Corporate super losses weigh on AMP
AMP Limited has told a Parliamentary committee that it moved early to take defensive investment positions before the full market impact of COVID-19, but it could not forestall the impact of the loss of two corporate superannuation mandates.
Responding to questions from the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, AMP claimed that, early in the quarter, before market movements occurred, “AMP took a series of defensive investment positions to shield the effects of a potential virus-related market disruption which might unfold”.
“As such, the AMP portfolios withstood the market turmoil relatively well,” the firm claimed.
However, the data provided by AMP showed that its Superannuation Savings Trust (SST) had recorded a significant decrease in value not entirely attributable to the market downturn.
It showed total assets down $7,160 million.
AMP said the reduction in the total asset value for the SST between December 2019 and March 2020 was “due to a reduction in investment values attributable to market turmoil (primarily affecting listed assets) as well as the outflows related to Superannuation Fund Transfers (SFTs) for two corporate clients (affecting all asset classes), due to a loss of mandate to another provider”.
While assets were down $7,160 million in the AMP Superannuation Savings Trust, they were shown as being down $2,394 million in the AMP Retirement Trust.
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