October 02, 2012
--- Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. and its business
segment, Great-West Retirement Services, will now market under the Great-West
Financial brand. ---
While most advisers are familiar with the Great-West name,
research showed the company had less name recognition among customers and end
users. “The clarity of having one brand and one voice with a focused and well-positioned
message will help build name recognition and lessen potential confusion among
customers,” said Joe Greene, senior vice president and chief marketing officer
for Great-West Financial.
The Great-West Retirement Services
business segment is unchanged, but will now use the Great-West Financial
logo.
Great-West’s Maxim and Orchard
Trust company names and the funds offered by them will be changing to be
consistent with the new corporate brand. All funds now carry the Great-West name, and no longer reference the names Maxim or Orchard Trust,
but the funds and their underlying investments will not be affected. The new
fund names will be shown on fourth-quarter statement and will be reflected on
the website by late October.
As part of its business plan, the company hired 12 additional
401(k) sales directors and rolled out the first two phases of a customer relationship
management system, said Mitchell Graye, president and CEO of Great-West Financial.
It also introduced two retail retirement income solutions to help bank
financial advisers, independent broker/dealers and registered investment
advisers meet this growing customer need.
“By year-end, we’ll launch a retirement income calculator, equip
our 401(k) sales team with additional tools to assist advisers and continue to
expand our retail retirement income distribution partnerships,” he said.
The company plans to fill up to 100 additional positions in the
next 12 months.
More information on
Great-West Financial’s new brand identity can be found here.
Corie Russell