“Rebranding the Pru: New colours and a shorter name”

May 27, 2021 | Companies

I’m not, of course, featuring this article just because I’m quoted in it (para 15 in case you give up half-way through). Its point is, what is the point of changing an established brand name, Prudential to Pru, Standard Life to Abrdn, and is there a justification for the £zillions spent as a result? Will this give them enough of a dust-off to appeal to ‘young, internet-savvy savers’? Or is the baby going out with the bathwater? My view, just changing the name won’t make them overnight online heroes. Better to start from scratch without the baggage, I’d say.

“Amazon invades financial services with home insurance launch”

Oct 25, 2022 | Companies

Amazon, like Musk, and Branson before them both, can afford to try lots of stuff and fail at some.

“Natwest and trio of private equity firms vie for Quilter”

Aug 2, 2022 | Companies

In the 80s and 90s, banks and building societies bought life insurance, pension companies and fund managers, took on lots of financial advisers and sold financial products by the bucket-load, by means both fair and foul, to their customers.

“Nutmeg losses climb 28% after JPMorgan takeover”

Jun 30, 2022 | Companies

If you’re offering cheap, online investment advice, you need volume to make it profitable. To get volume (ie lots of money), you need marketing (to get lots of people to log in and give you money). And that costs, particularly, as will inevitably be the case, most of...