News Round Up

If you're still trying to grapple with Rothschild's new name, Sagitta forget it.

Westpac, which bought the business earlier this year, has decided to dump the new name and rebrand the business after its latest acquisition BT Funds.

Westpac has admitted that renaming Rothschild three months ago was a costly mistake.

The BT brand for the combined wealth management business of the bank will be rolled out in the second quarter of next year.

Westpac's head of wealth management David Clarke says that there has been some brand damage (mainly in Australia) to BT in the past 12 months, but of all the brands the bank owned BT was by far the best recognised.

New property trust
A new property trust owning Auckland real estate is seeking $25 million from the public and plans to list on the Stock Exchange.

The Paramount Property Trust is essentially the new name for privately owned Auckland developer Symphony Group.

Symphony, whose directors include former Chase chairman and chief executive Colin Reynolds, has developed 20 property projects worth $400 million since starting in 1992.

Symphony director Chris Minty says Paramount will buy Symphony properties and be managed by Symphony through a wholly owned subsidiary.

Paramount, to be chaired by Symphony director Dr Robin Congreve.

Forestry investment banned

The commission banned advertisements for the scheme because in its opinion they do not comply with the law. To be promoted in New Zealand the scheme must have a registered prospectus and an investment statement. These documents are not available.

The scheme has been promoted in the past two months, particularly in the Bay of Plenty. Investors have been invited to purchase shares at a cost of $5,200 each. The shares are described as being in a company called NZ Forestry Investments (No 3) Limited. No company with that name has been registered with the New Zealand Companies Office.

Anyone who has already applied for shares in the scheme is legally entitled to a return of their subscription.

The winner is...
The winner of the Good Returns readership survey is Rebecca Sellwood in Wellington. Sellwood has won a case of wine worth more than $300.