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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Mr Fogarty has over 20 years industry experience and was most recently National Practice Development Manager at the van Eyk group having been a founding partner at practice consultancy firm The Encore Group which sold to van Eyk in 2011.

In the new role Mr Fogarty will be responsible for developing and implementing ipac’s advice propositions, with a particular focus on ipac’s specialty advice areas including SMSF, aged care and developing a compelling offer for the affluent accumulator segment.

ipac Managing Director Tim Steele said Mr Fogarty brings an exceptional understanding of the advice industry and a proven track record of implementing quality advice initiatives to the business.

“Matt is highly respected in the advice industry and we are thrilled to have someone with his experience and knowledge as part of the ipac leadership team.”

“His appointment reflects ipac’s ongoing commitment to provide our advisers with the right tools, education and support so they can continue to do what they do best, which is providing quality advice that enriches the lives of our clients,” said Mr Steele.

In his time in practice consultancy Mr Fogarty has provided strategic advice to a number of licensees and hundreds of practices across Australia, with a recent focus on helping practices adapt and grow in a post FoFA environment.

Mr Fogarty’s appointment follows the creation in March of a new ipac leadership team, including three state based General Managers responsible for New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria

This year marks the 30th anniversary of ipac’s inception.

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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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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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