Stock of the Week: AMP

I know Stock of the Week is usually a company you can buy I’ve been interested in what the experts think of the battered, iconic financial giant AMP.

This week AMP came under more pressure as the huge value investor, Lazard Asset Management is no longer a substantial shareholder.

Earlier this year, Lazard held over 7 per cent of AMP, but after selling more than 30 million worth of company stock, its holding has now gone down to below the 5 per cent threshold for significant ownership. 

 
So I asked Henry Jennings from Marcus Today and Michael Gable from Fairmont Equities on The Call (Ausbiz 12 noon weekdays) to give their takes on AMP.

Henry finds it hard to find much to like about AMP. In his opinion, it’s the one to avoid. He would like to see some runs on the board first before thinking about investing in AMP.

“The brand has been damaged but AMP Capital is still a fantastic business. If it’s de-merged, I think it would be a really positive step…

“There are a lot of moving parts and it’s too complicated. It’s like a Swiss watch with little parts going everywhere and it only takes one little bit and the whole thing falls apart.”

Michael agreed with Henry. He added “There is stuff in there which has value but no one in seeing that at the moment…

“The brand has been damaged over the years. It has to be taken apart and rebadged for it to work”