North announces senior appointment targeting adviser growth

AMP-owned North has announced the appointment of Amanda Trenfield as senior manager of asset consultant partnerships as the financial services platform explores further growth opportunities.

Trenfield brings more than two decades of experience in the finance sector, including five years at State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) as vice president and national sales manager and five years as vice president, national sales manager, at Barclays.

She initially began her career with roles at BT Financial Group, Macquarie Group, and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. 
Speaking on the appointment, AMP group executive of platforms Edwina Maloney said she is pleased to welcome Trenfield as North continues to focus on growth and expanding its network of partnerships.

“Amanda will play a key role in helping our team deliver great outcomes that benefit asset consultants, advisers and their clients.

“Her extensive knowledge of the Australian funds management industry across product, platforms, research houses, dealer groups and key influencers will be instrumental in helping North lead the way through its unique Buy, Badge, Build and Blend market offering.”

Trenfield added: "I’m excited to join AMP and contribute to the continued success of the North platform. This role is a great opportunity to work with asset consultants and alongside talented colleagues to deliver solutions that create real value for advice businesses and their clients."

Speaking with Money Management earlier this month, AMP chief executive Alexis George said the North platform is now in a growth phase following a period of “stagnation” as it targets consistent quarterly growth in advisers.

While there are 15,373 individuals on the Financial Advisers Register (FAR), according to the latest Wealth Data analysis, George said only about 10,000 advisers of these are truly active, which is the addressable market it is trying to target.

“If we look back at our history,” she added, “we haven’t been growing that number, and that’s what caused us to stagnate.”

“We are improving the number of advisers with positive flow of more than $1 million, and the number with negative flow are decreasing, and that’s a really good trend.”

In its half-year results for the six months to 30 June, AMP announced underlying NPAT in the platform division was $58 million, primarily driven by higher inflows, new adviser activations, managed portfolio growth, and growth from existing advisers. 

Looking at how the financial services will drive platform growth, George said: “It’s a combination of actually innovating, driving service, building that sales capability, and getting that message out there to new advisers.”