Public Trust sheds its cardy
The Public Trust Office (PTO) wants to shed its image of a cardy-wearing Government department in a rebranding exercise that includes the launch of a new term deposit product.
Monday, March 6th 2000, 12:00AM
General manager sales and marketing Trevor Hockley says the public perception of the PTO is of an organisation which is a "tired old Government department - a bit like Gliding On."
"People thought the Public Trust was staffed by people who wore long socks and walk shorts."
He says the reality is that the PTO is a profitable, technologically advanced organisation that writes wills, manages estates and operates an investment management business.
The PTO's strategy is to build its business around its will writing operation. Currently the office has an estimated 20 per cent of the wills market and hopes to expand that to around 25 per cent over the next two years.
The idea being that the office can cross-sell some of its other products (mortgages, managed funds, and family trusts, to people it writes wills for, plus it will get to execute the wills and manage the estates when the customers die.
What's interesting about this strategy is that by law the PTO is unable to charge people for a will.
In effect the PTO wants to use its will business, where it considers it has a competitive advantage, as a loss-leader.
Hockley says the PTO sees its major competition coming from lawyers as a group.
Currently the office generates most of its business through its nationwide branch network. Hockley says over time the PTO would like to expand its distribution to the independent financial planning market.
At this stage though the office doesn't have a strong brand with this market and PTO funds and products are not on advisers' "shopping list".
The Minister in Charge of the Public Trust, Jim Anderton, is supportive of the office's marketing initiative and wants to encourage "public enterprise."
Under the previous National-led administration the office was preparing to corporatise and move to a state-owned enterprise structure.
Anderton says under the new Government, "the era of privatisation is over."
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