AMP Limited (formerly Australian Mutual Provident Society) is an Australian

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

company that operates in Australia and New Zealand. It offers

superannuation A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "Defined benefit pension pla ...

and

investment Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

products, financial advice and banking services through ''AMP Banking'', including home loans and

savings account A savings account is a bank account at a retail banking, retail bank. Common features include a limited number of withdrawals, a lack of cheque and linked debit card facilities, limited transfer options and the inability to be overdrawn. Traditi ...

s. AMP is headquartered in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia. The company previously operated a global

investment management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various Security (finance), securities, including shareholdings, Bond (finance), bonds, and other assets, such as r ...

business through its subsidiary

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

. AMP has one of Australia's largest shareholder registers, with most shareholders living in Australia and New Zealand due to all policy holders receiving shares in the new company when the society demutualised. 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 Austral ...

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 ...

on numerous occasions. At that time 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.

History

1848 to 1998

Australian Mutual Provident Society headquarters

On 31 August 1848, a group of businessmen, including Thomas Holt Jnr, Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, and William Perry, met to form an organisation to provide life assurance to Australians, leading to the establishment of the Australian Mutual Provident Society (AMP). Life expectancy at the time was low, and risks like disease and accidents were common. As a mutual society, AMP raised no initial capital and had no shareholders, relying on its members. The Society’s goal was to provide financial security for families through life insurance and annuities. AMP's rules were registered on 28 December 1848 under the Friendly Societies' Act of New South Wales. 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

mutual society A mutual organization, also mutual society or simply mutual, 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 cooperative, members usually do not ...

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 (184 ...

was chairman for fifteen years from the 1850s.

Richard Teece Richard Teece (29 April 1847 – 13 December 1928) was an Australian actuary, general manager and actuary of the Australian Mutual Provident Society. Teece was born in Paihia, Bay of Islands, New Zealand, the son of William Teece and his wife C ...

was general manager and actuary from 1890 and a director from 1917 to 1927. AMP began operations on 1 January 1849 at 470 George Street, Sydney, in a small upstairs office. Due to uncertain business, the office was open just 1-2 hours daily. The first policy was issued on 25 February 1849 to AMP's secretary, William Perry, marking the first policy from an Australian insurance company. AMP expanded by recruiting local agents across New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria. Initially, most policies were sold to AMP's own members, with the first external policies issued in March 1849. The company faced challenges educating the public on insurance and annuities, but by April 1851, AMP reached 100 policies. In the 1850s, AMP expanded with agents in Auckland and Hobart. Perry, a key figure in AMP’s early success, passed away in 1855. The company provided support to his widow and children in recognition of his contributions. In 1876, the first New Zealand AMP centre was built in

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

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

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

office. 1976 the

Quay Quarter Tower Quay Quarter Tower is a skyscraper located at 50 Bridge Street, Sydney, Australia. Built as the AMP Centre in 1976, the structure underwent a redevelopment from 2018 to 2021 which increased its height, introduced cantilevers, created additiona ...

in Sydney, one of the biggest skyscrapers in the city, was initially built as the AMP centre. In 1989, it acquired the

London Life Association 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 t ...

. In 1998, AMP 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, member ...

into an Australian

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

, AMP Limited, and listed on the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary Exchange (organized market), securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or c ...

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. , the NZX had a total of 179 listed securiti ...

. In 1999, AMP launched AMP Banking, an online bank. 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 ...

. AMP headquarters moved to the AMP Building on Alfred Street in 2018, although the Tower is still owned by AMP CapitalMany 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, or palm frond, is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life originating in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The palm ''(Phoenix (plant), Phoenix)'' was sacred in Mesopotamian religions, and in ancient E ...

(signifying

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

) and a

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (; ), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the " horn of ...

(symbolising plenty). The male figure of 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 languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

motto "''Amicus certus in re incerta"'' ("A certain friend in uncertain times"). The importance of Amicus was also demonstrated through the ultimate award bestowed upon AMP's highest achieving advisers, Amicus membership.

1998-2011

In 2003, the company demerged its UK operations, creating the

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 Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

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.

2018 - present

AMP board appointed Franceso De Ferrari as Chief Executive Officer of AMP Limited on 1 December 2018. On 25 March 2021, it was announced that De Ferrari would resign. In 2021, he was replaced by Alexis George, formerly of ANZ.

Operations

The company provides financial planning and advice,

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, 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 m ...

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...

managed fund An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These advantages inc ...

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, re ...

, listed assets and

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

. 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 In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...

, 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'' *''

'' is a global investment manager.

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