That’s down from 640 in the 2012 financial yearand 606 in the first half of the 2013 year but was the largest network of advisers in the country, it said.

AMP said the decline reflected a finalisation of the impact of definitional changes applying to how advisers are reported under the new compliance regime.

It said AMP Financial Services NZ provided tailored financial products and solutions to New Zealanders through a network of quality financial advisers, and its risk business was the second-largest by market share in the country.

AMP said its wealth management business was the largest in the country and KiwiSaver was the key growth engine for that.

AMP has almost 259,000 KiwiSaver customers and almost $2.9b in assets under management, up 19% on the previous financial year.

Profit margins for the 2013 financial year increased by 25% on the year before due to growth in KiwiSaver assets under management and favourable currency movements.

Overall it reported an after-tax profit of $132 million for the year ending December 31.

The company’s individual risk API was up 1% to $301 million. But lapse rates increased to 12.8% because of price rises prompted by the looming tax changes.

“Increased  focus on retention activities combined with evidence of upward movement in industry pricing ahead of the removal of the life tax provisional relief in 2015 are creating a positive environment for improved retention. Recent product enhancements have also positioned AMP products more favourably in the market place,” it said.

Net life insurance experience was a loss of $1 million for the year ending December 31, an improvement on the $10 million loss recorded in the previous corresponding period.

AMP said it was mainly due to improved lump sum and income protection underwriting profits driven in part by effective claims management