At Approved Financial Planners, we offer financial planning and other services to residents in the Perth area and across WA. We now have the benefit of having AMP Australia as a parent company. We chose to partner with AMP because they embody the same commitment to professional, ethical service that we do.
We are on the side of high standards for the entire financial planning and financial advising industry, making AMP the perfect parent company for us. Consequently, we were proud to hear of remarks made by AMP Limited CEO Craig Meller recently, addressing what our industry currently defines as “financial advice.”
Mr Meller was speaking about vertical integration, a model practised by AMP. During the speech, the subject of financial advice arose. He questioned the nature of financial advice as practised by many in the industry. According to Mr Meller, “Too many…self-interested parties…dumb down the definition of financial advice to (only include) product selection.” *
Mr Meller would go on to opine that this kind of “advice” was usually meant to “justify a certain position” and that it is “a million miles away from where the true value of advice lies.” *
Mr Meller stressed the point that vertical integration was a business model that had enabled AMP to not only provide more services, but to raise standards as well. Using the vertical integration model, AMP has been able to invest more money in financial advice and bring more financial advisors into the industry than any other financial services organisation. *
Mr Meller also remarked that the business model of vertical integration enabled AMP to train financial advisors to higher standards than industry norms and then stand behind that advice. He would go on to mention that AMP supports higher standards for the financial services industry, especially pertaining to entry-level standards. *
To learn more about Approved Financial Planners and AMP, call 08 6462 0888.
*Money Management, 30 September 2014. “Advice about more than product selection.”