AMP chief executive Craig Dunn (pictured) has outlined how his company will approach the merger with AXA Asia Pacific, stating adviser retention and customer satisfaction will be two key measures of success.
“In my view, this merger is not simply about banging two companies together and removing duplicated costs. It has to be more than this,” Dunn said during his address to shareholders at the AMP general meeting.
Rather, he said he wanted to build a company that “truly understands and values the way financial advice, adequate insurance and better retirement savings can help change peoples’ lives”.
Dunn said the priorities of the merger over the next 12 to 18 months would be successfully integrating the two businesses while maintaining business momentum in both merged parties.
The two companies will do this by ensuring as many decisions as possible will be made jointly by AXA and AMP people, while all major business decisions will be driven by what is in the best interests of the merged company.
Dunn said the merger was making good progress and he expected the organisational model would be established in the next three months, although he warned it would take many months – and in some cases years – to transition fully to a new state.
He added that the success of the merger would be measured by three key factors: building on the growth momentum in both AMP and AXA with high levels of employee and adviser retention, taking forward the strengths of both organisations and ending up with a stronger growth platform for the future.
