‘Inappropriate photos’ behind sudden exit of AMP executive Alex Wade

The embattled wealth group has received material alleging its Australia chief sent lewd photos to a woman.

AMP executive Alex Wade parted ways with AMP this week.

The sudden exit of AMP’s Australia chief Alex Wade from the under-pressure wealth group this week was related to allegations of poor conduct, including lewd photos, presented to the company.

Multiple sources told The Weekend Australian that AMP received material that alleged Mr Wade had sent inappropriate photos to a woman.

The claims are understood to have been the final straw and triggered the end of Mr Wade’s tenure as a senior executive at AMP. The allegations added to other claims relating to Mr Wade’s conduct and performance that had already been raised with the board.

An AMP spokesman on Friday declined to comment on the circumstances of Mr Wade’s departure. He referred to Thursday’s ASX statement that said AMP chief executive Francesco De Ferrari had accepted Mr Wade’s resignation.

The statement said the departure was “effective immediately” and no explanation was given.

A spokesman for Mr Wade said on his behalf: “I arrived at my decision to resign from AMP in the interests of all parties.

“My focus now is on a period of personal reflection and the relationships that are most important to me.”

Mr Wade joined AMP as head of wealth in January last year.

His role was later expanded to cover wealth management and AMP’s bank division, including spearheading a shake-up of the financial advice model by slashing the amount the company would pay to buy back planning practices. The departure leaves a gaping hole on AMP’s front bench, even though Mr De Ferrari has appointed Blair Vernon, AMP’s New Zealand wealth management chief, as acting head of AMP Australia while a search is conducted for a permanent replacement.

Mr Wade and Mr De Ferrari worked closely together at Credit Suisse, where the latter was head of the Asia-Pacific private banking business.

AMP chairman and banking veteran David Murray also had a stint at Credit Suisse as a senior adviser, before the trio crossed paths again at the embattled wealth company.

Sources said Mr De Ferrari was “devastated” at the chain of events that led to Mr Wade’s departure from AMP.

The CEO’s judgment has been thrown into question in 2020 after a run of missteps as Mr De Ferrari and the board seek to fix AMP’s past issues and untangle a complex structure.

Sparked controversy

The exit of Mr Wade comes after AMP’s promotion of Boe Pahari to lead the AMP Capital division sparked controversy, given he had been financially penalised over a harassment incident several years earlier.

Mr Pahari — who has been repeatedly backed by Mr De Ferrari — took the AMP Capital reins from retiring Adam Tindall in July.

AMP was one of several companies ravaged by the Hayne royal commission in 2018, losing its then CEO Craig Meller and chairman Catherine Brenner.

They left amid revelations AMP misled the corporate regulator, while the company was also entangled in a series of scandals relating to its financial planning business.

Mr De Ferrari, who started in the top job at AMP in late 2018, is seeking to accelerate a three-year turnaround program outlined in 2019 after this year completing the $3bn sale of AMP’s life insurance unit to Sir Clive Cowdery’s Resolution Life.

But AMP is suffering from weaker earnings and structural changes in its wealth division.

Last week the group warned of a halving in underlying group profit to between $140m and $150m for the six months to June 30.

This compares to $309m at the same time last year.

AMP hands down its official half-year results on Thursday.

The earnings update showed AMP’s wealth management arm had trebled its outflows over the past two years to $4.4bn in the first half alone.

Operating earnings in the wealth unit are expected to print at $60m for AMP’s first half while the bank’s earnings are pegged at $50m. Those results are down from $103m for wealth and $71m for the bank in the same period last year.

The announcement of Mr Wade’s departure added to AMP’s woes after the corporate regulator signalled it expected to file a Federal Court action against the group by year’s end.

The company was subject to several referrals to regulators following the royal commission.

AMP was also hit with two class actions in recent weeks, one from aggrieved financial advisers over a decision to slash the amount the company would pay them for their businesses.

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