NEW YORK CITY—iStar announced a formal name change Thursday afternoon, going from iStar Financial Inc. to, simply, iStar Inc. It's intended to reflect a broadening of iStar's investment focus and real estate capabilities; the company's New York Stock Exchange tickers will not change, and the CUSIP numbers for its securities will remain the same.

The new name, which takes effect August 19, “really shows we're not just in the financial part of the business; we're in the value creation business,” chairman and CEO Jay Sugarman said during an investor presentation this past June. He added that it recognizes “our expanded investment capabilities.”

Sugarman also pointed to details in the company's new logo, which features the company's name inside a circle. “In that symbolic circle, we've added a notch,” he said. “And that's really just a reminder that we're out every day looking for gaps in the market. Investment holes that we can fill profitably.”

During that June 10 presentation and in the company's second-quarter earnings calls earlier this month, Sugarman alluded to a shift in the company's modus operandi. During Q2, Sugarman said on August 4, “we took a conservative approach to the market while laying out the foundations of the strategy we think will differentiate our company and help us find attractive investments in the coming years."

With global risk factors escalating, Sugarman continued, "we retain large cash balances while assessing new possible areas of interest. Our adaptive investment platform is built upon interesting opportunities, and we expect to make certain smaller investments in the coming quarters to give us a toehold in sectors we think have the potential for larger scale investing.”

Hisorically, Sugarman said in June, “We've always thought this combination of corporate credit, real estate, capital markets, the multiple information flows we get really has set us apart in the past. I think it'll do it again.”