The AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) share price is in the green today after the company released an update on its quarterly performance.
Over the third quarter of calendar year 2021, AMP Capital's assets under management (AUM), which are owned by investors, fell by $7.3 billion.
In brighter news, AMP's Australian wealth management unit's cash outflows dropped after the early release super scheme – designed to support Australians through COVID-19 – was scrapped.
Commenting on the company's future direction, AMP's CEO Alexis George said: "We have a clear focus on our priorities ahead, including to deliver the demerger of our Private Markets business from AMP in the first half of next year."
At the time of writing, the AMP share price is trading at $1.155, 3.12% higher than its previous close.
For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) are both up around 0.1%.
Let's take a closer look at how AMP performed over the quarter ended 30 September 2021.
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AMP's mixed quarterly performance
The AMP share price is higher this morning on news of a quarter full of ups and downs.
In the spirit of giving bad news first, AMP Capital's AUM dropped 4% over the quarter, driven by $12 billion of cash outflows. For context, over the same quarter of 2020 AMP Capital saw cash outflows of just $2.4 billion.
As of 30 September, AMP Capital managed $180.3 billion of investors' funds.
Additionally, while AMP's New Zealand wealth management unit saw its AUM boosted by around $300 million to $12.9 billion last quarter, its cash outflows grew by 66%.
Its cash outflows came to $39 million for the period. The increased costs were partly because AMP's status as a default KiwiSaver provider wasn't renewed. AMP remains a non-default KiwiSaver provider.
However, AMP's Australian wealth management saw positive returns and lesser cash outflows. That lead its AUM to end the quarter at $131.2 billion. That's roughly the same as at the end of the previous period.
The unit's cash outflows dropped by around $400 million, mostly because it paid no early release super payments after the Australian Government scrapped the scheme late last year.
Over the 3-month period, AMP's Australian wealth management unit paid out $468 million of regular pension payments to its retired clients.
AMP Bank also saw its loan book increase by around $300 million to $21.3 billion, driven by a competitive owner-occupier housing market. The bank's total deposits also increased by $1 billion, bringing its deposit-to-loan ratio to 81%.
Finally, the company's North platform's AUM grew by $1.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021, reaching $58.6 billion. The platform's cash flows came to $991 million, 21% more than in the prior corresponding period.
AMP share price snapshot
The struggles faced by the AMP share price are well known among market watchers. Many will likely be keeping a close eye on it ahead of the planned demerger of the company's Private Markets business.
Right now, AMP shares are 25% lower than they were at the start of 2021.
