AMP adviser numbers continue to slide

Yesterday, AMP announced its half-yearly results, reporting a 75 per cent profit slump as advice remediation programs begin to take their toll.

An investor document to the ASX also reveals trouble for the company’s stable of advice licensees, many of whom have been referenced or tarnished by testimony before the royal commission.

The total number of AMP-aligned financial advisers currently sits at 3,123 across its licensees, down 7.3 per cent from 3,370 in the first half of 2017.

The decline follows a similar trajectory last year, dropping 14 per cent across the year. A statement accompanying the 2017 results described the reduction in adviser numbers as “deliberate”.

In 2012, prior to the introduction of the FOFA reforms, AMP had 4,276 financial advisers.

The 2018 half-year results also reveal a decline across almost all of the company’s “core licensees”, including a 10.1 per cent drop at Charter Financial Planning, 12.9 per cent drop at ipac, and 5.9 per cent drop at AMP Financial Planning.

More significant declines occurred at the AMP Horizons graduate academy and SMSF Advice licensee, with 73.2 per cent and 70.9 per cent drops respectively.

A statement from chairman David Murray did not reference the declining adviser force but mentioned the financial advice and SMSF businesses as being contributors to “revenue growth”.

He added that the board is currently “restoring confidence in AMP” and “giving attention to the transformation of advice”.

AMP may be facing criminal charges following potential breaches of the ASIC Act and Corporations Act identified by the royal commission.