AMP reinvigorating its adviser proposition

By contrast, its Australian parent’s net profit fell 41% to A$580 million ($727.3 million) although it said underlying profit of A$810 million was down only 8% on the previous year.

The New Zealand company says its greater than expected KiwiSaver inflows helped boost net cash flows which were up 74% at $150.2m. AMP says its KiwiSaver market share rose from 11.4% to 15.2% from 11.4%.

However, that growth came at a cost. AMP NZ says costs rose 4% to $76 million, partly due to moving its headquarters from Wellington to Auckland but also because of costs associated with servicing an additional 100,000 KiwiSaver customers.

Total life insurance new business was up 15% "in a challenging market" while life insurance annual premium income was up 12%. The Australian parent company said New Zealand lapse rates rose 1.1 percentage points to 8.2% due to price increases in protection products in 2007 and deteriorating market conditions "which have led to increased policy cancellations as policyholders seek to reduce discretionary spending."