Nearly 40 years ago, long before we fully realised the level of corruption in high places and in corporations, and when AMP was still a Mutual Provident Society, I worked for that organisation for 3 years.
For personal reasons, I needed to get back into full-time work, but the profession for which I was qualified – teaching maths – involved working with teenagers – and I was living with three at the time!
The likely stress levels associated with that option were unacceptable – my own children and I survived their childhood only because I have a strong sense of responsibility, and children do become human – eventually.
Three years was enough to convince me that I was better occupied teaching maths than selling insurance and superannuation packages, and the legacy of that time was a Personal Superannuation Portfolio (PS) and a Whole of Life Insurance Plan – the latter of which is already fully paid up and will ensure I can have a great celebration in about a decade, as it pays out when I am 95!
The proceeds of the PS scheme was eventually rolled over into an Allocated Pension, with AMP (their reputation had not yet been shredded) accompanied by my compulsory contributions to a Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme, and I continued using the advice of a qualified Financial Adviser with AMP whom I knew personally – as youngsters, he and my younger son had both played cricket in local teams = and whose advice I found satisfactory.
Another legacy was shares in a now demutualised AMP, which are currently of little value, paying no dividends as a result of AMP having its reputation well and truly trashed in the Banking Royal Commission!
A whole lot of reorganisation has gone on with AMP, as a result of which they have dismissed a significant number of their former financial advisers, including mine, under massively unfair circumstances.
I wish to continue using my adviser but AMP denies him access to my account. In fact it appears that they have denied him accreditation as a financial adviser.
I so not know how long it will take for the courts or tribunals and regulatory bodies involved in this issue to rectify matters, so in the meantime I am managing my own portfolio, which essentially restricts me to AMP linked products.
I am familiar with spreadsheets, can work online, understand the concept of trends and long term growth, but would still value advice from time to time – particularly in today’s financial upheaval.
Organisations which manage money need much more oversight from government appointed regulators than seems to be the case.
The aversion displayed by the government, into accepting the need for the Banking RC, gives us no confidence that the Coalition has any respect for integrity, transparency, or, in fact, any values which are respected by Australian people – excluding Peter Dutton.
And now they are denying us a Parliament using specious arguments to which they daily give the lie by their own behaviour.
I find it sad – I actually am appalled by the fact – that so many voters do not understand that this Coalition government lies and cheats its way into power, is supported by the most corrupt media empire the world has ever known and uses Gestapo-like propaganda tactics to smear the Opposition – which, to be truthful, is not exactly helping itself.
Oh for a magic wand, which would enable us to see a Fact Check result in a cloud above the head of every politician who tells a blatant lie. The down side of that is that we might never see the sun again!
AMP appears to have acted in a way which has quite wrongly put former advisers into massive debt, denied their ability to continue working as advisers, and denied clients the right to employ an adviser whose integrity they can trust.
Part of the new normal should be putting these wrongs to right!
I end as always – this is my 2020 New Year Resolution:
“I will do everything in my power to enable Australia to be restored to responsible government.”
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