why overseas players may be attracted to Australia, she said: “The long-term dynamics for advice in Australia are good. You have super contributions at 12 per cent, wealth going into the retirement market, so the dynamics of the industry are strong.”
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Laura Dew
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