Australia-based financial services firm AMP has shuttered its the corporate venturing vehicle, AMP New Ventures, following a strategic review, Australian Financial Review reported on Tuesday.
AMP New Ventures was set up in early 2015 to invest in startups working on digital technology capable of complementing the firm’s existing offerings. It was headed by AMP’s chief innovation officer, Jonathan Deane.
The unit invested A$1.5m ($1.1m at current exchange rates) in thematic investment platform Macrovue and A$1m in financial advice provider MoneyBrilliant, before contributing to a A$4.5m series A round for human resources platform developer Employment Hero that closed in November 2016.
Paul Sainsbury, AMP’s chief customer officer, told staff through an email seen by Australian Financial Review that a review conducted by AMP has concluded that the firm will prioritise capital that was core to its business performance.
The email stated: “The decision was made to not allocate capital for new ventures. As a result, our New Ventures team will not continue and the team’s roles have been made redundant.
“We have spoken to all of the team members, and will be supporting them through redeployment.”
The move follows several months of strife for AMP, which wrote down the value of its life insurance unit by A$668m in October 2016. Several senior executives left the company the following month, while Sainsbury came on board to head its customer and wealth solutions activities.