GE Life is to be called Tomorrow, while Economic Lifestyle has been rebranded as Homewise.
Tomorrow has been adopted following the acquisition by Swiss Re of the GE Life group of companies.
“We wanted to change to a name that expressed the importance of the products that we offer and what they represent. We are here to help people make the best possible financial plans for retirement to ensure income in later life, so Tomorrow is the perfect choice,” said Kirsty Macpherson. "The acquisition by Swiss Re gave us an exciting opportunity to rename the group to reflect our core business.”
The brand identity for Tomorrow has been created by design consultants Kent Lyons, and a series of advertisements using the branding will start to appear in the trade press soon.
“Tomorrow will be a vibrant business, building on the successes of the past. With a history dating back to 1896, we have demonstrated our dedication to the market and to our customers through innovations such as enhanced annuities and Income Drawdown. We will be the same company, same people and offer the same high level of integrity, commitment and service for our clients,” explained Macpherson. “We will simply have a different name.”
She concluded: “We intend to continue to be an innovative, key player in the pre and post retirement market, and will continue to sell our products exclusively through financial advisers. Tomorrow will continue to build on its existing strengths as a leading provider of pre and post retirement products.”
Meanwhile, Homewise's name change is intended to better reflect the company’s focus on offering property based financial solutions to retired people.
The name change and rebrand is the latest stage in the development of the retirement finance and property group which was established more than 30 years ago by the Neal family.
Mark Neal, managing director of Homewise, said: “Over the past two years we’ve grown significantly and we wanted a new identity to take the business forward. We retain the founding values of the business which are to deliver innovative property solutions to pensioners. Indeed there remains a growing divide among retired people with many struggling to fund day-to-day living whilst the more affluent are benefiting from rising house prices.
“The change of name better reflects the business we are today. Our specialist services enable retired homeowners to potentially release equity from the sale of their property, either to supplement incomes, or as way to mitigate inheritance tax and provide an early gift to family members.
“People aged 65 and over make up around 20 per cent of the country’s population and hold assets that account for around 32 per cent of our personal wealth. We’ve calculated that the average pensioner has around 49.8 per cent of their wealth tied up in property, excluding their pensions, and this figure is likely to increase.”
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