AMP has announced plans to acquire Cavendish Group and set up a new self-managed super fund (SMSF) business unit to be led by Paul Sainsbury.
The AMP SMSF unit would initially focus on administration and advice, and would comprise Multiport, Ascend and Cavendish – once the acquisition is completed in July. AMP SMSF would also work closely with SuperIQ, of which AMP owns 49 per cent.
The Cavendish Group is a privately owned company consisting of three entities – SMSF administration, investment portfolio administration and actuarial services. AMP plans to acquire two of these entities – SMSF and investment portfolio administration.
Tapping into the SMSF market was a key strategic priority for the company and would position it well for future growth, said AMP chief executive Craig Dunn.
"We will develop customer-friendly and good value SMSF offers, leverage our existing distribution channels through our aligned adviser networks and also increasingly through accountants, stockbrokers, external financial advisers and customers direct as we increase our scale in this sector," Dunn said.
Sainsbury will report directly to Dunn, but will retain his position as AMP director of integration, the company has announced. The new SMSF unit will have joint managing directors Andrew Row and Andrew Hamilton, who will report to Sainsbury.
He said AMP hopes the acquisition of Cavendish would make it the most significant player in the SMSF professional administration market.
"It also puts us in a strong position to take advantage of the increasing move by SMSFs to seek advice from financial planners," Sainsbury added.
"While only 14 per cent of existing SMSFs use a financial planner, 42 per cent of SMSFs are being established by financial advisers for their clients [Super System Review 2009]."
Sainsbury will take up the role of director AMP SMSF on 2 July 2012.
