AMP Capital seeks to grow retail influence
AMP Capital has outlined a number of strategies to grow its business, a key part of which is increasing the domestic reach of its investment products through planner channels.
AMP Capital managing director Stephen Dunne told a media briefing the group was looking to move from being a predominantly institutional investment house to one more balanced between investment and retail capabilities.
Through the AMP merger with AXA, AMP Capital now has exposure to roughly 20 per cent of the total planner force in Australia and now has an opportunity to "deliver investment capability to a significant network that has been created through the merger", he said.
AMP Capital now has funds on more than 50 platforms and wraps, and products on more than 50 external dealer group approved product lists. Around 11,000 external financial advisers are now using AMP Capital, AXA and ipac products, the group stated.
The group's strategic alliance with Japanese trust bank MUTB has already given it an AMP-like exposure to the Japanese retail market, where around 95 banks and securities houses distribute AMP Capital products, Dunne said.
The vast amount of money the group manages for Japanese retail investors is pension money, so the group hoped to bring lessons it had learned there back to Australia as the population here continues to age, he added.
The group also saw long-term retail market opportunities in both China and India, according to Dunne.
Dunne also outlined a push to improve the group's investment capabilities through building out investment teams, and expanding Australian equities and multi-strategy capabilities into Asia.
Dunne also flagged a move away from "benchmark-plus"-type management into more income-focused strategies to cater for the growing pension market both here and overseas, and a push to drive more institutional business overseas.
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