Mortgage Advice Bureau’s (MAB) adviser count has risen by 6 per cent in the three months to September, following delays with recruitment due to the pandemic in the early months of the year.
MAB recruited 106 advisers between July and the end of September, bringing its adviser count to 1,800.
The figure includes 53 advisers who are either directly authorised or later life specialists, and 46 advisers from associates, who are in the process of being onboarded under MAB's appointed representative arrangements.
During this period, the mortgage network also acquired a 49 per cent stake in Evolve FS Limited, a 32-adviser new build telephone advice firm based in Ipswich, which is set to flesh out MAB’s new build proposition.
The 106 adviser rise in three months can be compared with MAB’s adviser numbers for the first six months of this year, which climbed by 114 to 1,694.
Peter Brodnicki, its chief executive, described a “delay in recruitment pipeline conversion due to the UK lockdown and restrictions” for much of the first half of 2021.
“We expect to see a significant increase in adviser numbers in H2 and moving into 2022,” he said in MAB’s interim results, published today (September 28).
The network has focused on its mainstream adviser growth in the last year, despite more recent growth focusing on advisers outside of this bracket.
The number of mainstream advisers has risen 13 per cent between June last year and June this year, from 1,396 to 1,584 of its adviser count.
MAB has also partnered with Moneysupermarket.com to provide leads, which it credited with a more than 40 per cent uptick in revenue back in July.
Brodnicki said: "Our strategic progress has been excellent during the period, in particular with regards to our lead generation initiatives.
“We have secured significant new lead sources, including a long-term agreement with Moneysupermarket.com.”
The firm added: “Under this new long-term agreement, the group will help its ARs to provide mortgages to the many first-time buyers and home-movers that Moneysupermarket.com attracts.”
ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com
