Type Public Number of employees 5,400 | Traded as ASX: AMP NZX: AMP Founder Thomas Sutcliffe Mort | |
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Key people Craig Meller (CEO)Catherine Brenner (Chairman) Stock price AMP (ASX) A$ 4.75 -0.13 (-2.66%)27 Feb, 4:10 PM GMT+11 - Disclaimer CEO Craig Meller (1 Jan 2014–) Profiles | ||
AMP (ASX: AMP NZX: AMP) is a financial services company in Australia and New Zealand with superannuation and investment products, insurance, financial advice and banking products including home loans and savings accounts.
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AMP formed in 1849 as the Australian Mutual Provident Society, a non-profit life insurance company and mutual society.
In 1998, it was demutualised and listed on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges. AMP has one of Australia’s largest shareholder registers, with most shareholders living in Australia and New Zealand. This is because when the society demutualised, all policy holders received shares in the new company. Its UK operation was the subject of a demerger in 2003, separating out the Henderson Group.
Operations
The company provides financial planning and advice, banking, life insurance, managed funds, superannuation, property, listed assets and infrastructure.
AMP is Australia's largest retail and corporate superannuation provider, and is the largest life risk business in Australia. One of AMP's subsidiaries, AMP Capital, is the aligned wealth manager, with more than A$128 billion in assets under management, making it one of the largest asset managers in the Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) region.
AMP has four main business areas:
History
David Jones was a foundation director in 1848. George King was chairman for fifteen years from the 1850s. Richard Teece was general manager and actuary from 1890 and a director from 1917 to 1927.
Many of the older AMP buildings are now heritage-listed and feature the "Amicus" statue group. The central figure in the statue group is the goddess of Peace and Plenty, holding a palm branch (signifying peace) and a cornucopia (symbolising plenty). The male figure of Labour sits to her left and also holds the cornucopia, while the figures of the wife and the child sit on the goddess's right under her palm branch. Under the statue is AMP Society's Latin motto "Amicus certus in re incerta" ("A certain friend in uncertain times").
Share price history
AMP Shares rose to almost $22.00 per share in June 2001 and dropped to below $3.80 in March 2009 in a sensational share collapse. See 5 May 2003 article
AXA merger
On 15 November 2010, AMP announced a bid to merge its business with AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. The transaction was a joint proposal with AXA SA under which AXA SA would acquire AMP's Asian business and AMP would acquire AXA's Australian and New Zealand business.
The Australasian holdings included the former National Mutual business (established in 1869) which was demutualised in 1996. AXA had gained majority ownership of National Mutual in 1999 and renamed the company as AXA Asia Pacific.
The first day of the merged group operating together was 31 March 2011, with the companies to be gradually integrated and the AXA brand being phased out of the Australian and New Zealand market by 2013.