Annual CPI Increase to Xplan licensing - NEW 23/02/2021

All Xplan licensing fees are subject to an annual CPI increase adjustment as part of AMP’s contract with Iress.

We will be passing on this fee increase of 0.70% from the 1st billing period of March 2021.

New Advice Development Worksheet (ADW) – NEW 22/02/2021

The new Advice Development Worksheet is now available for you to use under Wizards > Advice Development Worksheet.

Features include:

• The ability to add your own Managed Content to commonly used fields.
• The inclusion of frequently used strategies for selection or you can use the custom option to add more detailed strategy information.
• You can create and save multiple scenarios to address client goals separately.
• Your Fact Find 2020 goals will automatically be visible under the Advice Development Worksheet.
• The ability to import Wealth Solver, Risk Researcher and CALM scenarios for your research and product analysis.

The Advice Development Worksheet wizard in XPLAN can now house your research and product analysis in the one place by merging with your other XPLAN modules.

MyNorth Guarantee Redesign –  30/11/2020

To support the new MyNorth Guarantees, a reference guide has been made available to provide an

overview of the steps users need to take in XPLAN, to include guarantee fees in the projections

when creating a XTOOLS+ CALM scenario.

You can access the guide on Portal > Standards > QAFs & Standards > Advising on guaranteed products – specifically North and MyNorth guarantees > Tools and resources or Adviser IQ > Standards A-Z list > Advising on guaranteed products - North & MyNorth guarantees > Tools and templates.

AMP Model Portfolio’s Update – 24/11/2020

Xplan has been updated with the latest model portfolios changes, for details please refer to:
portal > Research > Investment Research > Research Updates.

Life Insurance APL update –  02/11/2020

In response to insurance sector changes AMP undertook a rigorous review and tender process to ensure the panel remained competitive. There is now a common APL across all licensees.
The panel consists of five market-leading providers with six product choices.
 

Please refer to FAQ’s about the changes located at: Portal > Research > Insurance Research > Life Insurance updates or Adviser IQ > Tapin and Research > Research > Insurance Research
 

You can access the new updated APL at: Portal > Research > Insurance Research > Approved Product Lists or Adviser IQ > Tapin and Research > Research > Approved Product List

North Datafeed issue - 07/10/2020

The issue affecting North fee rebate transactions was fixed for new transactions from 24/08/2020.  Historical transactions prior to this date were not covered in the fix.

This means that fee rebate transactions prior to 24/08/2020 are being applied as units against the North managed fund asset as well as income on the cash account. 

AMP are currently investigating a solution to apply a fix for the historical transactions.

In the meantime we recommend you obtain portfolio balances and reports via North Online

We apologise for any inconvenience

Advantage Funds Model Portfolios - 17/09/2020

Given the closure and downgrade of the Advantage Funds, the Advantage Funds models cannot be used for new clients. Advisers may consider using the wholesale fund models to manage new clients’ assets as an alternative.
 

For clients who currently use the Advantage Funds models to manage investments, advisers should read the Product update – Advantage funds along with other product and advice communications when considering the appropriate action for your clients. You can access the product update on portal > Research > Investment Research > Research Updates.

Wealthsolver North Cash Accounts – 05/05/2020

Please be aware that when using the Wealthsolver Scenario’s and importing assets from IPS North Datafeeds for the follow products: MyNorth, North, Summit, Generations and iAccess, the North cash account asset CASHACCT.CASH does not have the 0.45% admin fee applied. 
 

The workaround to be applied is to replace the cash account with the default plan Cash Holding in the above-mentioned Products. 
 

This matter is currently being investigated by our vendor, Iress.
 

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Xplan Coronavirus Response 05/05/2020

The government have introduced a number of changes to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus. We have identified the following changes as having an impact on Xtools projections:

1. Coronavirus Supplement
2. Economic Support Payment
3. 50% reduction in minimum payments for account based pensions and term allocated pensions
4. Further reduced deeming rates
5. Early access to superannuation

Legislative Rates have been updated to reflect items 3 and 4 above:

• The usual minimum payments for account based pensions and term allocated pensions will be halved for projection periods within the 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years.
• The further reduction of deeming rates, to 0.25% (lower rate) and 2.25% (upper rate) will be incorporated into projections from 1 May 2020.
  • This means CALM/Xtools+ projections commencing on 1 July 19 will use the former deeming rates ( 1% lower rate and 3% upper rate) for the first year, unless the scenario contains a Key Date on or after 1 May 20, in which case the new deeming rate will be reflected in the second partial period for 2019/20.
  • Projections with a start date of 1 May 20 or later will use the new deeming rates

IRESS will publish a separate guide on how to accommodate changes 1,2 and 5 in CALM/Xtools+ projections please refer to Iress community for more details.

​FDS Data Announcement

The fee data provided is for reference only. AMP has detected issues with the accuracy of some of the FDS data provided. Invoices created in the Salesforce Invoicing and Payments system, for ongoing service agreements, may be missing from your FDS data in Portal, COIN or Xplan 

You must check the amounts provided for accuracy against the original product information and with the relevant product manufacturers. You are responsible for preparing your FDS under the Corporations Act 2001 and you must be satisfied with the accuracy of the data contained in your FDS.