Paul Sainsbury

AMP has announced it will implement a series of measures across its licensee groups that aim to significantly lift the bar on adviser professionalism and reinforce its existing commitment to stand behind the advice it gives to consumers.

AMP Group Executive Advice and Banking Rob Caprioli said AMP, as the largest advice network in Australia, will work with the regulators and lead the way for the industry to help restore confidence and trust in financial advisers and the advice they give.

“This is a critical time for the industry and the measures we’ve announced today go to the heart of what we do – offering financial advice to help people live better lives. This commitment builds on our record of significant investment in the standards of professionalism for our financial advisers,” he said.

The measures are:

• All existing and new advisers must hold a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP), a Fellow Chartered Financial Practitioner (FChFP), or Masters in Financial Planning (MoFP) qualification. New advisers must complete this qualification within five years of joining an AMP licensee while existing advisers have up to 31 December 2019 to do so. These qualifications are post-graduate degree equivalent, making AMP’s minimum requirements the industry’s highest.
• An AMP Customer Advice Review panel will be established by the end of this year to review any customer complaint about the quality of AMP’s personal advice when the customer is not satisfied with AMP’s response through normal channels. If the panel finds the personal advice was not appropriate when it was given, the customer will be restored to the position they would have been in if the appropriate advice had been given. The panel, which will have an independent chair, will have the power to refund advice fees and compensate for losses.
• A broad-ranging ethics and responsible decision-making program for advisers will be developed in conjunction with the St James Ethics Centre with industry input. The program, which will be available to any financial adviser in the industry, will be in place by mid-2015.

“Customers expect us to provide them with quality financial advice that puts their interests first.

So we take this very seriously and will continue to look closely at what we do to ensure we continue to provide the best advice possible,” Mr Caprioli said.

“AMP stands behind the advice its advisers give to customers. That’s the benefit of seeking advice from an adviser backed by a large and trusted brand like AMP. We can make things right for those customers who don’t receive advice that’s in their best interests. The announcement today takes this commitment a step further.”

The AMP Customer Advice Review panel will be chaired by an independent representative and comprise a CFP, FChFP or MoFP advice professional and AMP’s Chief Customer Officer, Paul Sainsbury.

The industry-wide adviser registry, which will be developed by ASIC, has the full support of AMP. When the ASIC adviser registry is finalised, it will be available via AMP’s website.

“Ensuring easily accessible public information on individual advisers, including their qualifications, is an important step to increasing faith in the industry but more importantly it will help Australians seeking advice to more easily compare and select financial advisers,” Mr Caprioli said.

The role ASIC plays in partnering with the industry to ensure high standards and good outcomes for Australians seeking financial advice is critical and AMP strongly supports the FSI Interim Report’s policy option to increase funding to the regulator.

The measures announced today have the support of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA). The FPA and the AFA have 10,000 and 3,000 members, respectively. AMP is liaising with these groups and calling on the industry to adopt these measures.

Enabling advisers to choose between a CFP, FChFP and MoFP ensures all advisers across the AMP Group have access to the relevant qualifications.

“This builds on the work that our financial planning academy, Horizons, is doing to recruit, educate and develop new financial planners. Horizons entry standards are already among the highest in the industry with a 10 week intensive academy course followed by a nine month
supervised placement in a practice.

“The academy also works with universities to increase awareness of financial planning as a career choice for graduates via the AMP University Challenge,” Mr Caprioli said. AMP is working with its licensees to ensure all AMP financial advisers have the necessary support to achieve the measures outlined today. AMP lifts adviser education standards and launches customer panel / 3AMP’s financial advice network in Australia comprises AMP Financial Planning, Charter Financial Planning, Genesys Wealth Advisers, Hillross, Horizons, ipac and smsf advice.

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The Adviser of the Year Award is presented to a Charter adviser in each state who has shown exceptional customer service and the ability to tailor advice to suit their client’s financial goals and aspirations.  The award also recognises advisers who actively support their local community and state winners are eligible to win the national Gerald Lippman Perpetual Trophy to be awarded early next year. 

Recognising the superior value of advice financial advisers provide to their clients, the Value of Advice Awards recognise Charter advisers in each state who are judged to have made a significant and material change to a client’s financial future.  The winner is determined upon consideration of real case studies. 

The following awards have been presented to Charter Financial Planning advisers over the past few weeks at state professional development days. 

State Value of Advice Award

• NSW/ACT: Bob Nicolson – Pinnacle Advisory Services Group
• VIC/TAS: Shane Lenehan – Silvan Ridge Financial Services
• QLD: Dominique Riley – TFC Financial
• SA/NT: Michelle Veitch – MAP Financial Strategies
• WA: Linda Coombes – ipac western australia

State Adviser of the Year Award

• NSW/ACT: William Bracey – Sydney Financial Planning
• VIC: Alan Littley – Littley Financial Services 
• QLD: Michael Mayoh – Financial Directions NQ
• SA/NT: Kym Thyer – KTA Financial Services
• WA: Mark Rattigan – Merideon Wealth Strategies
• TAS: Melanie Roff – Financial One

Managing Director of AMP’s Charter Financial Planning Kevin Stone said financial advice is at the heart of what Charter Financial Planning does and it’s important to recognise advisers who demonstrate excellence in every aspect of their role. 

“The advisers honoured with these awards have shown expertise in the true test of success in our profession, putting themselves in the shoes of their clients and determining what strategy will improve their financial future,” Mr Stone said. 

“We often work with people facing extreme financial challenges, providing one of the essential ingredients to their financial wellbeing and while these awards acknowledge individual efforts, they more broadly recognise the positive impact advisers have on people’s lives.”

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AMP’s Ascend SMSF enables AMP aligned planners to deliver a better customer experience at a lower cost to the customer as a result of improved technology and usability, through the fund’s administration service and investment options.

The Ascend SMSF service is being rolled out to SMSF accredited planners in AMP’s aligned advice network in the second half of 2012 starting with AMP Financial Planning and Hillross. 

The enhancements and new features include a significantly improved online service, powered by Super IQ technology, with an easy to use web portal, better reporting, instant online access to fund information and the ability for planners to complete a new SMSF application in minutes rather than hours. 

At the same time, administration and audit fees have been reduced and additional investment options added, including AMP’s North platform and PortfolioCare, and The Australian Money Market term deposit service.  

AMP SMSF Managing Director Paul Sainsbury said the new Ascend SMSF service, which is exclusive to AMP’s aligned financial planning network, is a key component of AMP’s new SMSF business strategy. 

“Ascend SMSF recognises the growing role of financial planners in the SMSF sector by providing a high level of support to deliver high quality solutions to SMSF customers. 

“We have taken significant steps to enhance Ascend SMSF and to make it even more competitive.   The new service offers more features at a lower price and improves the automation of management reporting and compliance obligations so planners and advisers can spend more time with their clients,” Mr Sainsbury said.

The original Ascend service launched in 2009 was only available to AMP Financial Planning and Hillross financial planners and advisers.

 Options

There are two options within Ascend:

Essentials – A package of SMSF-aligned products and services, including platforms, within the administration service.  This provides an easy transition into SMSFs for planners and clients new to SMSFs. 

Platinum – A more flexible service with a broader range of products and services suitable for more sophisticated clients with the same benefits around online services, compliance and reporting. 

AMP Financial Services’ aligned financial planning network comprises AMP Financial Planning, Charter Financial Planning, Hillross, Genesys Wealth Advisers and ipac.

27 July 2012

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Director of AMP’s Financial Advice Network (FAN) Andrew Waddell said both licensees share a very close connection and this solution will allow the company to preserve the strength of the AXA FP network while enhancing Charter FP’s highly rated licensee* status.

“AXA FP practices will have access to a range of branding options enabling them to choose the one that best suits their business,” Mr Waddell said. Under the Charter FP licence, AXA FP businesses will have five branding options, including the use of the AMP brand and endorsement.

Mr Waddell said advisers will be able to build their own brand or leverage the leading institutional brand. They will have the freedom to tailor their brand to suit their unique preferences.

“We worked closely with our Authorised Representatives’ Association and conducted extensive research to understand our advisers’ preferred branding option and which solution would offer them the best outcome for their businesses.

“Practices can expect very little disruption to their businesses – other than the branding of their licensee, very little will change. They will have access to the same level of service and terms and conditions as before and will be supported by the same people,” Mr Waddell said.

The transition will take place between April and September 2012. With the merger of AXA Australia and New Zealand with AMP, the ownership and usage rights of the AXA brand, including AXA FP, remains with AXA’s French parent company and must be removed from the Australian and New Zealand markets by March 2013.

FAN’s leadership team will be meeting with practice principals over the coming weeks to discuss the migration plan, including details of logistical and financial support.

*According to Brandmangement/CoreData 2011 Licensee research, the industry rates Charter FP as the second best licensee in the industry (behind own AFSL) and second in an assessment of the top 5 licensees they would work for (behind having their own AFSL).

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