Australian financial services giant AMP has launched a new financial advice business, AMP Advice, combining interactive technology and a goals-based approach.
The implementation of this new business follows a lengthy testing period in which the organisation gained feedback from advisors and customers.
Currently with 11 practices around Australia, AMP Advice hopes to open a further 20 to 30 branches nationwide – equating to 150 advisors – before the end of 2016. The business has been in development for a couple of years starting from the first goal centre in Sydney through to 2014 when the first four advisor practices were opened.
David Akers, an ex-KPMG partner, has helped to build and design AMP Advice. He has also been appointed as the future managing director.
The purpose of launching AMP Advice was to bring a goals-based approach to the 80% of Australians who do not have their own financial advisor, said Rob Caprioli, AMP group executive of advice and banking.
“That particular problem perplexed us,” he told
Australian Broker. “How do we find out what it is we need to do differently to engage the 80% that don’t seek advice?”
After extensive research with customers, advisors and industry, AMP gathered insights into solving this issue.
“What became pretty clear to us was that we weren’t really engaging with customers in the way they wanted to be engaged. Traditionally as an industry we speak a lot about superannuation, insurance, debt and terms that the majority of people may not understand as opposed to actually talking to them about what they’re really interested in: their goals.”
To deliver a goals-based advice process, AMP Advice operates through the following multi-step process using technology and specially designed physical spaces:
- Welcome by concierge at the coffee bar
- Introduce customer to personal goals coach
- Determine which goals are most relevant
- Prioritise goals with the Goals Explorer platform
- Capture more details to find a fit for each goal
- Look at what is involved in reaching each goal
- Ensure customer is comfortable and info is correct
- Ask a series of questions on the customer’s situation
- Talk with an advisor about the right strategies
“At the end of the day, what we’ve uncovered here is that we’re focusing on things that are important to customers,” Caprioli said. “The fact that it’s a goals-based advice model is something that we believe differentiates AMP from the rest.”
AMP Advice will be brought in besides AMP’s existing licensee businesses, he added, acting as another model of choice for the firm’s advisors to use.
