AMP has switched to shorter product disclosure statements (PDS) for its superannuation funds ahead of the government’s 22 June 2012 deadline.
“AMP has moved to short-form PDSs for all our contemporary super products with the aim of supporting the government’s measures to improve consumers’ understanding of their super,” AMP contemporary wealth management products director Chris Jansen said in a statement.
Financial Services and Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten in June said financial services providers would have just over a year to distil their PDS down to eight pages in an effort to make the documents clearer and more accessible to potential investors.
The move in some cases would cut a PDS from more than 100 pages and make the content more user-friendly.
The reform is one of a raft of measures that Shorten has unveiled since April in response to nearly three years of financial market volatility.
Debt crises in the United States and Europe, as well as a tsunami and nuclear scare, have exacerbated jitters by investors, especially those nearing retirement.
As a result, Australia’s national savings rate has shot to 30-year highs as investors sold out of stocks, raced to cash and battened down the hatches.
AMP said the popularity of term deposits in its personal super products had led it to introduce term deposits for its corporate super products, CustomSuper and a number of SignatureSuper plans.
It has also introduced monthly interest-paying term deposits for one, two, three and five-year terms for selected retail and corporate super products where term deposits are currently available.
“With the share market volatility that investors have seen over recent times, there has been increased demand for more conservative investments options,” Jansen said.
He said AMP was offering four specialist funds to its retail and corporate super clients: AMP Capital Multi-Asset, ipac Income Generator, AHL Alpha and Lazard Global Small Cap.
