|
For historical and a brief summary of other information on networks please click on the relevant link below. | ||
|
|
| |
We’re here to help you
choose the right network
Appointed Representative Advisers
If you are currently an appointed representative of a mortgage network which is in trouble the current financial problems in the UK may well have have made the decision unavoidable as some mortgage networks have been unable to pay commission and proc fees on time, or have been swallowed up by larger mortgage networks or financial institutions leading to the unfortunate situation where a broker chooses a network, joins and has a good working relationship, only to find find some time later that their mortgage network has been sold and they are now part of a different mortgage network they didn’t want to join.
Other reasons for changing financial networks include seeking a better compliance regime, increased commission and proc fees, marketing support or an increased panel of lenders.
The good news is that the more proactive mortgage networks, are already looking to the future and planning the development of both their own and their Appointed Representatives businesses after the recession. They are streamlining their organisations, to enable them to operate on smaller margins, which will put more money into their AR,s pockets, while at the same time increasing their support functions in order to help their AR,s take full advantage of the upswing when it arrives.
As a successful mortgage broker or financial advisor in a flat or decreasing market, your business is vital to networks, although service standards in some cases fell as businesses struggled to cope with the onset of the recession, often having to make hurried staff redundancies to stabilise their cash flow. The panic has now passed and standards of support are now improving across the board.
Really look at your Financial or Mortgage Network,
Do they help you to grow your business or even just to survive through this bad patch?
Do they offer consistently good commission and proc fees, fee levels aren’t nearly the only deciding factor in network choice, but if you are consistently being paid less than the industry norm, then this puts you at a real disadvantage?
Do they offer a full range of products, conveyancing introducer schemes, equity release, will writing affiliates, secured loan facilities.?
You might not need or even want all of these facilities, but has tools to help you battle through the recession they could be vital.
Basically if your current mortgage network or financial network can’t provide the services, standards or financial rewards you need, then you need to change.
Directly Authorised Mortgage and Financial Advisers
As far as Directly Authorised advisors are concerned as well as the tribulations suffered by appointed representative advisors, they have also born the brunt of increased vigilance and policing from the FSA, Whereas in previous years smaller DA businesses had the comfort of knowing that it was unlikely that the FSA could spare the resources to bother much with them, thanks to increases in staff numbers and intelligent software which can apply more than 130 different checks on returns this is no longer the case. With the FSA also increasing their fees and falling mortgage and insurance income, the network route also becomes more attractive to directly authorised brokers as a way of controlling costs and increasing confidence in their compliance regime.
There is a widely held misconception amongst Directly Authorised brokers that joining a mortgage network as an Appointed Representative will constrict your business.
This is only true if you join the wrong mortgage network,.......
In fact if you join the right network with marketing support and a full range of ancillary services to add to your current service range, most people will find that the opposite is true.
Do you use a “magic matrix” to chart your customers wants and needs, do you offer will writing, debt management, send your clients a monthly or quarterly news letter?
Do you have a system for revisiting your existing clients files at regular intervals and offering a free, complete review of their current portfolio of insurances to see if you can save them money in these troubled times?
Do you offer overseas mortgages?
These are all areas where a good network can help you to boost your income.
COMPLIANCE...... is not only getting more complicated, with the FSA now offering 5 shades of grey for many rulings, (does anyone really understand DDR or MMR?). With the best will in the world, most advisors now have an increasing struggle to keep up to date with continuing change in the regulatory framework. At the time mortgage regulation came into force “M Day”, it was estimated that the average mortgage advisor would need to spend 20% of their time on compliance issues. Even if demands were no worse since then (and you know they are), that still means you can effectively, be spending one day a week doing nothing but compliance. Wouldn’t that time be better spent advising clients, and making money.