AMP mulls goals-based white label

Following an ifa editorial that examined the significance of AMP’s goals-based advice strategy, the company granted ifa access to the flagship “Goals 360 experience” store at AMP’s Circular Quay headquarters and a demonstration of its goals-based advice process.

The process allows consumers to identify their priorities among 29 financial and life goals and use an artificial intelligence-backed system to embark on an advice process with one of AMP’s “goals coaches”.

In an exclusive interview after the tour, Jack Regan, AMP group executive, advice and New Zealand, revealed that the country’s largest advice provider potentially has big plans for its new toy.  

“We’ve essentially created a scaled pilot to effectively test and learn and develop out the program,” Mr Regan explained.

“Most of the IT build we expect will be completed in 2017 [but] a lot won't still be embedded until we get to about the middle of 2018. And it’s after that point in time that we'll start to think about scale.”

Mr Regan said that AMP-aligned practices will have the opportunity to integrate elements of the AMP Advice goals-based model into their business but stressed that the rollout would not become mandatory.

“The key premise here is that most of our licensee businesses are self-employed practices so ultimately it's the business owners who are going to be making that decision,” he said. “They get sovereignty over their businesses.”

Asked whether AMP may also look to white-label the product outside of the network, Mr Regan said the company is considering offering it to the IFA market or even competitors in the long-term, pending the results of the pilot program.

“We think that there’s an opportunity there potentially down the track so it is more over the immediate horizon, but the reality is that we will use this as a vehicle to take advice more broadly,” he said.

“It sort of follows then that if we can do that then we have a digital spine, we’ve got a capability around building goals-based advice that is in fact leverageable across many brands.”

The program is currently only being used by advisers licensed by AMP Advice, many of whom are salaried advisers transitioned from ipac by the company since late 2016. AMP chief executive Craig Meller told an investor briefing in May that AMP Advice is at the centre of the company's plans to drive revenue in its wealth arm. 

AMP values its “goals exploration sessions” at $350 but is currently providing them free of charge to consumers for a “limited time only”, according to its website.