Managing Director, Craig Meller, said initially the group will continue to have two distinct personal insurance product offers: AMP’s Flexible Lifetime Protection, and AXA’s Elevate.
“We will continue to invest in both product ranges to ensure they remain competitive,” he said.
However, the company plans to release a new retail insurance product range within the next two years which it says will take the best attributes of the current offerings.
When asked whether specific insurance services currently offered by one company would be shared with all clients, for example AMP’s Claims Concierge Service, Mr Meller said it was too early to make that call.
“We haven’t made a final decision on what the best practice insurance services currently offered by both AMP and AXA are, or whether it is feasible to offer them to both (groups of customers).”
“Our expectation is that we will enhance both offers over the next few years. We’re going to harmonise the products (ie: align definitions and features) so that when it comes time to merge there won’t be too much change for existing customers,” he said.
In addition to the new insurance product range, Mr Meller also outlined plans for the consolidation of other products and services currently available from both AMP and AXA.
Addressing advice and distribution, Mr Meller said AMP/AXA will continue to maintain a multi-brand approach: “We will work closely with all the brands to ensure that they can run competitive businesses.”
He argued that financial advisers are in short supply and that this means there is plenty of scope to have multiple advice brands compete in the market.
Mr Meller added that advisers from different brands could also benefit from a number of aspects of the existing AMP licensee arrangements. He listed access to competitive finance packages through AMP Bank and the AMP Horizon adviser academy as two examples of how the newly aligned advisers could benefit from the merger.
In the retail investments, superannuation and retirement markets AMP says it will maintain both the AXA North and AMP Flexible Super offers, however AXA North will become the main wrap platform.
For corporate superannuation, AMP’s SignatureSuper will be its medium and large corporate superannuation product, while AMP Flexible Super will target small to medium businesses’ superannuation needs.
AMP will continue to support both the AMP and AXA group risk products, enhancing AMP’s group risk offer and investing in AXA’s stand-alone offer, to capitalise on what the group sees as profitable growth opportunities.
Mr Meller explained that while the plans announced this week are relatively high level, they provide the foundations needed for the newly merged business.
“The initial six week planning process brought together people from both AMP and AXA so we could learn more about each business and jointly decide on some of the elements of the combined company – and this is what we’ve done.
“The decisions announced today draw on the strengths of both businesses to build a new, stronger and more competitive wealth management company,” Mr Meller said.
