The Global Group, a leading local financial services provider, has been renamed GlobalCapital, it was announced last Wednesday. The new name is the outward face of an internal restructuring exercise that has strengthened the organisation to meet challenges yet to come, it said in a statement.
The next few years will bring interesting opportunities in financial services in Malta and in the Mediterranean region, and GlobalCapital is well placed to take these up, both in Malta and overseas, it added.
"Change is not just important for survival," GlobalCapital CEO Nicholas Portelli said. "It is crucial to success. We are seeking to expand the reach of our private health insurance, wealth management, life insurance, and property services, together with establishing ourselves as leading providers of private pensions. We have the right infrastructure and a very sound basis from which to work."
The change of name has embraced all the individual companies in The Global Group: investment services arm Globe Financial Management Ltd has become GlobalCapital Financial Management Ltd; British American Life Insurance Ltd has become GlobalCapital Life Insurance Ltd; BUPA Agencies Ltd has become GlobalCapital Health Insurance Agency Ltd, retaining BUPA exclusively as the health insurance principal; MY Insurance Brokers Ltd is now GlobalCapital Insurance Brokers Ltd; Quadrant Ltd, the group's property management and consultancy services arm, is now GlobalCapital Property Management Ltd; and Globe Fund Advisors Ltd has become GlobalCapital Fund Advisors Ltd.
At the forthcoming annual general meeting of Global Financial Services Group plc, which is listed on the Malta Stock Exchange, shareholders will be asked to approve the change in name to GlobalCapital plc.
All marketing literature, advertising and other forms of public and personal communication now carry the GlobalCapital name. Operations will continue from the same offices at Gzira, Qormi, Balzan, Fgura and Gozo.
"This change does not affect the position of our shareholders and existing clients, except positively in terms of more focus on service quality and communication," Mr Portelli said. "We have moved, and are still moving, into different sectors, and entering into new initiatives outside Malta.
"Over the years, the group has experienced rapid change and our situation is now very different to what it was when we started out. As a result, this restructuring and rebranding exercise had become essential as part of our overall strategy.
"I believe that the new brand synthesises the very essence of GlobalCapital. It encompasses what we stand for, what we do, what we aim at, and how we work with all our stakeholders."
The name change to GlobalCapital comes a few days before the announcement of the group's results for 2005.