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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
A revision to the National Consumer Credit Protection Act, which prohibits brokers from referring to themselves as “independent”, has forced one of Australia’s Top 25 brokerages to rebrand.
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At the end of last year, revisions to the legislation meant brokers would no longer be able to use the terms “independent”, “Financial counsellor” or “financial counselling” from 1 March 2013 unless they could prove their commissions are 100 per cent rebated to the customer.
As a result, Independent Home Loans, which last year featured in The Adviser’s Top 25 brokerages ranking was forced to change its name in line with the updated regulation.
Independent Home Loans' managing director James Pibworth said the brokerage had therefore decided to change its name to Iconic, effective from March 1.
“Our Independent branding was still quite new and we have a lot of affection for the brand, as do our customers. We wanted to minimise the visual impact of the new name, but at the same time make a change that really meant something for the company, and our vision for the future,” he said.
Mr Pibworth said it was important for the company to maintain their ‘IHL’ brand abbreviation as this has significant equity, particularly in the social media channels.
“Iconic’ quickly presented itself as a popular replacement that fitted well with the pending expansion of the company into new financial service divisions,” Mr Pibworth said.
Mr Pibworth and his team seized the opportunity to choose a word that would mean something genuine for a business that will soon offer a suite of finance services.
“Our vision for the future will see us delivering a wide range of finance products and services via divisions made up of people ready to solve challenges for first home buyers, seasoned market investors, retirees and high net worth individuals. Our aim is to deliver finance solutions with a level of service that makes our company truly iconic,” he said.
“The rest of the brand will remain untouched, making the transition seamless for IHL’s existing clients.”
