AMP's super offering helps clients manage without advice

AMP’s new consolidated super offering will make it easier for advisers to retain clients, but will also make it easier for clients to get by without the services of an adviser.

AMP Flexible Super, a fully flexible all-in-one super and retirement product, is much more streamlined and will be easier to use for both advisers and clients, according to AMP Financial Services director, product manufacturing, Paul Sainsbury.

“We don’t think it’s about reducing the amount of advice opportunities for advisers but we do recognise that there are some customers who don’t value advice and choose to invest differently,” Sainsbury said.

“At the moment, AMP doesn’t make it as easy for them to do that. This product makes it much easier for customers based on their choice.”

The new offering gives advisers the flexibility to work with their clients to better meet their needs, and enables the adviser to agree with the client to the fee that they pay for the service that they get, he said.

AMP director of wealth management products Andrew Hobern said the changes were based on feedback from both clients and advisers, while government policy and regulation also influenced the development of the new offering.

“Consolidation of super was one of the biggest issues,” he said. “We get a lot of feedback [from advisers] about where they would expect improvements to be made, and one of the issues that we had was that as a consumer's needs changed, the product they were in wasn’t always the right product for them, so they actually had to go through the hassle of moving and migrating products.”