AMP is a financial services company in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

providing superannuation and investment products, financial advice, and banking products (through AMP Banking) including home loans and savings accounts. Its headquarters is in Sydney, Australia. The Australian Mutual Provident Society was formed in 1849 as a non-profit life insurance company and

mutual society A mutual organization, or mutual society is an organization (which is often, but not always, a company or business) based on the principle of mutuality and governed by private law. Unlike a true cooperative, members usually do not contribute to ...

. In 1998, it was

demutualised Demutualization is the process by which a customer-owned mutual organization (''mutual'') or co-operative changes legal form to a joint stock company. It is sometimes called stocking or privatization. As part of the demutualization process, memb ...

into an Australian

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...

, AMP Limited, and listed on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges. AMP has one of Australia's largest shareholder registers, with most shareholders living in Australia and New Zealand. This is because when the society demutualised, all policy holders received shares in the new company. In 2003, the company demerged its UK operations, creating the

Henderson Group Henderson Group plc was a global investment management company with its principal place of business in the City of London. It merged with Janus Capital Group in May 2017 to create Janus Henderson. History The Company was established in 1934 ...

. On 20 April 2018, Craig Meller resigned as CEO after it was revealed in the

Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, also known as the Banking Royal Commission and the Hayne Royal Commission, was a royal commission established on 14 December 2017 by the Austra ...

that AMP charged clients for financial advice which was not provided, and misled the

Australian Securities & Investments Commission The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...

Operations

The company provides financial planning and advice,

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becau ...

, life insurance, managed funds, superannuation,

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

, listed assets and infrastructure. It is Australia's largest retail and corporate superannuation provider, and is the largest life risk business in Australia. One of AMP's subsidiaries, AMP Capital, was the aligned wealth manager, with more than A$128 billionas at 31 December 2012 in assets under management, making it one of the largest asset managers in the Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) region. AMP Capital has now been stripped out of the AMP Group, along with AMP Life and sold to Dexus and Resolution Capital respectively. AMP Wealth is now the appointed investment manager within the AMP Group. AMP has four main business areas: *Advice and banking provides financial planning and advice, superannuation services for businesses, and selected banking products. These products and services are primarily distributed through a network of self-employed financial planners. AMP has been granted a ySuperauthority, enabling it to continue to receive default superannuation contribution from 1 January 2014. *Insurance and superannuation provides superannuation, personal risk insurance products and self-managed super fund administration, support and design. These products and services are primarily distributed through a network of self-employed financial planners *Customer solutions *

AMP Capital AMP Capital is a large global investment manager headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Its owner, AMP Group, was established in 1849, and is one of Australia's largest retail and corporate pension providers. AMP Capital has a strategic alliance ...

is a global investment manager.

History

1848 to 1998

Australian Mutual Provident Society headquarters

Closeup of AMP Building statue group, 114 Palmerin Street, Warwick, 2015

David Jones was a foundation director in 1848. The Australian Mutual Provident Society was formed in 1849 as a non-profit, life-insurance company, and

George King George King may refer to: Politics * George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician * George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon * George Clift King (18 ...

was chairman for fifteen years from the 1850s. Richard Teece was general manager and actuary from 1890 and a director from 1917 to 1927. In 1876, the first New Zealand AMP centre was built in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. In 1910, AMP became the first company to provide assurance to soldiers. In 1960, AMP opened its

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

office. In 1998, AMP was

into an Australian

, AMP Limited, and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and

New Zealand Stock Exchange New Zealand's Exchange (), known commonly as the NZX, is the national stock exchange for New Zealand and a publicly owned company. NZX is the parent company of Smartshares, and Wealth Technologies. On 30 August 2020, the NZX had a total of 1 ...

. In 1999, AMP launched AMP Banking, an online bank. In 2003, the company demerged its UK operations, creating the

. Many of the older AMP buildings in Australia are now heritage-listed and feature the "Amicus" statue group. The central figure in the statue group is the goddess of Peace and Plenty, holding a

palm branch The palm branch is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life originating in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The palm ''( Phoenix)'' was sacred in Mesopotamian religions, and in ancient Egypt represented immortality. I ...

(signifying

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

) and a

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

(symbolising plenty). The male figure of

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

sits to her left and also holds the cornucopia, while the figures of the wife and the child sit on the goddess's right under her palm branch. Under the statue is AMP Society's

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

motto "''Amicus certus in re incerta"'' ("A certain friend in uncertain times").

AXA merger (2011)

On 15 November 2010, AMP announced a bid to merge its business with AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. The transaction was a joint proposal with Axa under which Axa would acquire Axa Asia Pacific Holdings's Asian business' and AMP would acquire AXA's Australian and New Zealand business. The Australasian holdings included the former National Mutual business (established in 1869) which was demutualised in 1996. AXA had gained majority ownership of National Mutual in 1999 and renamed the company as AXA Asia Pacific. The first day of the merged group operating together was 31 March 2011, with the companies to be gradually integrated and the AXA brand being phased out of the Australian and New Zealand market by 2013. In February 2022, AMP delisted from the NZX, consolidating its listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Royal commission (2018)

On 20 April 2018 Craig Meller resigned as CEO after it was revealed in the

that AMP charged clients for financial advice which was not provided, and misled the

on numerous occasions. More than $1 billion in market value was stripped from AMP shares as news of the company's failings were revealed before the Royal Commission. In the wake of revelations at the banking royal commission and his resignation from AMP, Meller resigned as a financial services adviser to the Turnbull government. On 30 April 2018, Catherine Brenner resigned as chairperson with Mike Wilkins appointed acting CEO and chairperson. On 8 May 2018, directors Vanessa Wallace and Holly Kramer announced they would not be seeking re-election, in response to an imminent protest vote organised by the shareholders in the aftermath of the Banking Royal Commission. Patty Akopiantz also announced she would be resigning at the end of the year. In November 2018, AMP admitted to a second overcharging scandal. In 2019, CEO Francesco De Ferrari launched a billion dollar transformation plan, aiming to recalibrate public opinion on AMP post royal commission. In July 2021, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission launched a case against AMP in the Federal Court, seeking pecuniary penalties and orders to publish an apology over the 'fee for no service' scandal, where the company would deduct a fee from client's accounts without performing a service. In September 2022, AMP was fined $14.6 million by the Federal Court. AMP had, as of August 2022, paid back $627 million to 331,994 customers affected by the scandal.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Financial services companies established in 1849 Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Financial services companies based in Sydney Insurance companies of Australia Australian companies established in 1849 1998 initial public offerings