AMP shares dipped yesterday after the troubled wealth manager revealed it had named long-term Credit Suisse banker Francesco De Ferrari as its new CEO.
The shares eased 1.1% to $3.41 just before midday as investors wondered if the new CEO would be a good fit for a company that has been battered by the banking and finance royal commission and the disclosures about the AMP’s lack of competence and good management.
The new CEO replaces previous CEO Craig Meller who was an early casualty of the royal banking commission’s revelations about the AMP “fees for no service” scandal. That also saw chair, Catherine Brenner depart, along with three other directors.
According to the AMP Mr De Ferrari has worked for Credit Suisse for 17 years and led its South East Asian business and private banking in the Asia Pacific region.
He will start his new job on December 1, taking over from acting CEO Mike Wilkins. Mr Wilkins will return to his previous position as a non-executive director on AMP’s board. Mr De Ferrari will join the AMP’s board as an executive Director at the first board meeting in January 2019.
"Francesco is a proven change agent who will bring the strategic acumen and expertise to spearhead the transformation needed in our business," AMP Chair David Murray said in a statement on Wednesday.
AMP has pledged to review its governance and regulatory processes, after revelations at the royal commission that it repeatedly mislead the corporate regulator ASIC, and that key people, including its now departed chairm Catherine Brenner, were involved in altering an independent report from lawyers Clayton Utz on AMP’s “fees for no service” scandal.
Mr Meller left the company in early April, apologising for its misconduct and failures.
Acknowledging that 2018 had "clearly been a challenging year", Mr De Ferrari said he was confident the company could earn back customers’ trust. “I’m encouraged by the process of change already initiated by the board, and I’m committed to accelerating this change,” he said in yesterday’s statement from AMP.
