AMP adds to its North platform.

AMP has updated the guarantee menu on its North platform, putting in place three new funds under the North Guarantee.

The North Guarantee gives customers access to a diverse investment set, while providing capital protection over flexible term periods.

The new funds, called the North Guardian range, will invest in a mix of Australian and international equities, fixed income and cash with underlying investment options which include growth, balanced and moderately defensive options.

AMP’s Director, Platforms, Steve Burgess, said the changes enable customers to manage volatility within their portfolio while accessing the guarantee option at a reasonable price.

“The North guarantee option is a popular choice for customers because it allows them to be invested in growth assets and provides protection so they won’t run out of money for their retirement.

“The Guardian range is a great combination with the North Guarantee as it offers customers the flexibility to invest in a growth, balanced or moderately defensive option,” Mr Burgess said.

Changes to pricing will make the guarantee more affordable for many customers, with the cost of the most popular guarantee option, the Protected Growth 10 year term, dropping from 1.8 per cent to 1.5 per cent per annum.

The North guarantee was introduced in 2007 to allow investors to capitalise on financial market highs while also providing protection from market lows. The North guarantee was the first of its nature offered in the Australian market.

The North Guardian range aims to provide a rate of investment growth similar to traditional diversified funds with comparable target asset allocations. The range manages the level of short-term fluctuations across different market conditions by increasing or decreasing their exposure to shares based on estimated short-term market volatility.

The three new funds will be the only funds available for new customers seeking a guarantee.

The previous guarantee options remain open to existing customers.

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Key features include:

• The introduction of family fee aggregation (FFA), allowing up to four family members to take advantage of lower fees by combining account balances.  FFA is available for spouses, including de facto and same sex, parents, children, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren.
• An upgrade of the technology infrastructure that supports the platform, providing a significant increase in capacity to support future growth in North transactions.  Early results show a 20% improvement in the average response time across all North Online transactions.
• The ability to generate up-to-the-minute online notifications to keep clients and advisers updated on the dividend and distribution dates of each fund on North’s investment menu.
• A range of additional administrative enhancements to improve account management functionality for both clients and advisers.

New branding has been rolled out across all North’s communications, collateral and online sites – this forms part of AMP’s commitment to remove the AXA brand from the Australian and New Zealand markets by March 2013. 

AMP Director Platforms Steve Burgess said the developments were part of AMP’s ongoing commitment to build on the strength of North as a full-service wrap platform.  

“North has surpassed $3.7 billion in funds under administration and adviser interest has been strong over the last 12 months. 

“These enhancements ensure the platform is quicker and easier to do business with, improving the experience for advisers and clients.” 

North will continue to offer an administration fee rebate for new or rolled over term deposits until the end of the year for those looking to the safety of cash as part of their investment allocation. 

Clients have the flexibility to choose term deposits from four leading Australian banks, including AMP Bank, Adelaide Bank, ANZ and Westpac. 

North is a complete product and platform offer that gives investors access to a range of quality investments including over 230 managed funds, online direct share trading, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and exchange traded commodities (ETCs).

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The administration fee rebate will apply to all clients who take out a new North term deposit or roll over a maturing term deposit between 1 August and 31 December 2012. 

AMP’s Director Platforms Steve Burgess said while it was important for people to have a balanced portfolio, recent market volatility has seen some investors look to cash as a safe haven. 

“We are pleased to be able to offer new and existing North clients a fee rebate. In the current environment an allocation to cash is an attractive option for some clients to help them achieve their long term savings goals,” Mr Burgess said. 

“North has seen strong growth in term deposit funds under administration over the past year, jumping from 1.3 per cent to 6.9 per cent of total North FUA between June 2011 and June 2012.”

North term deposits are offered across its entire suite of non-guaranteed super, pension and ordinary money accounts and clients have the flexibility to choose from four leading Australian banks, including AMP Bank, Adelaide Bank, ANZ and Westpac.

North is a complete product and platform offer that gives investors access to a range of quality investments including multi-manager funds, managed funds, online direct share trading, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and exchange traded commodities (ETCs). 

The administration fee rebate applies for the duration of the term deposit or up to 31 December 2013.

31 July 2012

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