AMP chief Alexis George defends the troubled company’s long-term prospects

She was there to unveil a brand new retirement product, but AMP chief Alexis George instead found herself defending her company.

AMP chief executive Alexis George has defended the longevity of her company during a high-profile launch of a new retirement income product in Sydney on Tuesday.

When questioned by long-term superannuation industry analyst Alex Dunnin, Ms George, AMP’s chief since August 2021, gave a spirited defence of her outlook for the company which was once the powerhouse of the Australian financial services sector.

Mr Dunnin, the founder of Rainmaker Information which owns Money magazine, asked Ms George whether consumers were “making a longevity bet on AMP” if they bought the product which is designed to guarantee payouts to retirees until their death.

“What do you tell them about AMP being around in 40, 50, 60 years?” Mr Dunnin asked during a breakfast at AMP’s revamped Sydney headquarters, overlooking its former headquarters in Circular Quay.

AMP chief executive Alexis George. Picture: John Feder

Ms George, who considers the new product, MyNorth Lifetime, as being pivotal to AMP’s future in the increasingly competitive retirement income product market, said she believed in the long-term future of the company, which was trying to focus on its banking, superannuation and financial-advice business.

AMP has battled through a difficult few years, during which its senior executives and board members departed in the wake of the Haynes royal commission into misconduct in the financial services sector. It has faced strong competition for the superannuation dollar from low-cost industry super funds and questions over the behaviour of the former chief executive of AMP Capital.

AMP has sold off its life insurance arm, once one of the cores of its operation, and is going through the sale of Collimate Capital’s real estate and domestic infrastructure management group to Dexus.

The potential income from the sale has been hit by the withdrawal of funds from the group by several super fund investors to the rival GPT Group.

“None of us have been with this organisation for longer than 18 months,” Ms George told Dunnin, referring to senior executives on the podium – AMP Australia chief Scott Hartley, director platforms Edwina Maloney, and general manager, retirement solutions Ben Hillier.

Rainmaker Information founder Alex Dunnin.

“All of us came to this organisation because we believe it has a long-term future.

“We believe and respect the heritage, but know it has to change to drive into that future.

“We are all 100 per cent committed to making the changes that need to be made, to getting rid of the bureaucracy that we sometimes have encountered, and to really be making a difference in the community.”

Ms George said she had overseen the adoption of a new company purpose which was “Helping People Create Their Tomorrow”, and values – a process which was “done organically, not with consultants”.

“I intend for this company to be one which our community respects, that our customers respect and that the advisers support,” she said.

She said the release of a new sophisticated retirement income product, a mix of the traditional account-based pension and an annuity, was “squarely” within AMP’s vision for its future.

AMP Australia chief Scott Hartley.

Mr Hartley, a former chief executive of Sunsuper and senior executive in the wealth arm of the National Australia Bank, said the transformation of AMP was a “heavy lift” but was “well progressed”.

“A lot of the hard work has been done, a lot of the pain has been taken, the balance sheet is in a really strong position,” he said.

“We have set the organisation up to grow strongly from here.

“AMP has been around for 170 years and we will be around for a lot longer.”

The comments from AMP senior executives come at a pivotal time for the organisation which is staking its future on continued strong links with the financial adviser market.

In answer to a question from The Australian, Ms George said AMP’s major focus, when it came to future government policy, was the Quality of Advice Review being conducted by Allens partner Michelle Levy, which is to report by the end of the year.

Ms George said the review could help get financial advice “back to a space where it is more accessible to ordinary Australians”.

She envisaged a new environment whereby people did not have to be given 100-page statements of advice.

Originally published as AMP chief Alexis George defends the troubled company’s long-term prospects