Site Map   FAQ   Home

Choose the right network

We’re here to help you

And to help your business grow

Click on this bar to refer to the accompanying data table at any time.

Analysis of Financial Network Performance For the Second Quarter of 2011

Here are the financial networks tables for the second quarter of 2011.  The information on them is taken directly from the FSA register as always and is an accurate reflection of the figures on that day.  The register does generally tend to be a bit of a moving feast with a number of retrospective changes made from month to month. However the table does give a very good indication of trends for the financial services industry and if used along with previous tables also for individual networks.

On first glance at the financial networks performance table for the second quarter of 2011 it could give an overall impression that things are pretty stable overall.  Certainly there would appear to be the odd dramatic gains such as lighthouse who are up 33 AR's over the last quarter.  However this is in fact the result of bringing the 37 AR's from the Falcon Group into the Lighthouse fold and not really sector growth.

Amongst the big three at the top of the table Personal Touch Financial Services are the only company to show an overall gain in AR numbers, although perversely they also have the largest loss of AR's illustrating the benefits of their huge recruitment efforts.  Openwork appear to have the biggest overall decrease in AR numbers, but again there could be mitigating factors as the timing of this indicates that it could at least in part be a short term consequence of brokers joining from Citri who have then found  the way they do business does not fit in with their new network.

Below these three Intrinsic who are also very strong in recruitment, particularly in the IFA field have now overtaken "Tenet Connect and Lime" and moved into fourth place., and "Pink and BDS" following a very bad first quarter seemed to have rebounded well increasing the networks size by eleven AR's, although my excitement was somewhat tempered when I discovered the majority of these are just transfers from BDS.

Comparing the second quarter of 2011 to the same period last year shows a significant decrease in the overall numbers, with 8,085 AR's in 2010, compared to 7,211 in 2011.  This drop of around 11 percent isn't perhaps any worse than might be expected given the fallout from the recession, of very low interest rates, increased difficulty in obtaining mortgages, negative equity in the housing market and the insecurity generated by the run up to RDR.  

In fact maybe more surprising is the fact that these figures could have been significantly worse had it not been for new entrants into the profession.  During this quarter, Which Network have also noticed the return of a significant number of advisers who having left the industry for greener pastures, are now returning having found that the problems caused by the recession are by no means confined to financial services.  Hopefully we will have pointed them in the right direction for their needs and we wish them the very best in growing their business.  Maybe it's a case of life is hard almost everywhere in the UK at the present time so if you are making a living and enjoying your work, it's best to stick with what you know?

If you are currently looking for a new mortgage network we can help.  Please click here for our contact form or click on the following link if you wish to know more about Which Network Ltd