AMP CEO Alexis George will step down from the role on 30 March, 2026 having led the company for almost five years and stabilising it at possibly its lowest point. AMP chair Mike Hirst tells Investment Magazine that it was the “right time” for George to leave the business and that it is in a culturally better place today because of her.

“One of the reasons that Lex has decided now is the right time for her is that we’ve gone through that phase of stabilising the company,” Hirst says.

“We’ve gone through the transformation, we’ve gone through the simplification. We’ve now put in place the businesses that make sense for us at the moment.”

George joined AMP in 2021 and led a cultural reset at the company following its evisceration at the Hayne royal commission, the reputational damage of which was later compounded by high profile sexual harassment cases, controversial changes to its Buyer Of Last Resort policy and a number of class actions brought by shareholders, advisers and clients.

George was responsible for the sale of AMP Capital, the divestment of AMP Life to Resolution Life and the sale of its licensee businesses to Entireti. Hirst says George would have been weighing up whether she was prepared to give another five years to executing the company’s strategy.

“Given the tough role she had where she’s probably done 15 years’ work in five, I can understand why she’s got to that decision,” Hirst says.

AMP announced the appointment of chief financial officer Blair Vernon as new group chief executive “following a thorough internal and external search process conducted by a top tier executive search firm”. Hirst didn’t specify when the search began.

“As a board, you’re always looking at succession planning, so there’s not really a stop start in these things,” Hirst says.

“A lot of people would say the board has one real role and that is to hire and fire the CEO so if you ascribe to that view – and personally, I don’t – but if you do, then you understand that’s something that the board’s continually working at. We’ve been working on succession all the time.”

The company now operates four business lines: superannuation, led by Melinda Howes; platforms, led by Edwina Maloney; a banking business led by Sean O’Malley; and a New Zealand wealth management arm led by Jeff Ruscoe. But while media chatter has linked it to KKR’s auction of its stake in Colonial First State, Hirst said that AMP would continue to prioritise organic growth.

“If you’re growing organically it means that you’ve got an offering that people want to take up, that you’ve got a brand and a reputation that is well regarded in the market. And organic growth probably comes at a cheaper marginal cost.

“Having said that, the market changes all the time. For a long period of time in financial services we’ve seen consolidation taking place. It continues today, and management and the board are always scanning the horizon to make sure we’re alert to what opportunities are out there. Not many of them come at the right price, so that’s always a consideration.

“But we do want to know what’s going on in the market where the opportunities are, and if one made sense for us from a price and strategy point of view then I’m sure we’d have a close look at it.”

But Hirst says the board sees momentum in the business and that there isn’t expected to be any major strategic shifts.

“Strategy is always a little bit fuzzy, things have to change depending on what’s happening in the market.

“But in terms of a general direction owning that retirement space is where we see we can add value to our shareholders and the community. Blair was part of putting that strategy together so his commitment to it will also be pretty strong.”