Singapore financial advisory AAM to shut down

AAM Advisory, a wealth management and advisory firm based in Singapore, will cease business in 2023, according to its parent company Utmost Group.

Utmost came into ownership of AAM as part of its SG$768.7 million acquisition of Quilter International in 2021. Utmost said it has completed a strategic review of the AAM business and concluded that closure and deauthorisation of AAM is the best move for its business, due to its focus on partner-led distribution rather than building its own.

“The closure of AAM will allow Utmost International to focus on growing our core wealth solutions business and enable us to focus on the continued development of our proposition,” said Paul Thompson, Utmost Group CEO. “Our strategy is built on partner-led distribution and, in 2021, we distributed our products through over 800 distribution partners globally. Singapore is a key strategic market for insurance-based wealth solutions. The group remains committed to growing its presence here, as well as in the wider Asia region, where we continue to develop attractive propositions for affluent and HNW clients.”

AAM has 18 MAS-licenced financial advisers and more than SG$800 million of assets under advice, mostly in third party products, on behalf of over 4,000 clients.

“We are grateful to the AAM staff for their hard work over the years and to our clients for their business, and we will work closely with those who are impacted by this decision to ensure a smooth transition,” Thompson said.