The 1920s

According to AMP’s rules dating back to 1888, no employee could work for the Society past the age of 70. General manager Richard Teece reached this age at a difficult time, on 29 April 1917, with the world still deeply impacted by the First World War. However, not even a man of Teece’s standing, for it was generally accepted that he was the best mind in insurance in Australia, was exempt from AMP’s rules, and so after 51 years of service, Teece stood down as general manager. He wasn’t entirely willing to completely disconnect from his work and he stayed on as a consulting actuary and regularly visited the Sydney Head Office. He also joined the AMP board not long after his retirement. Teece was a presence around AMP for many years, until the late 1920s when he was severely impacted by ill mental health and tragically took his own life at his home in 1928.  

Teece’s replacement was Henry Apperly. Apperly was described as “a skilled organiser, cool when other people were not, a fine lieutenant to Teece, loyal to those above him and benign to those below him” and well-liked by all at AMP’s head office (Blainey, 1999). Apperly had joined AMP at the age of just 14 and quickly rose up the ranks. 

The post-war period offered plenty of growth for AMP and Australia in general. Exports of wheat and wool were booming and in 1925 Australia’s population passed six million. AMP saw the importance in growing its regional business and in the 1920s opened new offices in Warwick, Mackay, Bundaberg, Newcastle, Narrandera, Taree, and Kadina.

The 1920s also brought a new wave of competition, with seventeen new insurance companies established in Australia between 1920 and 1925 (Blainey, 1999). In Queensland AMP was greatly impacted by an unlikely new player, the Queensland Government’s new State Government Insurance Office. Although AMP offered better products, it lost business to the State Government’s scheme, with the latter having no requirement for policyholders to undergo a medical examination.   

AMP experimented with different products, including offering group insurance for the first time. Group insurance “provided special terms for firms which admitted 26 or more persons into their group”, with AMP offering a group rate and no need for medical examinations of staff should their policy be for less than £500 (Blainey, 1999).

AMP continued to dominate the Australian market throughout the inter-war period and held far more assets than its rivals, but some within AMP felt it had become too conservative and needed a shakeup. In 1920, five of AMP’s seven principal directors were aged over 70 and similarly, local boards were largely composed of elderly men who could serve on these boards until whatever age suited them. Alex Jobson, a young clerk from AMP’s Melbourne Office, was one challenger who pushed for fresh blood on AMP’s board and although he was initially unsuccessful, in 1921 he won a board position, surprisingly defeating former Senator James Walker, an octogenarian member of Sydney’s elite. Shortly afterwards, Jobson’s running mate, solicitor Walter Vindin took over the board position of 75-year-old Sir James Burns.

Increasingly decisions were made by state boards without the need for the principal board’s approval. The latter was now seen more as “a court of appeal” and “maker of policies”, that also had responsibility for the establishment and design of new offices (Blainey, 1999).