Royal & SunAlliance is now Promina, the latest new financial services name to hit the Australasian market. As the company lays the groundwork for its initial public offering, it is shifting its identity away from its ailing British parent and on to something new.

MD Mike Wilkins said the new name for the group – the general insurance arm will get its own name later – is designed to “reflect our strategy to pursue depth in niche segments of the insurance and financial services markets, as well as developing our core businesses”.

Promina is a coined word emphasising leadership and performance. And before everyone tries to work out how it should be pronounced (we’ve heard all three variations, and understand it’s sounded like “promenade”) just remember CGNU in the UK spent millions rebranding as Aviva. And we’re all used to “Axa” and “Allianz” now.

“It’s directly derived from words reflective of our corporate values such as prominence, professionalism and proactivity,” Mr Wilkins said.

With 6000 staff in 175 offices, Promina has a combined group revenue of more than $2.5 billion.

The intermediary-focused general insurance business will remain an integral part of the group, according to R&SA/Promina. An “independent and completely separate” re-branding exercise in the coming months will sharpen the differences between distribution channels and possibly even products. A spokesman said there is no intention at this stage to endorse the future general insurance name with the holding company name.

Duncan West, CEO of General Insurance in Australia (Roger Bell is the CEO for general insurance in NZ), said the focus of the company’s general insurance arm “will remain one of specialisation”, providing customers with a range of insurance solutions.

“Our commitment is to ensure continuous improvement within our specialised offerings and we remain focused on delivering real value for our brokers and their customers,” he said.