AMP has agreed in principle to settle an advice and insurance class action that commenced in 2020 related to historic commission payment activity for $29 million.
The claims had been brought against AMP Limited and former advice subsidiaries AMP Financial Planning, Charter Financial Planning and Hillross Financial Services.
In an ASX statement on 11 December, the firm said: “The class action relates to historical activity including the payment of commissions from July 2014 to February 2021,” AMP said.
“The claims were brought against AMP Limited and advice licensee subsidiaries that were previously part of the AMP advice network (AMP Financial Planning, Charter Financial Planning and Hillross Financial Services). Claims were also made against insurance provider Resolution Life Australasia, which was formerly AMP Life.”
The settlement is subject to the finalisation and execution of a deed of settlement and approval by the Federal Court of Australia, with AMP making no admission of liability.
“I’m pleased that we have resolved another legacy legal matter as we focus on the future and on delivering for our customers and members,” said AMP chief executive Alexis George.
The latest agreement follows another class action settlement of $120 million over alleged excessive fees on superannuation accounts in September.
The class action alleged AMP trustees “systematically overcharged” members between 2008 and 2020, especially those invested in uncompetitive, high-fee products, MySuper products, cash, and term deposits.
The central claims relate to the “overcharging of administration fees on several large, expensive products”, the law firms said in May, such as Flexible Lifetime Super and MySuper accounts, alongside overcharging investment fees on cash and term deposits.
In a statement to the ASX, AMP said that while it had reached a settlement over the class action, it “makes no admission of liability”.
AMP added it would pay around $75 million of the settlement amount, with its insurance set to cover the remaining $45 million.
It wasn’t the only action AMP has settled, with the firm also confirming it had reached agreement with some of the insurers it had launched legal proceedings against in relation to “historical remediation programs which concluded in 2022”.
“AMP sought recovery under its insurance policy of compensation and costs arising out of these historical remediation programs,” it said.
“To date proceeds totalling approximately $44 million have been received. AMP remains in discussions with a number of other insurers in relation to these proceedings, following a hearing in August 2025.”
Last year, the Federal Court approved AMP’s $100 million settlement over AMP Financial Planning’s changes to its Buyer of Last Resort (BOLR) scheme.
In May 2024, David Haseldine, the managing partner at The Updated Investor and a former AMP financial adviser, called on other members of the class action against AMP to lodge a notice to object.
There had been around 90 objections made to the proposed settlement prior to a settlement hearing; however, Justice McElwaine approved the settlement.
AMP had originally announced that an agreement has been reached to settle the class action in November 2023 and, similar to the superannuation settlement, made no admission of liability.
