AMP Financial Planning (AMPFP) has beefed up its adviser support network by adding an extra 70 in-house staffers.
The new appointments form part of AMPFP’s field management restructure announced late last year.
The new structure intends to replace generalist field managers, who covered a broad range of dealer service issues, with more specialised support managers.
“We have appointed financial planning experts as well as people from diverse backgrounds, such as the technology, recruitment, sales and marketing industries, and people from the public sector,” AMPFP managing director Greg Kirk said.
Kirk said AMPFP was also developing teams of retirement and debt specialists and specialists to focus on the more specific needs of member practices such as succession planning.
Some of the new appointments include Bill Justo, formerly of Suncorp Wealth Management, Camilla von Pfyffer from the Securities Institute of Australia, Mark Kennedy from Apogee Financial Planning, David Gloury from MLC Wealth Management and Danielle Nugent from AXA.
Although it is Australia’s largest dealer group with over 1,100 advisers, AMP no longer has any in-house employed financial planners. All of its planners operate separate businesses aligned to the AMP brand.
The field management restructure is part of an overhaul of AMP’s planner development program, which also involved the introduction of annual exams for planners and the creation of a series of tailored advice packages.
To be introduced throughout the year, each of the 10 separate advice packages will be based around common life events that consumers surveyed by AMP selected as critical, such as when they receive an inheritance, change jobs, are made redundant or are about to retire.
Details of the packages will be released to consumers through a new television advertising campaign.
