Name change for NZSB Group

Press, 2 May 1984, Page 28

Name change for NZSB Group

The financial services group, New Zealand South British Group, Ltd, will change its name to NZI Corporation, Ltd, on May 30 this year — subject to shareholders’ approval. The proposed name change affects only the parent company — the group’s six divisions will continue to operate under their existing trading names. Some of the major, companies within these divisions include: The New Zealand Insurance Company, Ltd — fire and general insurance; NZI Finance, Ltd — finance and merchant banking; Diners Club (NZ), Ltd; NZI Life, Ltd — life insurance and superannuation; NZ Guardian Trust Company, Ltd — trustee services; and Paxus Information Services Group. The chief executive of NZSB, Mr D. N. Chalmers, said the name change marked an important step in the group’s development as a New Zealand-owned international financial services organisation. “The present name arose out of die merger of New Zealand Insurance and South British Insurance in 1981,” he said. “At that time the directors were anxious that the parentage of the new group should continue to be widelyn recognised. “Second, we are particularly keen to maintain a strong New Zealand identity. It is probably not well known amongst the general public that our company has operations in 26 countries around the world. “This international presence has done much to put New Zealand ‘on the map’ overseas and we consider it important not only for the company, but also for New Zealand that we keep the ‘NZ’ link in our corporate name,” said Mr Chalmers. Mr Chalmers said the

new name was therefore seen as a logical step. “It also has the virtue of being short and easily communicated,” he added. The name change will spark a major staff communication exercise within the group both in New Zealand and in overseas offices aimed at highlighting staff awareness of group developments and new trends in financial services. A video presentation will be screened today in 45 New Zealand locations — and later in the week in 50 centres overseas — in which Mr Chalmers discusses the group’s new directions and emphasises the need for professionalism and innovation in servicing changing customer needs. A major advertising thrust will follow the proposed name change in June. “The campaign is designed to better acquaint New Zealanders with the extent of our international operations and to illustrate the full range of financial services we provide,” said Mr Chalmers. “However, since then the

new company has embarked on a major growth and development programme,” said Mr Chalmers. “We' have seen the reorganisation of our world wide insurance operations, and expansion in finance, credit cards, and computer services. Through these developments the company has successfully created its own identity as a broad financial services organisation,” he said.

“We have also encountered some practical problems with the ‘New Zealand South British’ name in our communications with the public. In particular, it is a very long name and the resulting tendency to abbreviate it causes considerable confusion. Also, those who are not familiar with the South British heritage are inclined to think that we are overseas owned,” he added. Mr Chalmers said two principal considerations had led to the choice of ‘NZI Corporation.’

“First, the name ‘NZI’ is already used in reference to several of our major operating companies. Our largest company, New Zealand Insurance, is referred to by many of its customers as ‘NZI.’ We also have NZI Finance, NZI Securities, and New Zealand Insurance Life, Ltd, which is commonly referred to as NZI Life,” he said. The company has called an extraordinary general meeting for May 24 at which shareholders will consider a resolution proposing the name change. Shareholders will also be asked to approve an increase in the group’s authorised capital from ?150 million to $3OO million, and a further resolution seeks authority to distribute funds in the share premium account to facilitate tax-free dividends.