Majority of Sesame firms go directly-authorised

Numbers released by Sesame Bankhall Group this morning show 43 per cent of firms - equating to 150 firms in total - which were with the network have moved to Intrinsic.

Meanwhile 105 firms - or 30 per cent - have moved from Sesame to its support services provider Bankhall and gone directly authorised.

Another 40 - or 11 per cent - have had their permissions reduced and are staying with Sesame as mortgage advisers.

Just 55 firms - accounting for only 16 per cent - have decided to leave Sesame altogether and take a route the company didn’t recommend.

This could include going to a competitor firm, going independent, retiring or leaving the financial advice sector altogether.

John Cowan, executive chairman of Sesame Bankhall Group, said the numbers were still provisional and will become definitive later this month.

He said: “We are pleased that Bankhall is an attractive proposition. It is significant for us to see so many companies go directly authorised and buy their services from Bankhall.

“In the nicest possible way, we have also turned some people away and there are a number of reasons why that might be, which could be related to cost or their history with us.

“A network might be a better fit for some firms.”

Mr Cowan added that it is more important to look at the number of firms moving from one place to another rather than the number of individuals.

He said: “Headcount doesn’t mean anything. What matters is the value that those businesses have when they go and sign to Bankhall and the revenue they will generate.”

He added that many of the bigger businesses had remained with his company to sign for Bankhall.

Based on the total turnover of firms, Mr Cowan said, Bankhall was the most popular route.