AMP advisers finally break free from the mother ship

Advisers aligned to AMP have finally reached an agreement to break free from their long-standing relationship with the company and have set up a new group.

Thursday, June 20th 2019, 6:00AM 1 Comment

Simon Manning

Under a new deal the AMP advisers who formerly were within AMP's QFE are setting up a new FAP (financial advice provider) which will be autonomous from AMP.

The FAP, Wealthpoint, will offer compliance and support services to independent advisers AMP no longer writes new life insurance business and it has sold its in-force book to ResolutionLife which intends to wind down the book.

AMP's adviser group, which operates under The Association brand, currently has about 58 AMP-aligned member businesses and 52 of them will shift to Wealthpoint. The businesses represent nearly 200 advisers.

The new agreements will see them operating as independents, with distribution agreements with AMP.

Wealthpoint will use an approved products list with suppliers selected by a product committee made up of adviser representatives and supported by independent specialists, when required.

New chairman David Gyde, of Amicus Financial Group, said this was a key part of the Wealthpoint offer.

"Decisions in this area will be driven by advisers and for the best interests of advisers and their clients. Maintaining independence and being able to effectively manage potential conflicts of interest was critical to the group."

Wealthpoint will deliver business, compliance and support services to its members.

Each member business will hold an equal share and operating surpluses will be returned to them.

Simon Manning, who has headed The Association, has been appointed chief executive of Wealthpoint.

“Our key proposition is to support adviser businesses, and their advisers and staff,” he said.

“We’re all working in an industry facing unprecedented change and our proposal to form this entity was met with strong support from both our members and industry suppliers.”

Manning said it had been important to mobilise early to provide clarity and guidance through this challenging period. “We’ll take a lead on new industry compliance and conduct expectations but do so in a way that minimises disruption.”

Wealthpoint is already in talks with other adviser businesses about joining.

“We already have good scale, but we’re still interested in working with other advisory businesses as we see benefits in growth, building our national coverage and bringing in some fresh thinking. Most of our members are highly diversified in terms of the advice they offer and it’s a model we’ll continue to support.”

Wealthpoint will be overseen by a board made up of five adviser business principals.

It will apply to become a licensed financial advice provider later in the year but the initial offering includes X-plan hosting and a remuneration management platform.

New head of technology Peter Mangin said his role was designed to leverage the technology platform for members.

“Since we are in effect a start-up with minimal legacy systems, we have a great opportunity to build our offer using current technology. For example, since members will deal with around 50 different providers, our ability to provide consolidated remuneration management and reporting will provide operating efficiencies for members.”

Work is also under way on other services such as marketing.

Manning said that many of the other services currently offered by The Association, such as individual and business professional indemnity cover, centralised procurement arrangements and an adviser welfare function would be transitioned to Wealthpoint in time. Once that was done, he thought it was likely that The Association would be wound down and closed.

Tags: AMP