Lara Bourguignon

AMP has launched a new sustainable managed portfolio, available through its flagship wrap platform MyNorth.

The MyNorth Sustainable Managed Portfolio, one of the first of its kind to be offered through a wrap platform in Australia, provides advisers and clients with a new values-based investment option through the efficiency and transparency of a managed portfolio structure.

The portfolio’s investment options are selected using a responsible and sustainable framework based on three principles:

1. Transitioning to a low carbon economy – a measured but meaningful approach to structural change
2. Avoiding strategic investments in thermal coal, tobacco, gambling, pornography and controversial weapons – avoiding harm, and
3. Encouraging sustainable social and environment outcomes for the community – driving positive change through capital.

The principles were developed by AMP in close consultation with Regnan, a leading responsible investment advisory company, while the portfolio is managed by Pendal’s Multi-Asset Team in partnership with the AMP Research team. AMP’s platform business is a member of the Responsible Investment Association Australia.

Lara Bourguignon AMP’s Managing Director, Superannuation, Retirement and Platforms, said the launch of the MyNorth Sustainable Managed Portfolio continues AMP’s investment in the MyNorth platform, a key aspect of AMP’s go-forward strategy to help clients build wealth for retirement.

“MyNorth’s rapid growth over the previous year and a half reflects the investments and enhancements we’ve made to the platform, including significant fee reductions, technology upgrades and launching a range of new managed portfolios.

“We’ll continue to target our investment and enhancements for MyNorth toward the three aspects we know advisers and clients most value in a wrap platform: investment capability, administrative performance and value for money.”

Net cashflows onto the North platform increased by more than 150 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. This included A$400 million of inflows from non-aligned AMP advisers in Q1 2020.

Shaune Egan, AMP’s Director Wrap Product said AMP was pleased to be offering advisers and clients a new socially responsible investment option through MyNorth.

“We know there is strong demand from our clients for sustainable and ethics driven investment options, with research showing that over half of Australia’s population are considering making ethical and responsible investments in the next five years^[1]. Nine out of ten Australians also believe it’s important that their financial institution invests responsibly and ethically across the board.

“At the same time, we’re seeing rapid growth in the managed portfolio market given the transparency, governance, cost and administrative benefits they provide. AMP’s total managed portfolio assets under management increased four-fold in 2019.

“We developed this contemporary offer to make it easy and efficient for our clients and advisers to access the investments they’re most comfortable with.

“It follows the launch of several new portfolios in 2019, including our Partnered Managed Portfolio proposition. A full range of managed portfolios are now available on the MyNorth platform, covering major asset classes and managed by the industry’s leading investment managers.

“The range of enhancements we’ve made to the platform were recognised by Investment Trends, who recently determined MyNorth to be the most improved platform on the market.

“Our investment in MyNorth will continue, with more managed portfolios planned for later in 2020,” said Mr Egan.

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[1] Responsible Investment Association Australia RIAA

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Lara Bourguignon

AMP has partnered with leading insurers AIA Australia and TAL to expand its wrap platform insurance offer, providing more choice for clients.

Both insurance offers are available for advisers and super and pension clients of MyNorth, North, Summit, ipac iAccess and Generations.

Lara Bourguignon, AMP’s Managing Director Superannuation, Retirement & Platforms, said:

“Adding these high-quality insurers to our platform increases choice for advisers and clients, further strengthening AMP’s wrap platform offer.

“The changes follow a year of significant investment and enhancements to our flagship MyNorth platform, including fee reductions, new managed portfolio offers and a range of technology and administrative upgrades.

“With more external financial advisers and their clients adopting MyNorth, we’ll continue investment and enhancements in 2020, including further building MyNorth’s managed portfolio capability.”

Net cash inflows to North increased by 25 per cent during the September 2019 quarter compared to September 2018, including a $300 million increase in inflows from external financial advisers.

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The team will report to Alex Wade, AMP CEO Australian Wealth Management, with a focus on providing better experiences and outcomes for our clients through a simpler, more efficient business and stronger risk controls.

The new appointments are:

• Lakshman Anantakrishnan, Chief Investment Officer. Mr Anantakrishnan will focus on supporting AMP’s superannuation trustees to ensure members receive the strongest possible investment returns. He joins from Credit Suisse, where he was most recently Head of Portfolio Management, leading a team managing global multi-asset portfolios across multiple risk profiles and strategies. He will commence at the end of June.
• Lara Bourguignon, CEO, SuperConcepts, AMP’s market-leading self-managed super fund administration services business. Ms Bourguignon is an internal appointment with considerable financial services experience, having most recently led AMP’s customer experience team. She will commence in mid-April.
• Jen Thomas, Chief Operating Officer. Ms Thomas will lead the transformation of AWM’s operations. She joins AMP from RBS and has deep experience leading operations, technology and change in financial services. She will commence in early May
• Fraser Herd, Managing Director, Client Relationships. Mr Herd will build and enhance AMP’s direct advice channels. He is an experienced senior executive with international and local experience, most recently as part Credit Suisse private banking leadership team. He will commence at the end of June.
• Ant Dureau, Chief Client Officer. Mr Dureau has been promoted from his role as AMP’s Acting Director Strategic Marketing & Customer Experience. He has a strong history of driving large-scale projects with expertise in brand, acquisition, client and channel management. He will commence his new role in mid-April.

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Lara Bourguignon

Navigating the complex world of day-to-day banking and finance has been made easier with the launch of AMP’s new ‘financial help hub.’

The website is a one-stop-shop for financial education, with tools and tips to help better understand money, investing and planning for retirement.

AMP’s Director of Strategic Marketing and Customer Experience Lara Bourguignon said the primary objective of ‘the hub’ is to provide expert help.

“Too often financial information is jargon heavy and difficult to understand. The aim of our website is to break down complex terms and better educate our customers on ways to manage money, grow wealth and plan for the future.”

“The hub focuses on the financial information you need to know in everyday life.  We have pages on how to take control of your debts, save for retirement and how to build a budget.

“At AMP we work from a goals-based philosophy to help our customers achieve financial freedom. The hub provides customers with a good starting point to research what is important to them. They can also use our tools and calculators to model how their retirement may look or the impact of making extra repayments to their home loan,” Ms Bourguignon said.

Financial Help Hub expert knowledge pages

• Manage my money – how to manage and protect your cash, reduce debt and save for future goals.
• Grow my wealth – insights into ways you could invest money and options for growing your super.
• Planning my future – how much money you may need in retirement and how to make the most of your entitlements.

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Both Mr Finch and Ms Bourguignon, who is joining from National Australia Bank (NAB), will report to AMP’s Group Executive Wealth Solutions and Chief Customer Officer, Paul Sainsbury.

In his new role Mr Finch will be responsible for AMP’s superannuation and platform products, which represented assets under management (AUM) of A$130 billion at 31 December 2017.

Ms Bourguignon, currently General Manager, Customer Experience Super at NAB subsidiary MLC, will be responsible for strategic marketing and customer experience, including data and analytics capabilities, across AMP’s wealth management businesses.

“Rod and Lara are proven leaders who bring considerable wealth management expertise to their respective roles,” said Mr Sainsbury.

“Both roles are essential to AMP’s growth strategy and in delivering great solutions to help our customers and advisers achieve their goals.

“Rod will drive the continued investments we’re making in our market-leading superannuation products and investment platforms, while Lara’s focus will be providing personal, engaging and highly relevant customer experiences,” said Mr Sainsbury.

Mr Finch’s new role will take effect from 3 April 2018. Ms Bourguignon is expected to join AMP in late April.

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Lara Bourguignon

More than 60 per cent of Aussies identify not having enough money to invest in retirement as the biggest barrier to retirement savings

Aussies are increasingly concerned they won’t have enough money to invest in retirement after their everyday spending, according to the latest MLC Wealth Sentiment Survey.

The survey of over 2,000 Australians found that almost two in three Australians identified not having enough money to invest in retirement as the biggest barrier to retirement savings – and more so for women than men.

NAB General Manager, Corporate Super, Lara Bourguignon, believes it’s crucial that Aussies are managing a stable cash-flow particularly throughout the Christmas and New Year period – in order to meet longer term saving goals.

“The festive season is a notoriously expensive time and one that requires consideration and careful planning. While many Aussies budget for larger items such as overseas holidays or their next car purchase, the day to day spending such as groceries and additional gifts is where they’ll often come undone with savings.

“Budgeting on your entire cash-flow is critically important to a family’s financial wellbeing. We want all Australians to enter their retirement phase of life feeling confident and prepared, and believe the first place to start is by managing day-to-day living costs,” said Ms Bourguignon.

The quarterly survey found that households with kids rated all barriers to retirement higher than those with no kids – with only 30 per cent of Aussies with kids feeling that they have enough funds to invest in retirement.

“Clearly the cost of raising a family is an important factor. The summer season is a particularly expensive time – with additional budget pressures such as Christmas presents for the kids and extended family, as well as budgeting for school holiday activities and holiday getaways.

“The survey results highlight that more needs to be done across the board to ensure a comfortable retirement – particularly for families with kids. It’s important for families to not only consider their immediate budget, but also their future cash-flow.

“Once you’re able to determine how much you spend a year and what you’ll be spending in future years – you can plan around your annual holiday spending each and every year, as well as having your money working hard for you in other areas,” said Ms Bourguignon.

Other barriers to retirement identified include longer life expectancy (56 per cent), major health issues (56 per cent) and being unemployed (55 per cent).

Additional findings include:

• More than 1 in 2 of Australians do not think they will have enough savings to fund their retirement
• Nearly 1 in 5 Australians do not expect to retire until 70 or older
• On average, Australians expect to retire with about $471,000, but women ($390,000) believe they will have far less than men ($538,000)
• Almost half of Australian women consider taking a career break to raise kids as a barrier to sufficient retirement funds – with around two thirds of women taking more than 2 years out of the workforce to have children
• Around two-thirds of women take more than 2 years off to have children, compared to only 16 per cent of men. In contrast, more than 1 in 2 men took no time to have children, compared to just 17 per cent of women.
• The quarterly survey has found paying off debt is still the priority for around 30 per cent of Australians
• Only 10 per cent of Aussies are giving a ‘high’ consideration to the possibility of a major future financial setback – such as health issues, risks in financial markets and job security

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MLC highlights inflation risk in a new super campaign.

New data showing the price of a takeaway coffee could reach $34 in the future highlights the need for Australians to take action to help meet rising costs in their retirement.

Research commissioned as part of MLC’s ‘Save Retirement’ campaign has shown that the cost of a takeaway coffee could rise to $6.80 in 20 years, $9.40 in 30 years and $34 in 70 years.

As part of the campaign, MLC is hosting a Future Coffee Cart at Sydney’s Central Station today, providing free coffee to commuters to raise awareness of how Australians need to take action to meet rising costs in their retirement.

One in two Australians are currently set to outlive their retirement savings by a decade.

MLC General Manager of Client Management, Lara Bourguignon said: “By putting a future price on an everyday item like a cup of coffee, we want to get Australians thinking about their own superannuation and its ability to cover the rising costs of living in retirement.”

“Inflation is one of the biggest threats to a comfortable retirement, but it can be managed with the right plan.

“For example, an electricity bill of $100 in 1973 would cost nearly $300 today, and could cost more than $1,000 in 15 years time should inflation continue rising at the same rate.

“To help address this, retirement plans should take into consideration how your savings will grow with inflation, manage sequencing risk and remain tax efficient.

“Choosing an investment strategy that targets above inflation returns and seeking sound financial advice to help you plan for the future will help ensure Australians are prepared for rising costs in retirement.”

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30-49 year olds most concerned about planning for retirement: MLC

In a break with tradition, young people are taking a more active interest in their superannuation with the 30-49 year old group being the most concerned about planning for retirement, according to the latest quarterly MLC Wealth Sentiment Survey.

Both men and women in this age group rated their concern about having adequate funds for retirement at 73%, with people over 50 and 18-29 year olds having an equal level of concern (64%).

The survey of over 2,000 Australians also revealed Queenslanders were most concerned about super adequacy, missing investment opportunities and changes to superannuation rules. People from Western Australia and Tasmania were the least concerned.

Those who have children are more concerned about having enough for retirement compared to those who don’t have children. The more children the family has, the more concerns there are.

In a special report: MLC Retirement Survey also released yesterday, just one in 10 respondents had a well considered plan in the event of major financial setbacks such as unemployment or ill health, with 72% of people failing to consider setbacks in their retirement plans, up 3% from the previous quarter.

Investors continue to take a conservative approach to risk with superannuation, paying down debts and cash the preferred investment options.

Key highlights:

• Women continue to be the most concerned about finances, with 62% of women fearing they will have insufficient funds at retirement compared to 55% of men
• Males hold more diversified portfolios across asset classes, particularly shares
• 11.3% of Western Australians expect to have more than enough money to retire on, compared to 4% for the rest of the population
• Queenslanders feel the least prepared with over 50% having far from enough money at retirement
• Over the next three months, SA/NT and TAS residents have the strongest intention to divest shares and bonds while investing more into super

MLC General Manager Lara Bourguignon said: “Many people don’t start thinking about superannuation until their 50s but these survey results indicate there may be a step change in the age people starting planning retirement.

“We’re delighted to see superannuation starting to hit a nerve with the younger 30-49 year old group and hopefully this concern leads to greater action.

“Most Australians are inadequately prepared for retirement, which is why we recently launched the Let’s Save Retirement campaign to educate and encourage Australians to take control of their financial futures,” she said.

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Established in 2008 as part of MLC, the wealth management arm of NAB, the Foundation provides tangible support to Australian communities by investing in key areas of need and employee interest and, in particular, improving the mental health of Australians.

Ms Bourguignon who is General Manager of MLC Group Insurance and Managing Director of Plum, joined MLC in 1999. During this time she has held a number of key strategic and finance roles within MLC and the broader NAB group.

NAB Wealth Group Executive Andrew Hagger welcomed the appointment stating Ms Bourguignon brings a unique set of skills to the role.

“In her role as General Manager of MLC Group Insurance, Lara’s first-hand exposure to the effects of mental illness on Australian workers made her a natural choice for the Foundation.”

“With her strong leadership skills and personal passion for social impact, I am confident Lara will further the MLC Community Foundation’s strategic priorities,” he said.

Ms Bourguignon said: “Mental health is a serious and growing issue facing society and the economy. In our business, more than one third of new income protection claims are related to mental illness, with the most common conditions being depression and anxiety.”

“It’s a really great feeling to be part of something that is already having such a significant impact on society – with measurable outcomes,” Ms Bourguignon said.

In the past five years the Foundation has invested $6.1 million in grants and programs, including more than $2.6 million to Lifeline Australia, specifically its Online Crisis Support Chat Service which has generated a social return on investment of $8.40 for every $1 invested.

Ms Bourguignon has a Bachelor of Business in Accounting and Finance, a Company Directorship Diploma and is a Certified Practicing Accountant. She is a director on the Boards of Plum Financial Services Pty Ltd, National Nominees Limited and AUSMAQ Pty Ltd.

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