AMP announced that it was closing its large personal finance site Liquid at the end of the month because it felt it could get a better return on capital elsewhere.
The site, which was established two years ago, offers users access to more than 200 personal finance products including home loans, managed funds and insurance.
The home loans part of the business was run through a related site E Loan, which is essentially a mortgage broking site where users can research loans and make applications.
Liquid general manager Mark Ennis says E-Loan was cheaper to run than Liquid, plus the business was proving to be successful.
The success is not so much related to the use by members of the public, rather it is to do with the fact that E Loan has been integrated into AMP's adviser network.
What it does is give advisers another option if they can't place a loan with AMP Banking. Instead they turn to E Loan as a broker to find a suitable product.
Although AMP won't disclose any numbers, it is understood the volume of business has been increasing.
E Loan has had a chequered history in New Zealand. It was established by E Ventures several years ago, but under that ownership it failed to write much business despite huge public promotion.
E Ventures then sold the business to the Warehouse when it was setting up a financial services division. The Warehouse never did much with the site, which is built arouond mortgage comparison software, and it subsequently sold the business to AMP/Liquid.
