AMP agrees to sell GEFI business to asset manager

The wealth giant confirmed on Thursday that it will sell the business to Macquarie Asset Management for a consideration of up to $185 million.

Under the agreement, AMP Capital’s capabilities in Australian and global listed equities and global fixed income will be combined with Macquarie’s public investments platform.

The sale is considered by AMP as an important step in preparing the business for its planned demerger from AMP Limited in 1H 2022.

“In bringing together two well-known Australian investment businesses with strong track records, we’re pleased to deliver such a positive outcome for our clients, our GEFI teams and AMP shareholders,” AMP acting chief executive, James Georgeson, said.

“Our review of the GEFI business last year showed it had strong investment capabilities and performance but needed greater scale and broader distribution reach to compete effectively.

“Macquarie is a high quality and respected manager, with a complementary culture and capabilities, well-placed to develop the business and deliver continued strong investment performance for its expanded client base.

“We are committed to working with Macquarie to integrate and transition our clients and teams, and to explore new partnership opportunities to enhance the products and services we both provide to our clients.”

Macquarie Asset Manager head Ben Way said the transaction is “another opportunity to add high-quality, complementary capabilities as we continue to scale the MAM public investments platform”.

“It cements Macquarie’s position as the leading investment manager in Australia by AuM and allows us to further diversify our client offering and bring new opportunities to clients joining us from AMP Capital,” Mr Way said.

“Clients will be at the centre of our considerations as we work closely with AMP on a successful integration.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.