The Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers is having a re-brand, calling itself the Wealth Management Association.

The Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers, the trade group with 178 firms of which 114 members are wealth management and stockbroking firms, is having a re-brand, calling itself the Wealth Management Association.

APCIMS proposes to adopt the new name if members approve this change at the organisation’s annual general meeting on 1 October.

The move comes at a time when industry organisations remain numerous, reflecting the constant shifts in the financial services sector; the re-brand of APCIMS also highlights how the profile of wealth management as a distinct business area has risen. The UK’s new financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, now has a wealth management unit. (To view a recent comment on such trade associations, click here.)

Having commissioned independent research with its membership, APCIMS has received certification for a new trademark and the rights to the name ‘Wealth Management Association’.

A recent report from the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation noted that trade associations are now more likely to be defined by the services their members provide, rather than the kinds of institutions they represent, a statement from APCIMS said.

APCIMS membership has for some time extended well beyond investment managers and stockbrokers; it also includes as members the private banks, discretionary fund managers and other financial firms who undertake the activity collectively known as wealth management, it said.

“The member research undertaken for us earlier this year showed a clear desire to change the way in which APCIMS is presented and perceived. This proposed move answers general industry developments and the recent changes at the Financial Conduct Authority with the launch of its Wealth Management and Private Banking Unit,” Dr Tim May, chief executive at APCIMS, said.

“This is a great move that better reflects what APCIMS and their membership represents. The new name - Wealth Management Association - will now be perceived by the public and policymakers for what it really is: the body that represents the interests of all investors across the UK’s wealth management landscape,” Charlotte Black, head of corporate affairs at Brewin Dolpin, a member of the organisation, said.