AMP has announced this morning that Mr De Ferrari will take over from Mike Wilkins, who has been acting as interim CEO since April.
Prior to joining AMP, Mr De Ferrari spent 17 years at Credit Suisse where he served as chief executive, Southeast Asia and frontier markets, as well as heading up private banking in Asia-Pacific.
The appointment means Mr Wilkins will work with Mr Ferrari during the handover period and be returning to the board as a non-executive director.
AMP chairman David Murray said Mr De Ferrari was an “outstanding leader with a strong track record in international wealth management and extensive experience in redesigning business models to drive turnaround and growth”.
The AMP board had conducted “an extensive global search” in order to find a suitable leader, Mr Murray said.
“Francesco is a proven change agent who will bring the strategic acumen and expertise to spearhead the transformation needed in our business,” he said.
The AMP chairman added that Mr De Ferrari had established “a culture that balanced the interests of clients, shareholders and all other stakeholders” during his time at Credit Suisse.
“His experience of transforming and driving growth in businesses in Asia and Europe will be invaluable as he addresses the significant challenges facing both our business and the wider financial services sector in Australia,” Mr Murray said.
“We have designed a remuneration structure to drive the recovery of AMP and recognise the degree of challenge in the task ahead.
“His remuneration and incentives are directly aligned with the interests of shareholders. With his track record of commitment to clients and business performance, I have no doubt Francesco is the right person to lead the recovery of AMP and set the strategy for future growth.”
Commenting on his own appointment, Mr De Ferrari described AMP as an “iconic Australian company with strong, market-leading positions in wealth management, insurance and asset management”, and said he felt privileged to be selected to the role.
“Throughout its history, AMP has been driven by a strong sense of purpose, helping customers plan for tomorrow and supporting them through the critical moments of their lives,” he said.
Mr De Ferrari also noted that 2018 had “clearly been a challenging year for the business”.
“I’m confident we can earn back trust, which will underpin the recovery of business performance,” he said.
“I’m encouraged by the process of change already initiated by the board, and I’m committed to accelerating this change, while maximising the opportunities we have both in Australia and internationally.
“I am excited by the opportunity and am looking forward to working with board and the team at AMP to restore the company to a position of strength and drive its future growth.”
This will be interesting. He’s taking on a business with 6 Divisions; Wealth/Advice, Capital/Funds Mgmt, Insurance, the Bank, NZ and Mature (which is run off income). It’s got 5,977 employees with 1,005 of them in the Group Office.
AMP deserves everything they get. For 15 years I’ve been telling clients to sell AMP shares, it’s just shameful that it’s taken this long for their behaviour (from top to the bottom) has caught up with them.
Shifting deck chairs on the titanic
This actually looks like a good appointment, seems like a decent bloke with a good track record.
Shame for shareholders though, AMP wont be making anywhere near as much money if they actually redesign the business to not rip people off.
sounds to me most of you are left wing whingers. AMP have supported so many families in need over a long time. have a look at the claims history of the company. Tony you are a moral fool and the rest of you should be ashamed in sitting in your arm chairs firing shots. show some character and get behind a great Australian business that needs to remain relevant to support Australians
So why has the share price colapsed ??
Tony, I thought you were referring to the government and the rest of the banking system not just one company. I wonder where we can put our money……….
Just had a quick look at Mr de Ferrari’s bio/history.. and he seems to be a genuinely good bloke. He spent time in Calcutta working for Mother Theresa’s cause – helping dying folks and abandoned kids and leading them to shelter & assistance.
This is in stark contrast to previous industry practices where upon seeing a dying person the likes of CBA would stand by and wait for them to [i]actually die[/i] and then check their pockets for cash.
At least his name isn’t Mr De Volkswagen because the comparisons between AMP and Das Auto would just be too much…!!!
Good luck to him in his mission for the actions needed to rebuild AMP.
AMP is going to be the Qantas for financial services you just wait! for a company with the most planners they did far better than the Big banks hopefully the insurance companies within the Industry funds get grilled for offering shit watered down policies and calling Property a defensive asset
I wonder if Mr. De Ferrari drives one? Anyway, good luck mate because you will need it.
I suspect customers are and will be leaving AMP in droves.
Who could trust them anymore.
[i]Francesco is a proven change agent who will bring the strategic acumen and expertise to spearhead the transformation needed in our business[/i] – Executive speak always gives me a giggle.
Good choice ……Does Credit Suisse have any financial planners ???
Huge Job
The Group is at its lowest – Morally Bankrupt – Good luck
The latest on the Superannuation Trustees having no oversight over acting in their members best interests is a disgrace – criminal
awful organization