Firing lineApr 30 2020

We have to issue good news to remain visible

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We have to issue good news to remain visible

Good news has been in short supply over the past couple of months, which is why Martin Stewart, co-founder of The Money Group, has engaged in a one-man battle to put out positive news throughout March and April.

He has, for example, announced a pay rise for all The Money Group’s staff; encouraged its brokers not to write disparaging things about mortgage lenders during this time of crisis; and he has encouraged charitable giving.

So why does Mr Stewart say it is important to shed some sunshine?

“Firstly, why wouldn’t you want to put good news out there? We all know what the bad news is and we don’t see the point in advertising that any further than we have to,” he says.

“Furthermore, it’s important for us as individuals and as a group to maintain a sense of what is possible and it is always easy to assume the worst but not everyone has the ability to hope for the best.”

So is he just trying to be “different”? Followers on social media have often enjoyed his humorously different take on events, but what about professionally?

He says: “We set our thinking out to be different and we were quick to acknowledge where we are today, even quicker to make sure we accept it and then endeavour to be as quick out of the blocks to adapt to it as we can.

“The main reason though, for endeavouring to issue good news regularly, is because we want to remain visible.

“We can’t win the business war right now, no one can – it is outside of our control.

“But we made a conscious decision in March to try and win the PR war because we felt that was something we could control.

“It is early days but we believe we will create results from that approach, which will benefit us when the market begins to turn.”

Forging a career

Mr Stewart has been in financial services since the late 1990s, and showed the same determination in setting up The Money Group, which is an affiliation of mortgage brokers around the UK.

“I was determined from the age of 18 to forge a career in finance, and in London.

“I came from a sleepy backwater with no real formal education, and I can vouch for the fact that sheer will and determination can have as much impact on your life choices as talent and exam results.

“But the industry was very different 30 years ago, when it was more about stumbling across opportunities than the structured, fully qualified and more respectful entry points we have today,” he comments.

He set up London Money in 2011 and now has 45 brokers operating under The Money Group brand; the brokers remain directly authorised, but The Money Group offers some shared functions such as marketing and best practice.

Mr Stewart says it is important to get a “solid foundation”, so the group can become a “recognised, nationwide, diversified brand.

“We want to grow and develop multi-revenue strands across all financial products and services.

“We were talking at a director meeting and someone threw out the comment, ‘Could we become a bank?’ We all looked at each other, mulled it over and then said, ‘Yeah, why not?’.

“So this project was never about being mortgage brokers.

“It is about building a company that the consumer can see, use and appreciate.

“It was born out of a simple philosophy: if a client comes to us and says, ‘Can you do this?’ we just want to be able to say, ‘Yes’ and never turn anyone away.”

Mr Stewart speaks positively about the changes the industry has faced over the years.

“The advisers coming through now are all motivated by altruism and a desire to help people plan for many years to come.

“My entry point was a two-day course about a butchers in Woking, after which I had nothing to do but ring family and friends to see if they fancied an endowment policy.

“It is great to witness the rise in professionalism across financial services and, while there is always room for improvement, we are in a much better place than when I first joined.”

If a case study about a Woking butchers was not the best life lesson for him, what would he say has been? Mr Stewart says, jokingly: “I like to think I’ve not had it yet because if I can lay claim to knowing the answer to that question then it probably means I am dead”.

But he adds: “It has to be that life is an ever-evolving lesson in itself. The fact things can come at you quickly when you least expect it is something we are all very aware of right now.

“We may be able to control some things within our little sphere of influence but there are other aspects way beyond your control and comprehension that we have to acknowledge, accept and then adapt to.”

However, Mr Stewart places a strong emphasis on reading books “covering all sorts of subjects”.

He says a blend of all this learning points to some valuable lessons: “Keep going, fight for what you believe to be right and remember we are here only once, so make sure what you leave behind is something you want to be remembered for.”

Looking ahead

Maybe plans to become a bank are on the cards over the next decade, but right now Mr Stewart says the important thing to do is to make sense of this “current situation” because the longer it goes on, the more “the industry could alter beyond recognition”. 

He says: “We were saying only recently that we felt that there was going to be an inevitable retraction in broker numbers of 30 per cent or more in the next two to three years.

“Well, we got the numbers right but the timing wrong because it could now easily be within the next two to three months.”

But as always, he thinks positively. “With change can come great innovation. So, if I were running the show, I would be condensing the consumer channels into larger, well-capitalised, professional and regulatory focused businesses.

“This will help not only those that regulate us but also the lenders and ultimately it all goes to benefit the consumer. I can see a whole new industry opening up,” he adds.

Simoney Kyriakou is editor of Financial Adviser

 

Martin Stewart's CV:

2016-present: Co-founder and director, The Money Group

2012-present: Director, London Money

2004-2012: IFA, Positive Solutions

1998-2004: Founding partner and IFA, Millfield Partnership