PMS Mortgage Club has predicted the coronavirus will expedite a shift in the business models of directly authorised mortgage advice firms to lifelong financial planning, as they emerge from the crisis.
PMS said this was based on feedback from advisers, analysis of firms that are ‘successfully weathering’ the pandemic, and requests for support from advisory firms ‘looking to learn lessons for the future’.
Ross Liston, managing director at PMS Mortgage Club, said: “One of the key trends we are seeing from the thousands of conversations taking place between directly authorised firms and our PMS team, is the business resilience of firms who offer a one-stop service solution that’s backed by an effective client engagement strategy.
“It’s been a long-held view at PMS that this is the way forward, but I believe we have now arrived at a watershed moment, and the Covid-19 crisis will accelerate the move to lifelong financial planning amongst mortgage firms.”
Dean Vellender, director at EasyLife Alliance, said: “It’s important for mortgage firms to grow, develop and adapt as the market changes. Key to this is having the focus that customers are for life rather than a transaction.
“At EasyLife Alliance we were already looking at other ways to help clients for life, before lockdown, by expanding on our offering. We will accelerate these plans going forward for the benefit of the company, the team and more importantly our customers.”
In March FTAdviser reported that mortgage advisers had predicted up to 30 per cent of broker businesses might not survive the coronavirus crisis, as the home purchase market has all but been put on hold.
Alan Lakey, director at Highclere Financial, said brokers who do not advise on areas such as protection would have “nothing to fall back on”.
Similarly Daniel White, managing director of Champion Hall & White, said brokers who only work on purchases or who had not looked after their client banks were the businesses most at risk.
chloe.cheung@ft.com
