BNY Mellon Investment Management is set to rebrand its entire UK-domiciled fund range, with the firm's name set to replace that of its eight boutiques across 34 products as part of a global branding review.
The move, which brings the UK business into line with the rest of the world's global operations, follows a review of BNY Mellon IM's branding in the UK and is intended to help distributors sell its products more easily.
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Its boutiques, such as Newton and Insight, will continue to operate as such for institutional investors but, from 10 June, retail and intermediary clients in the country will see their funds bear the BNY Mellon brand.
Speaking to Investment Week, BNY Mellon global head of distribution Matt Oomen said: "The reality is, the business environment is changing at an ever-increasing rate, which is having profound effects on our clients and their underlying clients' portfolios. It is having an impact on their business models.
"When we speak to our distributors, we hear that they want to work with partners that can bring not only leading investment solutions, but can offer more with regard to supporting their businesses."
Oomen added that in its brand review, distributor clients reported that the firm's "brands can do a better job for them" and it is "helpful for distributors and advisors when the clients have heard of the firm that they are being advised to invest in".
In addition, he said that at a practical level, searching for funds "in an industry that is massively supplied by data" it can be difficult to find BNY Mellon funds and "using a single branding methodology for mutual funds makes it much easier".
The 34 funds affected will be those under the firm's BNY Mellon Investment Funds umbrella, which has 39 funds in total, five of which already carry the BNY brand. All future UK mutual fund launches will also be named in the same way.
However, the change does not indicate the firm is abandoning its multi-boutique identify, with the launch of a global marketing campaign, scheduled for June, set to give greater visibility of its underlying investment managers to the retail market.
Chief marketing officer at BNY Mellon IM Anne-Marie McConnon explained the campaign will "tell the story of the multi-boutique model and what its value is, while also telling the story of BNY Mellon IM in a more consistent way".
She said: "It is about a clear, consistent and ultimately stronger global investment brand.
"We will be more prominently featuring investment manager firms in all of our materials, from our business cards to our website, for example."
She added: "We are transforming our brand to further meet the needs of our investors.
"A clearly articulated and activated brand should support business strategy and provide clarity to selecting what matters - from the new products you develop to the experience and support you provide to clients."
These changes bring the naming of funds in the UK into alignment with names used across Europe, the US and Asia Pacific, and follows the incoming rebrand of the firm's US retail business and fund range Dreyfus.
BNY Mellon said it had undergone an "extensive brand review", which included feedback from intermediary and institutional investors around the world.
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CEO Mitchell Harris said: "This is another step in our strategy to illustrate how we offer investors the best of both worlds: providing clients with access to the investment capabilities and solutions from our world-class investment managers, combined with the global scale and financial stewardship of BNY Mellon.
"These changes form part of a significant global brand initiative for our investment management business that will help further align our brand to our business strategy.
"In intermediary and retail, having a strong and recognisable brand is increasingly important and we want to make it as easy as possible for clients to identify and access our full suite of investment solutions.
"The rebranding of the UK fund range, along with the changes we have made around the world, is a significant milestone in supporting our next phase of growth."
