AMP’snewly minted CEO, Andrew Mohl, has claimed the financial services giant is not looking to exit the UK market following concerns the group’s UK based Pearl operations would not meet minimum regulatory capital requirements.
Instead, Mohl maintains that that he is focused on driving up the return on capital in AMP’s UK Financial Services business.
“Right now we are committed to fixing the problems, not looking for an exit,” Mohl says.
“The fact is, we have a substantial financial services business in the UK and we are focused on improving its profitability and returns,” he says.
AMP has set benchmark returns for the business at 1.5 times capital, or 13-15 per cent.
Though Mohl admits AMP is revising its UK Financial Services strategy, he believes that the business will meet the ambitious targets.
“With 20:20 hindsight, we wouldn’t have invested as much capital in the UK as we have,” said Mohl.
“But let’s not lose sight of the fact that AMP is a financially strong company with a lot of potential.”
Andrew Mohl was appointed CEO of AMP early this week after the departure of former chief Paul Batchelor.
