St George puts Sealcorp name to the sword

The legendary Sealcorp brand was dumped by St George yesterday in a bid to lift the Asgard name into public consciousness and push its share of the platform market above 10 per cent.

St George has opted for Asgard Wealth Solutions to replace the Sealcorp name and will launch an aggressive rebranding campaign to raise its market share from the current 8 per cent into double figures, according to Geoff Lloyd, chief of Asgard Wealth Solutions. St George bought the privately-held Sealcorp and its Asgard platform in 1997 for the then outrageous price of $272 million. The Sealcorp purchase sparked a rash of platform launches and equity deals by many financial planning groups who used Asgard and felt they should have shared in the bonanza on offer from St George. In the coming year, the new group will up its advertising and marketing spend by 50 per cent in a bid to erase the Sealcorp brand and boost the new-look Asgard Wealth Solutions to advisers and consumers. Gail Kelly, chief of St George Bank – Asgard’s parent – said the change followed independent research and interviews with staff, advisers and consumers, which found the Sealcorp brand had no traction in the retail marketplace. “The [Asgard] brand is a strong and powerful brand that resonates and stands for something in the adviser market,” Kelly said. At present Asgard controls around 8 per cent of the platform market, but Lloyd believes that will jump to “10 per cent plus” over the next 3-5 years. “Financial planners have told us this [rebranding] will help their businesses because it will better promote the Asgard brand and help their clients recognise Asgard,” he said. “Now we’re all getting behind the one name.” No structural or staff changes have been made within the organisation, and the changes will not effect the group’s third-party dealer group Securitor.