Sagitta to replace Rothschild name

The wealth management group formed byWestpac’sacquisition ofRothshild Australia Asset Management(RAAM) will be known as Sagitta Wealth Management Limited.

Latin for the word ‘arrow’, RAAM products will be branded Sagitta-Rothschild until the first quarter of 2003.Westpac products meanwhile will continue to be branded as Westpac.

The new name launch follows Westpac Banking Corporation’s $323 million acquisition of the RAAM business on June 1 this year.

According to the new chief executive officer of Sagitta, Peter Martin, initially there was 400 names on the suggestion list for the new business, with some of these names created and other’s from famous people.

The Sagitta logo includes an archer with three stars forming a constellation, reflecting the businesses plans to be a leading Australasian wealth management organisation, that delivers quality long term investment solutions to its clients.

“To attain a competitive advantage in a cluttered wealth management market Sagitta must have the willingness to challenge industry orthodoxies. This is especially the case at present with the volatile financial markets,” Martin says.

The similarity to Rothschild’s own arrow logo reflects the independence of the business from Westpac’s identity, meanwhile creating a new vision for the future.

“As a self-contained, separately branded organisation, Sagitta is the ‘best of both worlds’. We have access to Westpac’s extensive customer base plus the external market. We have the financial muscle to fund future growth. We have a broadly based manufacturing capability, backed by a rigorous approach to risk management,” Martin says.

Westpac Banking Corporation, business and consumer banking group executive David Clarke, says the Sagitta brand is the visual demonstration of preserving and enhancing the highly successful attributes of both RAAM and Westpac.

“Going forward, the business objective of Sagitta is to position Westpac to leverage wealth management growth opportunities,” he says.