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AMP general manager investments and services, Aaron Klee, has left the business under a redundancy agreement to end a 15-year career with the NZ wealth management firm. It is understood the move came amid a restructure of his role. Klee joined AMP at the end of 2011 to manage investment support services across the group’s in-house and associated advisory networks. His departure coincides, too, as AMP shrinks its external manager choice down to effectively two, shuttering funds offered by two of the three remaining third-party providers this week with about $500 million slated to shift. Under the changes due to apply as of November 3, the Mercer balanced fund and a suite of three SuperLife/Smart diversified products will no longer be open to new investors via the AMP KiwiSaver and employer superannuation schemes. Milford now remains as the sole off-brand investment option on the AMP menus – although, technically, BlackRock, also counts as a direct underlying manager for three of the group’s funds that were transferred from ANZ control last October as the latter abandoned the wholesale market. BlackRock also serves as investment provider for the rest of the open product range formally offered by AMP Wealth as underlying fund manager. “The new, focused line-up features the right balance of top-tier managers providing proven expertise across index, core-active, and high-active investment styles,” an AMP spokesperson said. Current AMP investors in the Mercer and SuperLife funds “can choose to do nothing and automatically transition to the default replacement fund we’ve selected for them or they can choose to switch to another fund of their choice”. Mercer has accrued about $190 million through the AMP schemes while the SuperLife tally amounts to almost $320 million. By contrast, Milford has sourced about $560 million from AMP KiwiSaver and NZ Retirement Trust investors. “The decision to simplify our fund options by removing Mercer and Smartshares follows ongoing monitoring and a strategic review of our offering to ensure the products we offer are delivering on the objectives we’ve set for them,” the spokesperson said. “In both cases we have determined that the presence of the Mercer and Smartshares funds on our platform no longer provides the diversification of investment management style that was intended.” Early last year, AMP also closed-off access to three diversified funds managed by Nikko NZ (now Amova), later transitioning the $300 million or so to BlackRock hands. AMP has historically been open to third-party fund distribution through its KiwiSaver, employer super and other schemes, hosting at one time or another products from ASB and Fisher Funds as well as Nikko, SuperLife, Mercer and ANZ. In 2021, AMP appointed BlackRock to manage most of its KiwiSaver and super money in a passive mandate, sacking then sister fund company, AMP Capital, from an actively managed gig. As well as closing the Mercer and SuperLife options this week, AMP has shuttered another single-sector international equities fund, leaving only one (BlackRock-managed) of three products in this asset class still open. According to the spokesperson, the call to rationalise the AMP investment menu was also “based on consistent feedback from our customers that the overwhelming number of fund options makes selection complex and confusing”. “This move will simplify customer investment options and is designed to deliver stronger long-term results with a continued focus on performance and best outcomes.” AMP NZ, headed by Jeff Ruscoe, reported total assets under management of just under A$12.2 billion as at the end of September as per the ASX-listed group results, split between KiwiSaver assets of about A$6.8 billion and A$5.3 billion of other funds. Quarter-on-quarter AMP assets were down A$64 million as after-cost investment losses slightly outpaced marginal net positive inflows. The AMP KiwiSaver scheme recorded net flows of A$42 million in the September quarter with A$203 million in and A$161 million out.
