AMP appoints new advice transformation lead

Jill Hopkins will take on the role of advice transformation director. Ms Hopkins has held a number of senior business roles and spent five years at CBA as the program director for its Future Advice Model, which sought to deliver a “customer centric and efficient” advice service.

“After a stint with some consulting work I have just joined AMP as advice transformation program director. I acknowledge the challenges ahead but I can say I have never felt more welcomed and supported in any new job in my very long career,” Ms Hopkins said.

Ms Hopkins was recently undertaking a short-term consulting assignment at Perpetual Trustees, and has also held program management positions at Westpac and Citi.

“Jill has extensive knowledge of the financial advice industry and is playing a key role is on the ongoing transformation of AMP’s advice business as part of the group’s three-year strategy,” an AMP spokesperson told ifa.

Ms Hopkin’s appointment was welcomed by a number of senior AMP figures, including acting CEO Blair Vernon. Mr Vernon recently told an industry panel at the Financial Services Council (FSC) Future of Advice seminar that the level of regulation around advice was making it less accessible and that the industry had a “challenging” 12 to 24 months ahead of it.

“There is that tension between how do we stick with the purpose of what we as an industry want to be about, in terms of helping clients, but still meet those obligations,” Mr Vernon said.

“I don’t think we’ve got the pendulum in the right setting at the moment. And so that said, I think it would be a reticence to say let’s just do wholesale change from where we are, because there’s still a challenge around how do we reach through to those new standards that FASEA is taking us towards.”