Scott Hartley

CC Capital, a private investment firm focused on investing in and operating high-quality businesses for the long term, and One Investment Management (“OneIM”), a global alternative investment manager, has announced they have entered into a Scheme Implementation Deed (“SID”) with Insignia Financial Ltd (“Insignia”) (ASX: IFL), Australia’s leading diversified wealth management group with over A$330 billion in funds under management and advice. 

Under the SID, CC Capital and OneIM will acquire 100 percent of Insignia for A$4.80 in cash per share via a scheme of arrangement, representing an enterprise value of approximately A$3.9 bn (US$2.5bn) and a 56.9% premium to Insignia’s undisturbed share price of A$3.06 per share on 11 December 2024.

“We believe that Australia’s superannuation system is world-class in addressing the structural challenge of aging populations saving for retirement,” said Chinh Chu, Senior Managing Director of CC Capital. “Insignia’s scale, trusted brands, and deep relationships across the A$4.1 trillion (US$2.7 trillion) superannuation market^[1] make it a compelling long-term platform for growth. We recognize the high duty of care required to steward a business with Insignia’s rich heritage and connection to the retirement and superannuation system, and we are confident that our investment acumen and long-term approach will position us to improve member outcomes and further enhance the operational trajectory of the business.”

OneIM’s CEO and co-founder Rajeev Misra said: “We are excited to partner with Insignia’s management team to help craft the company’s next chapter of continued growth and unmatched member service. We believe Insignia will benefit from OneIM’s approach to creating long-term value for all stakeholders as we help combine Insignia’s history of excellence with technological and investing expertise.”

Scott Hartley, CEO of Insignia Financial, added: “Subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, the CC Capital and OneIM offer would deliver attractive value to our shareholders, while providing the resources and global perspective needed to accelerate our strategic agenda for members, customers and advisers. I look forward to working with the CC Capital and OneIM teams to continue our focus on creating best-in-class service and outcomes for our members.”

The Insignia Board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the scheme, subject to no superior proposal, and subject to an independent expert concluding that the transaction is in the best interests of shareholders.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory and closing conditions, including approvals from the Foreign Investment Review Board (“FIRB”), the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (“APRA”), Court and Insignia shareholders. Insignia shareholders are expected to vote on the scheme of arrangement in the first half of 2026 with the transaction to be completed shortly thereafter.

Additional information

The full SID has been filed with the ASX by Insignia. Further information regarding the transaction will be included in the Scheme Booklet expected to be mailed to shareholders in early 2026, as well as in subsequent ASX announcements made by Insignia.

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Notes:
[1] APRA superannuation statistics for March 2025. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-releases-superannuation-statistics-for-march-2025

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Scott Hartley

MLC, the largest brand of Insignia Financial, has partnered with TAL and Challenger to develop a Centre of Excellence for MLC Retirement Boost, a new innovative retirement income solution.

The Centre of Excellence will have distribution specialists, digital advice member journeys and modelling tools including a new ‘Retirement Boost Optimiser’ tool to help clients visualise their total retirement income across super, retirement and the age pension. The partnership will see Challenger, as the largest retirement-focused distribution team in market, deliver the retirement expertise and distribution capability needed to bring MLC Retirement Boost to market scale.

MLC Retirement Boost will help provide greater certainty and confidence in retirement. It operates like a standard superannuation account but has the potential to allow Australians to boost income during retirement due to the concessional treatment of innovative lifetime income streams. MLC Retirement Boost will be available on MLC Expand platform for advisers to use with their superannuation clients from August 2025.

Insignia Financial’s CEO Scott Hartley said: “With more than three million Australians retiring over the next decade, MLC wants to redefine what retirement means for Australians and superannuation’s role in it.

“How Australians are thinking about, planning for, and entering retirement has changed. Until now the super industry has treated the accumulation and decumulation phases entirely separately, and we don’t think that accurately reflects how most people view retirement.

“Gone are the days of people fully stopping work and withdrawing their super as a lump sum. Australians are choosing to work for longer, scaling back their hours or even changing careers later in life. They are travelling more, helping care for grandkids and enjoying their retirement journey in more individual ways.

“MLC Retirement Boost will give Australians more personalisation and flexibility in their retirement planning, increase the potential of super for more people and potentially create higher retirement income, from their first super contribution.

“Recognising the critical role financial advisers play in retirement planning and delivering high quality retirement advice, MLC Retirement Boost will be available for advisers to use with their superannuation clients from August 2025 on MLC Expand.

“This innovative partnership combines the expertise of MLC, as one of the oldest and largest pension payers in Australia, with TAL as a leading life insurer and Challenger as the largest annuity provider.

“This is just the first step in MLC’s offering in this space, and I’m excited for what’s to come over the next 12-18 months as we continue to enhance MLC Retirement Boost to provide advisers with more options and flexibility to deliver personalised retirement income strategies to their clients.”

TAL’s Group CEO and Managing Director Fiona Macgregor said: “We’re excited to extend our partnership with MLC to design and develop an innovative retirement solution for MLC Expand platform clients. This partnership reflects our commitment to supporting Australians through every life stage.

“As millions of Australians prepare for life after work, TAL is proud to partner on solutions that deliver better outcomes for retirees.

Together, we’re focused on making retirement more secure and easier to navigate.”

Challenger’s CEO and Managing Director Nick Hamilton said: “Challenger is delighted to partner with MLC to support their customers and offer an innovative retirement solution for advisers and their clients.

“This is a pivotal moment in Australia, as retirement income moves from the sidelines into the mainstream. Backed by 40 years’ experience in retirement innovation, investment management and distribution, we’re proud to help lead this shift – through partnerships like this – that will enable more Australians to have financial security in retirement.

“Our deep experience in retirement income means Challenger is uniquely positioned to help MLC scale faster and support more Australians to build stronger, more confident retirement strategies.”

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Commenting on the appointment, Insignia Financial CEO Scott Hartley said: “I’m excited to welcome Damien to the Insignia Financial executive team, in his first executive role.

“With more than 25 years’ experience within IT and financial services, including 17 years with Insignia Financial (formerly IOOF), Damien brings to this role a deep understanding of the technology and financial services industries and will be an integral part of the execution of our FY2030 Strategy.

“Most recently Damien served as the General Manager, Wrap Technology and Operations where he led the build out of our proprietary technology and the operational teams supporting Insignia’s Wrap business.

“Damien’s appointment is a testament to the calibre of people we have within Insignia Financial, and our commitment to fostering and developing leaders across the business to support our ambition to be the leading and most efficient wealth management company by 2030.

“I would also like to acknowledge and thank Frank Lombardo, who has been acting in the Chief Technology Officer role, for his outstanding contribution to our business for nearly a decade. While acting in the role over the last six months, he’s overseen the completion of our NAB separation and supported the transition to our new operating model.”

Damien commenced in role on 6 January 2025.

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Scott Hartley

Insignia Financial Ltd (ASX:IFL) has successfully achieved a significant milestone in the separation of MLC Wealth (MLC) from National Australia Bank Limited (NAB), a major step in the company’s simplification program since it acquired MLC from NAB in 2021.

The transition of the MLC MasterKey and Plum registries, along with associated applications, from NAB to Insignia Financial is one of the largest wealth management separations in Australia’s financial services history. Over 700,000 MasterKey and Plum accounts, 55 systems and applications and more than 100 terabytes of data have been migrated.

As a result, Insignia Financial is no longer reliant on NAB systems and technology to service its customers, employers and advisers, with employees operating entirely within the Insignia Financial environment. As part of this transition, Insignia Financial has also moved the Corporate and MLC general ledger to Workday, upgraded its infrastructure and applications, enhanced system performance and uplifted security and monitoring to make its environment safer for members. At the same time, Insignia Financial has introduced operational improvements for technology teams to improve system and infrastructure management and transitioned some applications, including MLC’s core registry system, to the cloud.

Insignia Financial Chief Executive Officer, Scott Hartley said: “Separating MLC from NAB was the most important initiative we had to deliver as an organisation in FY25, and I am pleased to announce this significant separation milestone.

“Following the migration of MLC Wrap, MLC Navigator, and associated offers to the MLC Expand platform in April, this separation further demonstrates our ability to deliver complex, large-scale transformation projects. It also marks the second successful execution of a major exit of a superannuation business from a bank, the first being Insignia Financial’s separation of the Pensions and Investments business from ANZ in 2022.

“While there is still work to be done before we formally exit the Transitional Services Agreement (TSA) in May 2025, achieving this critical milestone sets us up to simplify our Master Trust capabilities and enables us to shift our focus in FY26 towards accelerated and sustainable growth, driven by a relentless obsession with our customers. “

This separation will simplify and streamline processes and deliver significant cost savings with the exit of the TSA. These savings are included in the FY25 net cost reduction of $60-65 million, and in the net BAU opex reduction goal of ~$200 million over FY26-30, as announced at our recent Investor Day.”

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Scott Hartley

Insignia Financial (ASX: IFL) is pleased to announce the appointment of Scott Hartley as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of Insignia Financial.

Scott joins Insignia Financial following an extensive search to replace Renato Mota, whose departure was announced in late October. Scott will commence in his role as CEO on 1 March 2024 and will join the company from 26 February 2024.

With over two decades of experience in the wealth management sector, Scott has a breadth of industry knowledge, most recently serving as CEO of AMP Australia. Prior to AMP, Scott was CEO of Sunsuper and led MLC’s corporate and institutional wealth businesses.

Commenting on the appointment, Allan Griffiths, Insignia Financial Chairman said:

“Scott joins at a pivotal point in the business and his appointment is key to providing a fresh perspective as we continue into the next phase of executing on our strategy.

“Scott’s deep experience and strategic leadership will be critical as we continue to build on our established foundations and move forward with clarity and focus on the opportunities our market position and capabilities provide.

“On behalf of the Board I would like to welcome Scott and look forward to working together. I would also like to express my gratitude to Renato for his 20 years of service and dedication to the organisation, five of which as CEO.”

Incoming CEO, Scott Hartley said: “I am honoured to be chosen to lead Insignia Financial and excited to be joining Insignia Financial at this transformational time as it builds upon its strong foundations to support Australians to achieve greater financial wellbeing.

“Insignia Financial is uniquely positioned in the industry, with capabilities in advice, platforms, superannuation, and asset management, and a strong client focused culture which can be leveraged to create value for all stakeholders, including shareholders, clients, advisers, and members. Insignia has an exciting future and I look forward to working with the Insignia team to accelerate execution of Insignia’s strategy.”

Scott will also join the Insignia Financial Board as Executive Director.

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Edwina Maloney

AMP has announced three new executive roles and a flattened organisational structure, as part of the ongoing simplification and streamlining of its business following the AMP Capital sales.

AMP will elevate leadership of its Platforms and Advice businesses in two new roles on its executive committee. A third new executive committee role of Group Executive Super and Investments will combine responsibility for the Superannuation–Master Trust and Investments businesses.

Edwina Maloney who leads the Platforms business and Matt Lawler who leads the Advice business, will continue to perform their current roles and become part of the executive committee. Their new titles will be Group Executive Platforms and Group Executive Advice, respectively.

AMP will conduct an internal and external search to fill the third position of Group Executive, Super and Investments. Jason Sommer, currently Director – Transformation and Investments, Australian Wealth Management will act in the role until the permanent position is filled. Chief Investment Officer Anna Shelley and Director Super and Investments Ilaine Anderson will report into this new executive position. Anna Shelley will also have a dotted reporting line to CEO Alexis George for group investment activities.

The appointments follow the recent decision to remove the role of Australian Wealth Management CEO, held by Scott Hartley and to simplify the business structure. It also follows the decision to combine the roles of Chief Financial Officer and Group Executive Transformation, now held by Blair Vernon.

AMP Chief Executive, Alexis George commented:

“The AMP Capital sales have made for a much simpler AMP and these executive changes reflect that by flattening our management structure, particularly in wealth management.

“This elevates key businesses to the executive team, further increasing visibility and accountability for performance and cost management, while also bringing the executive committee closer to our customers and to advisers.

“The new operational structure supports our focus on being a leading provider of retirement solutions and helping more Australians to meet their financial goals.

“The new executives have proved themselves as high-quality leaders and I look forward to working more closely with them.

“Again I would like to thank Scott Hartley for the work he has done to reposition AMP’s wealth management businesses.”

The new appointments come into effect on 31 July 2023.

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Scott Hartley

AMP, a retail bank and leading wealth manager in Australia and New Zealand, has delivered a key strategic priority with the transfer of the Multi-Asset Group capability into its wealth business, creating AMP Investments.

The successful transfer creates an end-to-end super and investment platforms business within AMP.

Under the leadership of Chief Investment Officer, Anna Shelley, AMP Investments manages $84.7 billion in assets under management^[1], including the retirement savings of AMP’s superannuation and platform members, and investments on behalf of external institutional and retail clients.

This includes AMP’s flagship SignatureSuper, MySuper and choice superannuation products, including those offered as part of AMP’s workplace superannuation mandates and on the North wrap investment platform.

The Multi-Asset Group was formerly part of the AMP Capital investment management business.

CEO AMP Australian Wealth Management Scott Hartley, said: “Establishing the AMP Investments capability within the Australian Wealth Management business is an important milestone for AMP’s transformation strategy.

“The team is overseeing investment management for AMP’s close to one-million superannuation members.

“Anna Shelley is a highly regarded Chief Investment Officer and has assembled an outstanding investment team – a mix of former AMP Capital Multi-Asset Group, including AMP’s Chief Economist Shane Oliver, and outside talent.

“The team has strong capability across all asset classes, including responsible investment, which will be an increasing focus as more and more Australians seek to align their investments with their values.

“Working closely with the Trustee, AMP’s business now has end-to-end oversight and accountability for investment management, including investment strategy, investment performance and ensuring member fees are competitively low.”

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[1] At 30 April 2022

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Scott Hartley

AMP has announced that it will be delivering further fee reductions for superannuation members, driven by its ongoing program to simplify its super business.

Effective from 1 October 2021, AMP’s super products will be simplified from 11 to three, which will enable:

• MySuper fee reductions of 8 per cent on average across dollar administration and investment fees^[1]
• Choice fee reductions of 29 per cent on average across administration and investment fees^[1] .

The reduction to MySuper fees is being delivered in addition to AMP lowering members’ fees in both 2020 and in 2018.

AMP’s super simplification program began in 2018 with a focus on improving business efficiency, and returning the benefits to members through lower fees, simpler fee structures, and improved member services. The reductions announced today were planned as part of the program and are included within the margin guidance that was provided in AMP’s first half 2021 results.

Member benefits

The following benefits will be delivered for members as a result of the changes on 1 October 2021:

• Majority of AMP members in Master Trust products will see reductions in administration and investment fees.
• There will be a simplified investment menu, which will reduce complexity and make investment decisions easier, while still providing access to the industry’s best fund managers, including ESG and low-cost index options.
• New and improved online functionality, including a more integrated super and pension investment menu will make it easier for members to transition to retirement, and the ability for members to nominate beneficiaries online.

AMP members continue to have access to our online financial education resources and financial counselling services.

AMP Australia CEO, Scott Hartley said: “It’s important that our members have low fees, good performance and excellent member services that help them to make the right decisions to build for their retirement.

“As part of our plan to simplify our business, we committed to lowering our fees, reducing our costs and returning the benefits to members. Our goal is to continually improve the experience of members, and the financial advisers who support many of them.

“We know how important and valued our member services are. Particularly through Covid we have seen a strong increase in members wanting advice and support with their finances. This year there was a 200 per cent increase in people accessing our free online financial education content. Giving members access to free financial information is critical to helping them to make good decisions in order to meet their retirement goals.

“Investing our members’ retirement savings is also an important responsibility. We have achieved great returns for members recently, particularly those in AMP’s MySuper Lifecycle fund, where we delivered an average return of 20 per cent for the past financial year.

“We are focused firmly on the future and delivering both strong and sustainable returns for our members remains a key priority.”

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[1] Excludes indirect fees A

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Scott Hartley

AMP Australia CEO Scott Hartley has welcomed the release of the Your Future Your Super regulations by the Federal Government saying they will give effect to new laws which will benefit all MySuper members.

The new laws include the introduction of ‘stapling’ which means a fund will follow an Australian as they move from one job to another, preventing the creation of duplicate super accounts.

The annual performance test will lay down the challenge to ensure all super funds are focused on delivering competitive member outcomes.

The decision to use administration fees from the most recent financial year in calculating the annual performance test, rather than an eight year average, will encourage further reductions in fees by superannuation funds.

While some superannuation providers such as AMP have significantly reduced their fees over the past several years, other funds have increased their fees, particularly after the introduction of the Protecting Your Super legislation. All members should expect their fund to be judged on all of the fees that are charged to them today.

The decision not to use historical fee data in the calculation of the performance test reflects the challenges around the inconsistency across funds of reporting that data.

AMP Australia CEO, Scott Hartley said: “The Your Future Your Super legislation will help ensure super funds deliver better outcomes for their members. “Using administration fees from the most recent financial year in the calculation of the annual performance assessment is sensible. It will ensure funds can be assessed on the fees that they are presently charging members and acknowledges the inconsistencies in the historical recording of fee data across funds.

“Delivering strong and sustainable returns for our members is a priority and AMP was pleased to deliver an average return of 20 per cent for our AMP MySuper lifecycle members for the past financial year.”

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The new leadership team consists of a complementary mix of existing AMP leaders, leaders new to AMP and internal promotions. The team has the capability and experience to drive the transformation of the AMP Australia business, and each has the attributes to lead a high-performance culture.

Mr Hartley will have seven direct reports with a diversity of tenure, background and gender.

The updated operating model will mean a sharper focus for both Platforms and Super with these two businesses being separated. Accountability for investment performance is being brought into AMP Australia and a new Chief Investment Officer is being appointed to the leadership team. The structure will provide end-to-end business accountability for each Director to promote performance and execution of the strategy.

There are three new leaders joining from outside of AMP:

• Matt Lawler is the new Managing Director Advice. He brings experience in large scale advice transformations and a deep knowledge of building and operating successful advice businesses. He has led advice and broking businesses at MLC/NAB, was CEO Wealth Management of Yellow Brick Road, and most recently CEO of Wealth Market, a privately owned advice business.
• Anna Shelley is appointed Chief Investment Officer (CIO). Anna is a highly respected investment professional and leader. She has a deep background in investments, having spent over 13 years with JANA, as well as Perpetual Investments and has been the CIO of Equip super and Catholic Super funds since April 2018. Anna is replacing Debbie Alliston who is retiring from executive positions and will finish on 31 July after 10 years of exceptional service.
• Jason Sommer will be the new Director, Transformation & Investments. He is a highly experienced and successful transformational leader and joins from Sunsuper where he is currently Chief Financial Officer (including investment product and operations) and is a member of the executive team.

Ilaine Anderson and Sean O’Malley, who have both been acting in the roles of Super, Retirement and Platforms, and AMP Bank respectively, have been permanently appointed to their roles:

• Ilaine Anderson is Director, Super & Retirement. Ilaine is an experienced senior executive, who has been Director of Workplace Superannuation at AMP Australia and has held leadership roles in a number of industries including wealth management, professional services and HR.
• Sean O’Malley is Managing Director, AMP Bank. He has 25 years of experience predominantly in financial services and has held several senior positions within AMP Bank over the past five years, including leading Technology and Operations, and successfully delivering the Future AMP Bank – technology modernisation program.

Also on the leadership team:

• Edwina Maloney is the Director, Platforms, which is a new role comprising Wrap and SMSF platforms. Edwina will join from AMP Capital, where she is currently Global Head of Product and brings strong leadership, strategic capability, and an understanding of advisers from her experience promoting investment products at both AMP Capital and Perpetual.
• James Kent, Chief Technology Officer, AMPA, continues in his important role leading the strategic delivery, support and enhancement of AMPA’s technology, digital, data and analytics capabilities.

The extended leadership team also consists of Client Services led by Steve Vaid, and Adviser Distribution led by Nicole Mahan and four Group-aligned leaders across finance, people and culture, legal, and risk. Nicole will continue to play a critical role in business performance in line with her focus on AMP’s relationships with advisers.

Scott Hartley, Chief Executive Officer AMP Australia, said: “As well as bringing together an experienced leadership team with four new executives, we also have an updated operating model to deliver a flatter structure to enable empowered, distributed leadership. This will improve efficiency and ultimately the performance of the business by giving our leaders end-to-end operational accountability.

“The four new leaders will be in place by July this year. They bring the skills and experience needed to help AMP deliver the transformation of its business and will complement existing skills AMP has in its current leadership group.

“The new leaders have all worked in large institutions and small to medium sized businesses. They will bring a healthy perspective on how we ensure AMP Australia is a lean, efficient and competitive business.

“We’ve looked for individuals who are excited about the opportunities, have a firm grasp of the challenges we have as an organisation, and a strong sense of urgency about the changes we need to see in our business.

“I’m very pleased we are bringing in such well respected, talented executives, to help transform the business, and I am confident we now have the team to successfully deliver on the strategy.”

Matt Lawler takes over from David Akers as Managing Director, Advice. David has led the Advice business and AMP’s aligned advice network through a very difficult period of industry disruption and regulatory change, and has positioned the advice business well to capitalise on the opportunities for AMP and its advisers.

“David has led the business with strength, integrity and vision. With the transformation now well underway, it is the right time to transition to a new leader, who is well positioned to take the advice business through the next phase of transformation and growth.

“Ahead of Matt’s arrival, David will continue to lead the Advice business to maintain the momentum we have in our advice transformation, with the priorities for the business and the network remaining unchanged.”

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