Opis Capital to change name to OC Funds Management

Boutique fund manager Opis Capital is changing its name to OC Funds Management this month to avoid any confusion with failed stockbroking group Opes Prime, which collapsed on February 28 last year.

The name change was also motivated to a lesser extent by the existence of specialist commercial property fund manager Opus Capital.

The decision to wait more than a year after the collapse of Opes Prime on February 27 last year was a deliberate strategy, according to executive director Robert Frost.

“We didn’t want to change the name around the time of Opes Prime’s collapse because there was simply too much going on in the marketplace.

“We thought that changing our name would have little impact in disassociating ourselves from Opes Prime until all the adverse publicity had passed."

However, Frost acknowledged that Opis Capital, which outdates the other two groups, had been “stupid” not to legally challenge Opus Capital when it first registered its name.

“We were going to challenge it but in the end decided against it on the basis of the legal costs involved and also because it operates in a different sector of the market to us.

“In hindsight this was a stupid decision because failing to challenge Opus meant that later we were unable to challenge Opes Prime.

“Under the intellectual property laws, we were unable to challenge it (Opes) as somebody else (Opus) was already operating with a similar name to us.”

Frost also acknowledged that the collapse of Opes Prime had caused a “fair bit of angst to investors and planners” in the interim.

“Even now, more than a year later, we keep getting asked by investors if we are involved with that ‘collapsed margin lending company’.

“The collapse of Opes didn’t help planners either as it was always difficult to tell confused clients they wanted to put them into Opis Capital.”

From a marketing point of view, Frost said it’s going to be a “lot easier that we are not called Opis Capital, particularly if we're going to launch new products".

"It’s just cleaner to do this with a brand that doesn’t have brand damage because it’s associated with one of the most spectacular failures of the last few years.”