AMP shifts advisers to annual advice agreements
AMP has announced a shift to annual agreements covering people receiving ongoing financial advice.
The company announced the move today, saying it would rolled out next year at the same time as ongoing advice agreements are phased out for both aligned and employed advisers.
It said affected advisers were being informed of the changes today.
Confirming the move, AMP Australia chief executive, Alex Wade described it as a “a step forward in the evolution of AMP’s financial advice business”.
“We have been considering the best way to charge for financial advice and factored in a range of issues including client sentiment, pending legislative change, operational matters and increasing compliance requirements,” he said. “We think annual agreements best serve the interests of clients who want advice over a period of time.”
The AMP announcement said that at the start of an annual agreement, the client and the adviser would explicitly agree the services to be provided and fees paid – something that would expire after 12 months.
“Annual agreements will ensure optimum transparency in the relationship between clients and advisers, while simplifying administration and compliance for advisers,” Wade said, adding that the change was being introduced over 12 months to give clients and advisers time to adjust.
The agreements will be administered on AMP’s new technology platform for advisers, which will simplify set up and management and ensure high standards are maintained across the adviser network.
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