AMP Life exits life insurance for good

AMP will sell its remaining interest in Resolution Life Australasia for AU$524 million, completely severing its ties to life insurance after more than 100 years in the business.

Friday, November 5th 2021, 11:23AM

by Matthew Martin

Alexis George.

The acquisition of AMP Life's remaining holdings by Resolution Life marks a significant milestone for Resolution Life’s Australasian business and positions the platform for future growth, says AMP Life and Resolution Life chief executive Megan Beer.

In a release made in conjunction with the Australian Stock Exchange, AMP states "...it has agreed the divestment of its 19.13% equity interest in Resolution Life Australasia (RLA) for a consideration of AU$524 million to Resolution Life Group (RLG)".

“This divestment brings to a close our long and proud involvement in life insurance in Australia and New Zealand," AMP chief executive Alexis George said.

The sale remains subject to regulatory approvals in Australia and New Zealand.

"The sale of the RLA holding will complete AMP’s exit from its former life insurance and mature business, AMP Life, which it sold to Resolution Life in 2020 for a total consideration of AU$3 billion including the equity interest in RLA."

The sale has been agreed ahead of the expiry of the 18-month standstill period agreed as part of the 2020 sale and values the RLA stake at its carrying value in AMP’s accounts as at June 30, 2021.

"AMP is continuing to invest in the transformation and growth of its wealth management and bank businesses, as well as providing capital to support the growth of the private markets businesses and to continue actively defending its real estate business," George said.

"It enables us to realise capital to further strengthen our balance sheet ahead of our demerger and continue supporting our businesses.

“The separation of our businesses is progressing well and will continue until mid-next year as planned. We will continue to provide transitional services to RLA, as agreed, and will have a shared customer and adviser connection into the future.”

Beer said in a statement that the acquisition represents the next phase of Resolution Life’s Australasian journey as it positions itself for future growth and the rebrand of AMP Life to Resolution Life.

“Our vision is to be the leading in-force specialist life insurer in Australasia and we believe we can achieve this by being customer-focused and data-driven," she says.

"Since joining Resolution Life, the Australasian leadership team has been focused on separating from AMP and transforming the business to become data-driven and to introduce contemporary technology and digital offerings to enable better customer service and outcomes," she says.

“We have already achieved so much and the business is performing well. By acquiring the remaining interest in AMP Life we now have full ownership and control over our future."

Resolution Life is a global life insurance group focusing on the acquisition and management of life insurance policies and currently manages around US$60 billion of assets, employs over 1,500 people and provides services to approximately 2.5 million policyholders.

Resolution Life Australasia has approximately $30 billion in assets under management and is a well-capitalised business with 1.3 million customers.

Tags: AMP AMP Life Life insurance Resolution Life