Cogent move for AMP

AMP has moved another business arm under the umbrella of a British based investment company.

From today, AMP Investment Administration (AMPIA) will be rebranded under the investment operations business, Cogent.

This follows a similar move in October by the funds management giant in rebranding AMP Asset Management under the UK based Henderson banner.

But the AMP name will not completely disappear from the Cogent banner. Cogent head of client services in Australia, Jonathan Green, says the AMP name will continue to be part of the logo.

Cogent is essentially a master custodial business that services superannuation funds and investment managers on a global basis. Its main services to its clients consist of record keeping, accounting, tax administration, safe keeping of assets as well as compliance work. It has more than 90 clients worldwide and manages a total of $351 billion.

Some of Cogents' larger Australian clients include NSW Treasury Corp, the Work Cover Authority of NSW and BOC gases. It has a 17 per cent share of the master custody market in Australia.

Green says that the rebranding of AMPIA is not so much a way of moving away from the AMP brand, but more strongly defines the role of Cogent in custodial services.

"[The renaming] provides that clarity will be achieved in the minds of the market place," he says.

Green agrees that the rationale behind bringing AMPIA under the Cogent umbrella was similar to that behind relabelling AMP Asset Management with the Henderson tag. He says this is partly due to the AMP brand being "not so well recognised" outside of Australia.

Additionally, the move capitalises on the international status that the company has already built for itself in Europe, as well as expanding and unifying the technology on a global basis.

In Australia, Cogent has $90 billion under administration.