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… and exceeds its capital raising

Wealth manager AMP has raised more money than it expected through a fully underwritten institutional placement of shares to strengthen its balance sheet.

AMP announced plans last week to place 85 million shares at $5.30 each to raise $400 million dollars. Following a strong demand from investors, the group ended up raising the placement to $450 million.

AMP also aims to raise a further $100 million by offering Australian and NZ retail shareholders a chance to subscribe for up to $5000 of AMP shares, the price of which has not yet been confirmed.

The group also posted its third-quarter results in conjunction with its capital-raising initiatives. The results highlight AMP’s “continuing disciplined responsive approach to capital management… through the current market turmoil”, CEO Craig Dunn said.

Average assets under management in the wealth management business totalled $51.3 billion in the September quarter, against $53.6 billion in the first half. This reflected a downturn in the investment market.

The group’s financial services division reported net cashflows of $414 million for the quarter, against $760 million in the first six months of 2008.

Mr Dunn says AMP remains confident in the wealth management industry for the medium to long term, although the group expects volatile market conditions in the short term to continue.