Cornerstone Managed Portfolios respond to increasing adviser and investor preference for transparent, personalised investment solutions, and growing demand for lower-cost, actively managed portfolios.

Aligned AMP advice practice, Invest Blue, collaborated with AMP and Russell Investments to design and build the new offer, which includes four separately partnered managed portfolios.

The portfolios provide Invest Blue’s advisers and clients with access to transparent investment portfolios, tailored to specific client needs.

Shaune Egan, AMP’s Director Wrap Product, said the new offer reflects AMP’s ongoing commitment to firmly establish MyNorth as the leading wrap platform in the Australian market.

“Our strategy for MyNorth is anchored to three objectives – cost effectiveness, seamless administrative functionality and unrivalled investment choice.

“This new offer continues the delivery of this strategy, supporting advisers in providing clients with tailored, cost effective portfolios, constructed and managed by a leading investment manager.

“Advisers and clients will benefit from centralised trading teams and strong investment governance processes which minimise risk and support practice profitability,” Mr Egan said.

David Stephen, Invest Blue’s Managing Director, said “the new portfolios strengthen Invest Blue’s value proposition, providing clients with access to bespoke, high-quality, transparent investment options.

Jodie Hampshire, Managing Director of Russell Investments Australia, said “we are seeing increased demand from many financial advice licensees and large practices for independent, world class investments, packaged and structured to suit specific client needs”.

The new offer expands MyNorth’s partnered managed portfolio range following the launch of portfolios with advice practice, the Weinberg Private Group and other independent advice practices in 2019.

Cashflows on the North platform increased 52 per cent to A$2.0 billion in the first half of 2020, driven in part by continued inflows from external financial advisers, which increased by 39 per cent to A$700 million.

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Fabian Bussoletti

Australians close to retirement will have the opportunity to contribute more money into their superannuation should several new measures announced in the Federal Budget become law.

The government has revealed three key changes to super policy, broadly amending certain age and work test requirements while also extending the ability to bring-forward non-concessional superannuation contributions. These changes will give Australians more flexibility and the ability to contribute more money into super as they near retirement.

AMP Technical Strategy Manager Fabian Bussoletti has analysed the budget papers and made the following key findings.

Work test abolished for Australians aged 65 and 66

The government has announced from July 2020, people aged 65 and 66 will be able to make voluntary concessional and non-concessional super contributions without having to first meet a work test.

Currently, when Australians reach age 65, the ability to make superannuation contributions becomes more difficult as there is a requirement to meet a work test of 40 hours over a consecutive 30-day period.

“Abolishing the work test for those aged 65 and 66 gives people more time to make super contributions both concessional and non-concessional.

“They may have the ability to continue making super contributions to better position themselves in the lead up to their retirement from both a tax and social security perspective,” Mr Bussoletti said.

For example, this measure may assist people when implementing strategies such as:

• Making personal deductible contributions to manage personal tax liabilities, which may also include catch-up concessional cap contributions.
• Contributing the proceeds from the sale of large assets (including the family home and small business assets) and inheritances.
• The re-contribution strategy.
• Short-term Centrelink asset-sheltering strategies.

Age limit increase for spousal contributions

The government also made a commitment to increase the age limit for spousal contributions from 69 to 74 years.

Under current law, those aged 70 or more cannot receive contributions from their spouse.

Mr Bussoletti said: “This proposed measure means someone looking to prop up their working partners super will now have more time to do so. Similarly, it will also provide couples with greater opportunities to equalise superannuation balances before commencing retirement pensions.”

Bring-forward arrangements age limit increased

And finally, the government has also announced that people aged 65 and 66 will also be able to make up to three years of non-concessional contributions under the bring-forward rule. Currently this ability is broadly restricted to those under age 65.

“By extending the age limit where people are able to take advantage of these bring-forward arrangements, the government is providing increased opportunity for Australians to make super contributions even when they are very close to retirement as part of their overall retirement planning,” Mr Bussoletti said.

The annual non-concessional contribution cap is currently set at $100,000. However, the bring- forward arrangements broadly allow eligible Australians to make up to three years’ worth of non- concessional contributions into super in one year. This enables a maximum non-concessional contribution of up to $300,000 by bringing forward up to the next two financial years’ non- concessional contribution cap.

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Geoff Cattach (L) and Jack Regan at the AMP Advice Summit.

AMP has honoured Lifetime Achievers from among its Australia-wide network of financial advisers at the company’s annual Advice Summit in Sydney.

Advisers Geoff Cattach, Max Lewis and Ross Vanderwolf received the awards for their contribution to the Australian community, both in their roles as financial advisers and through their broader philanthropic work over many years.

This is the first time AMP has bestowed lifetime achievement awards, which in future will be awarded annually at the Summit.

Advice Summit draws advisers from across AMP’s adviser network, the largest in Australia.

Group Executive Advice and New Zealand, Jack Regan said it was important to recognise outstanding financial advisers and highlight the valuable role advisers play in their communities.

“Many of our advisers are very much pillars of their local communities,” Mr Regan said.

“By earning the respect of their peers and the thanks of their clients and communities these advisers help show the way forward for our profession,” Mr Regan said.

Mr Regan described how each of the financial advisers who had received an award had proved themselves by successfully guiding their clients and their practices over decades of change.

In his opening address to the Summit, Mr Regan explained how the industry is experiencing multiple changes, including rapid technology advancement, higher regulatory scrutiny and professionalisation. While these are creating disruption to traditional advice processes, AMP has been investing heavily into its advice practices, pioneering more efficient approaches that encourage more Australians to consider taking advice.

These include the AMP Goals 360 advice experience, which has been launched through its AMP Advice practices across the country.

“The technology we have built offers an elegant solution for advisers who are seeking efficient, compliant and innovative tools that reinforce their professional roles. It is the most sophisticated and contemporary technology in the market, reflecting our belief that goals-based advice helps people plan, track and realise their future.”

AMP’s Advice Summit wraps up on Friday 19 January.

About the Lifetime Achievement Award winners

Geoff Cattach, AM (AMP Financial Planning)

Geoff has represented AMP in different roles for more than 50 years, and served his community in and around Harvey in regional Western Australia as head of Harvey Financial Services. He takes pride in the fact that his first client from 1965 is still with him.

In 2009, Geoff was honoured with membership in the General Division of the Order of Australia for service to the community, particularly through the Children’s Leukemia and Cancer Research Foundation, and agricultural, health, sporting and historical organisations in the Shire of Harvey. He was also a finalist for the 2014 WA Senior Australian of the Year.

Ross Vanderwolf (Charter Financial Planning)

Ross’s career spans 36 years. He has twice been awarded the title of Charter’s Queensland State Adviser of the Year (2002 and 2007), was a finalist for the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) National Adviser of the Year award (2007) and is a Gerald Lippman Award winner (2007).

Ross has played a valuable mentoring role to many advisers over the years through the AFA and the Million Dollar Roundtable (MDRT), an international trade association formed in 1927 to promote best business practices and high ethical standards in financial advice and insurance broking. Ross was the first Australian to be appointed to the executive committee of the MDRT.

Max Lewis (Hillross)

Max gave up his career as a lawyer in the early 1980s to become a financial adviser, and was a pioneer of personalised financial plans when the practice was still in its infancy. He has served the community in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney for many years, both as an adviser and through his volunteer work with local schools and sports clubs.

Max has been active in advocating for better superannuation and pension legislation, and has been recognised for helping lobby for amendments to Retirement Income Stream Legislation through his representations to Federal Treasury over a number of years.

He has also been a contributor to the Cancer Council’s Pro Bono Program for cancer patients and their families in need of financial advice.

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AMP Director Corporate Super, Libby Roy has appointed the following people to her leadership team.

• Illaine Anderson – Director, Account Management
• Warwick Angus – Director, Corporate Development
• Angus Bishop – Director, Field EffectivenessHilary Inglis – Director, Corporate Super Investments
• Maria Loyez – Director, Value Proposition
• Justin Morgan – Director, SME Adviser Business

Ms Roy said the appointments to her leadership team are now complete with its final member, Warwick Angus, starting with AMP in late August, and reflect AMP’s ongoing commitment to the,corporate super business.

“Corporate Super is a core part of the AMP business and with the changes we are seeing across the industry it’s more important than ever to have a strong team in place to ensure we’re continuing to offer the right solution for employer groups, advisers and our customers.

“Along with the introduction of MySuper, changing customer behaviour and technological change are driving a shift in this sector.

“This presents opportunities to look at new ways of doing business while at the same time maintaining our focus on delivering an attractive corporate superannuation offer for both new and existing customers,” said Ms Roy.

The new leadership team bring a depth of knowledge across superannuation, insurance, financial advice and operations.

The roles will focus on providing tailored support to clients from the SME market through to large corporate clients, relationship management, an ongoing focus on providing a strong investment offering and driving efficiencies within an environment of regulatory change.

AMP recently confirmed it will launch its MySuper offers from 1 January 2014. This will include a Lifecycle option available to its SignatureSuper customers, who are mainly large to medium businesses.

The Lifecycle option will provide a whole of working-life solution with active investment strategies in place to adapt to each stage of life. This will enable employers to offer employees a targeted solution for their retirement.

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Patricia Montague

AMP Financial Services (AFS) Director Banking and Wealth Management Products Rob Caprioli has announced the appointment of Patricia Montague as Director Contemporary Wealth Management Products, effective 12 August.

Ms Montague will be responsible for a number of AMP’s superannuation and retirement products, including its flagship AMP Flexible Super, and will work closely across all areas of the business including sales, distribution, marketing, product, pricing and investments.

Ms Montague joins AMP from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) where she was the General Manager of Retail Customers and Transformation.

In this role Ms Montague was responsible for customer satisfaction, strategy, revenue, and market share across small business, youth, premier and migrant customer segments.

Prior to that, Ms Montague was Head of Retail Bank Transformation at CBA. She was responsible for the change transformation plan related to the core systems replacement program for the retail bank which delivered a seamless frontline change experience for more than 10 million customers and 15, 000 employees.

Mr Caprioli said Ms Montague’s extensive experience in banking and wealth management, and her strong customer focus will be a valuable addition to the AMP group.

“I am very pleased Patricia will be joining AMP’s contemporary wealth management team. She has a strong retail and customer focus and a track record in improving product, sales and distribution capabilities across different customer segments,” Mr Caprioli said.

Ms Montague has a Bachelor’s degree in Pure Mathematics and Economics, a Diploma in marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, as well as executive management qualifications through MIT Sloan School of Management.

Ms Montague replaces former Director Contemporary Wealth Management Products Chris Jansen.

Mr Jansen has moved to a compliance project team set up to prepare for the implementation of Stronger Super.

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The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) has awarded the AMP Horizons Career Changer Program the 2012 Excellence in Practice Award in the category of Career Development.
 
ASTD is the world’s largest professional association for training and development.  The Excellence in Practice Awards recognise organisations that have achieved organisational goals through training and development practices.
 
AMP Horizons Director Amelia Constantinidis said the Career Changer Program was recognised as exemplary because it fulfilled both AMP’s goal to attract more financial planners to the profession and provided career changers with a structured entry into financial planning. 
 
“To attract more people to financial planning, we needed a program that embraced professionalism while exceeding the minimum regulatory and licensee requirements.  Previously, people with the potential to be excellent financial planners – but without experience – didn’t apply,” Ms Constantinidis said. 
 
“It wasn’t until our Career Changer Program was established in 2007 that those who wanted to become a financial planner had a pathway into the profession via our fully paid 12-month learning program.  At the end of the program, our planners achieve the official status of Authorised Representative, which means they can start their own financial planning practice or join one of the hundreds that are part of our network. 
 
“More than 581 people have now graduated from AMP Horizons. To our knowledge, it is still the only development program of its kind in this industry in Australia.”
 
The Career Changer Program begins with a 10-week induction followed by nine months of mentoring and on-the-job experience.  It is a blended program comprising tutorials, workshops, online learning, coaching, virtual practice, role plays, guest speakers, peer groups, panel discussions, assignments, webinars, video conferences, and teleconferences.
 
The content includes not only technical aspects of being a competent financial planner, but also develops essential soft skills using neuro-linguistic programming, filmed role plays and positive psychology.
 
Ms Constantinidis continued: “Since launching in 2007, the number of new recruits has almost tripled while the cost of the program has decreased by 17 percent. 
 
“The program has been rolled out nationally, servicing major cities and regions in Australia.  Most significantly, the program is the only one of its kind aligned with a university, which provides graduates with credit towards a Masters of Financial Planning.”
 
ASTD received 150 submissions in 2012 from organizations around the world. Nine practices have been chosen to receive awards and 30 have been selected to receive citations.

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Stanford Brown Financial Advisers has picked up both the Member Firm of the Year Award for wealth management expertise and the Ballesty Sikemma Award for outstanding professional performance by an individual adviser.
 
Sacha Sanders from Potential Private Wealth was honoured with the Richard Harvey Award which recognises excellence in up-and-coming advisers.
 
Genesys Wealth Advisers Managing Director Paul Robertson said the awards are an opportunity to step back and reflect on what it means to be a financial adviser in today’s community.
 
“Our time is spent guiding clients through their financial lives, providing them with one of the ingredients for their future well-being, so it’s important to recognise advisers who excel at what they do,” Mr Robertson said.
 
The Genesys Annual Awards recognise outstanding achievement in financial planning and are presented to high achievers across a variety of categories.
 
Member Firm of the Year Award
Stanford Brown Financial Advisers
 
This award recognises the quality of the member firm’s strategy, business operations and advice processes.
 
Mr Robertson said Stanford Brown Financial Advisers displays a high standard of professionalism across all areas of their business, from the quality of their advice to the standard of their client service and business strategy.
 
Ballesty Sikkema Award
Mr David Brown, Stanford Brown Financial Advisers
 
Named in honour of the founders of the Genesys business, Paul Ballesty and John Sikkema, this award recognises an adviser who maintains the highest standard of business professionalism.
 
Mr Robertson said David has hit the financial planning trifecta – he’s a strong role model to his peers, makes a significant contribution to the industry and is an active contributor to his local community.
 
Richard Harvey Award
Mr Sacha Sanders, Potential Private Wealth
 
The award recognises an up-and-coming Genesys adviser who has made a significant contribution to their profession and is named in honour of the late Richard Harvey who is remembered for the mentoring he offered his colleagues, particularly those just starting out.
 
Mr Robertson said in his short career, Sacha has already had a big impact on the financial services industry and has an unflinching commitment to professional development.

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The appointments strengthen ipac’s leadership team following the decision to merge the ipac and Tynan Mackenzie businesses late last year. The General Manager roles are responsible for leading the growth strategy for their region and providing primary support for advisers and equity partners.
 
Tim Steele, Managing Director ipac, said the appointments demonstrated the benefit of increased scale presented by the merger with Tynan Mackenzie and reflected ipac’s commitment to providing sound financial advice to help clients achieve their life goals.
 
“ipac is committed to delivering quality financial advice across our expanded network and these roles will be pivotal in ensuring we continue to provide support for our advisers and a strong advice proposition for our clients.” 

“All three of our General Managers bring significant industry experience, and with their passion for financial advice, will provide instrumental leadership in their respective states.”
 
Eric Gibson has been with ipac since 2004, most recently as Chief Operating Officer.  He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and prior to ipac was with Ernst and Young in Ireland and the US, as well as finance roles at PepsiCo and BT Financial Group in Australia.
 
Nick Brinkworth joined ipac in 2003.  He was most recently responsible for ipac’s advice firms on the Gold Coast, Brisbane and North Queensland and has managed the business acquisition team in Sydney.  Mr Brinkworth is a Certified Financial Planner and prior to ipac he worked in sales, training and dealership management roles both at BT and MLC. 
 
Craig Weber joins ipac from Tynan Mackenzie where he has been Operations Manager for the past three years, and prior to that with ipac in an advice coaching role.
 
All three appointments are effective 4 March 2013.

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Amelia Constantinidis – Director of Horizons

AMP Financial Services (AFS) has appointed as Director of Horizons, reporting to AMP Director, Advice and Client Solutions Steve Helmich. 

The appointment is effective from 18 February, with former Director of Horizons Tim Steele transitioning into his new role as Managing Director of ipac on the same date. 

Ms Constantinidis currently heads up the AMP Director’s Office of Financial Planning Advice and Services (FPAS), led by Steve Helmich.  

In this role, she is responsible for the development of the strategic plan and frameworks for advice and planner services across multiple licensees.   

Commenting on Ms Constantinidis’ appointment as Director of Horizons, Mr Helmich said she has been a significant contributor to the development of AMP’s advice business. 

“Over the past 10 years, Amelia has made a significant contribution to the strategic direction of AMP’s advice business, having led a number of large, complex, business transformation and change programs. 

“Amelia will bring considerable experience in advice policy and practice support to Horizons, enhancing its commitment to training the next generation of financial planners and supporting them to deliver quality financial advice.” 

This announcement forms part of AMP’s review of its advice businesses following its merger with AXA in 2011.  

This appointment completes the leadership team for the new the AMP Advice division headed up by Steve Helmich and Andrew Waddell. 

Horizons which was established in 2007, is AMP’s dedicated financial planning academy, focused on the recruitment, education and development of Australia’s future financial planners.  

More than 500 financial planners have now graduated from Horizons since its inception with a further 30 scheduled to graduate this Friday.

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AMP FAN launches iPad app

AMP’s Financial Advice Network (FAN) has launched Evolve, an iPad app featuring advice tools that are fully integrated with advisers’ back-office systems, offering advisers and clients flexibility and efficiency. 

AMP FAN’s Director of Advice and Licensing Simon Wallace said this mobile technology is the first of its kind in the Australian financial services industry and provides advisers with a valuable tool to assist them in the delivery of professional financial advice. 

“Evolve allows advisers to capture, store and analyse client data on their iPad and brings a paperless office a step closer with the ability to capture digital client signatures as well as store photographs required for client identification,” Mr Wallace said. 

Evolve is linked to the advisers’ software, so there is no need to keep separate records or manually re-enter data following a client appointment. These records can be emailed to the clients as a record of the meeting, eliminating the need to manually print and send material. 

Mr Wallace said in today’s busy world advisers need an efficient way to engage their clients and demonstrate the value of their advice. 

“The iPad app gives advisers another tool to help them do what they do best – deliver quality financial advice to their clients,” Mr Wallace said. 

The Evolve iPad app features six integrated modules: 

1. Clients – Allows advisers to create new client profiles and open existing client profiles.
2. Fact Find – Captures client’s personal information and goals and creates an initial advice agreement.
3. Risk Profile – Features risk profiling tools to help advisers discuss different ways clients can invest to meet their goals.
4. Documents – A central location to store documents for client presentations and reference material.
5. Calculators – Comprehensive calculators to assist advisers develop and discuss different strategies suitable for the client.
6. References – Useful links to make finding information more convenient when advisers are on their iPad.

The Evolve iPad app is currently available to AMP FAN advisers. 

Mr Wallace added: “AMP is committed to developing technology to improve the delivery of financial advice and integrated technology tools such as Evolve deliver significant time savings and flexibility for both adviser and client.”

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