The Stonebridge Group network has seen strong growth in protection activity and commission levels over the past 12 months.
According to quarter 1 figures for 2015, there was a 68 per cent increase in life applications by Stonebridge’s AR firms compared with the same quarter in 2014.
The mortgage to life ratio – the number of clients taking out a mortgage and protection cover at the same time – has increased from 44 per cent a year ago to 50 per cent.
The increased activity meant completed life and protection commissions increased considerably over the course of the year – with Q1 2015 up 79 per cent on Q1 2014, and up 4.7 per cent on Q4 2014.
Richard Adams, managing director of the Stonebridge Group, said: “We focus intently on providing our AR firms and advisers with access to the best protection, life and GI providers, products and terms in the market.
“Given the increase in mortgage activity last year, one might have expected some advisers to put these product areas on the back burner while they deal with an increased number of mortgage clients. However, this is something we do not condone.
“We always encourage our advisers to see the opportunities that exist through diversification and cross-selling, and our most recent figures for quarter one show an increasing amount of activity rather than a depression in sales that some firms would have experienced.”
Q1 2015 figures for GI applications also increased by 49 per cent on the same period in 2014.
The network has also seen an ongoing increase in the number of AR firms within it. Over 2014, Stonebridge added 51 ARs, an increase of 22 per cent on 2013.
Industry view
Kevin Carr, spokesman for industry body the Protection Review, said: “We think the Seven Families campaign is galvanising the protection industry in a way that has perhaps never happened before. There is a sense of camaraderie building, especially in the mortgage market, and rather than being the poor relation there seems to be a bit of a buzz about protection insurance right now.”
