Consumer duty, attracting new business on social media, and how brokers’ business levels were holding up were three of the most talked about topics this year, adviser forum Cherry has revealed.
The forum revealed that the biggest regulatory change of 2023 - the FCA's consumer duty - "dominated" a number of different forum threads throughout the year.
Consumer duty’s introduction on July 31 saw advisers expressing their fears and frustrations with the new regime, including differing interpretations of the FCA’s requirements.
Many advisers also expressed their concerns that there may well be unintended consequences of the FCA’s views over vulnerability.
As a result of this, advisers cautioned that the intermediary community may feel forced to avoid anyone they think could be classed as vulnerable from a fear of falling foul of the new regulatory regime.
Looking to the future, with the FCA already taking action against providers whom they judge to not be reaching the standards required by consumer duty, the topic looks “set to remain a popular one” in the forums throughout 2024.
Social media
Also discussed was the subject of social media with regards to how to attract new business on LinkedIn with a “continued” debate about the merits of using social media for business development purposes.
The topic also extended to TikTok and whether it was a valid channel to pursue new business, with brokers who were comfortable with creating videos being more willing to try TikTok out.
Mortgage Marketing Forum director, Jeff Knight, said: “Social media is an important channel; however, like anything it has to be used well. There must be a purpose behind using it rather than simply creating posts.
“For me where it adds real value that brokers can listen. They can follow clients online and comment on their posts. In essence, social is important but more so to engage in rather than use to blast messages.”
Business volumes
Brokers also repeatedly used Cherry to discuss business volumes with their peers and garner views on the future.
With the cost-of-living crisis, high inflation, rising interest rates and pressures of mortgage affordability, many reported business volumes down year-on-year.
However, with the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee holding the base rate for the past two months, there are signs that we may be over the worst and some brokers are optimistic about business levels for next year.
Cherry director, Donna Hopton, commented: “More and more intermediaries have chosen to use the Cherry forum throughout 2023, with visitor numbers up 6 per cent year-on-year and total visits up 2.5 per cent.
“Most importantly, users are becoming more involved, with the number of new threads created nearly 11 per cent higher this year than in 2022.
“Users consider the Cherry forum to be a safe space where they can discuss topics with their industry colleagues.”
She added that, with 2024 set to be a “critical year” for brokers looking to increase business volumes, she's confident the forum will continue to grow accordingly.
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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