Mortgage Advice Bureau (... Share Discussion Threads

[chapchip] 17/7/2017 15:57

depends on volume and quality of both the estate agent and the mortgage broker.

The two would need a good relationship....the agent needs to be motivated to capture the mortgage opportunity early enough, the mortgage adviser needs to be skilled enough to engage the client and get their buy in to be the chosen mortgage adviser wherever they find.

As you point out Belvoir are lettings focused but our local one here is now doing sales, probably as BTL portfolio landlords hive off some property.

Might get an uplift in BTL remo business perhaps

[gsbmba99] 17/7/2017 15:52

Would a sales focused estate agent location be able to support a full-time mortgage adviser or would they have to cover multiple offices in order to be efficient? Brook are based in Barnsley and have 32 staff, not all of whom are advisers. Belvoir have 302 outlets nationwide though a large proportion of those locations are lettings focused. Could provide a nice uplift in adviser count later this year or next year.

[chapchip] 17/7/2017 14:34

yes that's probably true.

[gsbmba99] 13/7/2017 06:30

Belvoir Lettings (BLV) have acquired a MAB affiliated firm of advisers called Brook. Brook have 32 staff and advisers. The plan is to increase financial services related revenues at both BLV's lettings focused brands (as they add property sales) and at Newton Fallowell. Brook to continue relationship with MAB. It seems like quite a large proportion of MAB's advisers are embedded in estate agents.

[gsbmba99] 22/6/2017 08:57

New CML figures out ( May 17 £20.1bn up 12% on April 17 and on May 16. Suggests Apr 17 reduced from £18.4bn to £17.9bn. YTD through May is now £96.4bn -2.2% on the £98.6bn in 2016. Fuller commentary here ( Stable mortgage lending despite reduction in transactions suggests lots of remortgaging.

[chapchip] 14/6/2017 07:44

MAB has its fingers in a multitude of pies that are related to its core activity, it makes strategic investments in the companies that it works with around mortgage sourcing, specialist protection, specialist lending, conveyancing etc

its linked up with Purplebricks, so natural step would be Australia & US I guess

The lead generation is as much about brand awareness as well as getting clients hooked in and engaged from a long way out in the process.

[gsbmba99] 13/6/2017 14:24

Not in the industry. Just trying more fully to understand the company and its capabilities, so I appreciate the insight. Looking through MAB's recent investment history, they seem to be focused heavily on lead generation. It seemed illogical to focus so much on lead generation without also focusing on keeping the customers after the fact so I'm pleased to hear they offer it even if your firm doesn't use it.

Are you aware of any other countries where mortgage advice is cumpulsory? Just trying to identify what, if any, other markets might be potential targets for expansion.

[chapchip] 13/6/2017 09:55

yes CRM is very under serviced by most....many estate agency based brokers are just seeing new clients and then have little strategy for follow up in 2-5 yrs time as rates expire.

Midas Pro is the compliance and sourcing tool but it can also act as a CRM tool, but we have our own.

Are you in the industry ??

[gsbmba99] 25/5/2017 20:49

Congrats on your month. The CML outcome through 4 months is better than I had feared. Hopefully the second half will benefit from a lack of a referendum effect. I too am excited about the potential market opening up in Product Transfers. If the company's estimate of £90bn is correct, it would mean a market 30%+ larger than it was previously. It also helps solidify the mortgage broker's position in the customer relationship if they can accompany the customer everywhere they might want to go. Would I be right in thinking that CRM is a significant opportunity in this industry? Is that something that MidasPro incorporates?

[chapchip] 25/5/2017 14:54

not at MAB ...April was record month.

Another thing to pcik up on which the CML figures will not show.....there is a huge new and untapped market for brokers....which is Product Transfer or rate Switches.....which is effectively when a mortgage product ends, presently about 85% of this market is in house with lenders.......from this year that's fundamentally changing as lenders open it up to brokers to transact. In the majority of cases it will not pay the same proc fee as a new loan origination but will still generate income from a previously unavailable source

[gsbmba99] 25/5/2017 14:45

April CML estimate for gross mortgage lending is £18.4bn -11% on Mar 17 which was revised down from £21.4bn to £20.7bn. Year to date (Jan-Apr) 17 is £76.8bn -4.8% on £80.7bn in 16. (

[gsbmba99] 24/5/2017 07:38

AGM statement ( Number of advisers at 990 +40 on 31 Dec 16 or +4.2%. "Organic recruitment has been in line with the Board's expectations and we expect new business recruitment to be weighted to the second half of the year." "Current trading is in line with the Board's expectations and we look forward to delivering further growth in the remainder of this financial year."

[gsbmba99] 20/4/2017 09:16

Mar 17 CML mortgage lending figure is £21.4bn -19% on Mar 16. Q117 £59.1bn down 6% vs £63bn in Q116. Feb 17 appears to have been revised lower from £18.2bn to £17.9bn. "Mortgage lending appears to be in neutral gear. Our gross estimate for March is £21.4 billion and this is broadly in line with average monthly lending over the past year. Within this aggregate level, there has been a shift towards first-time buyer and remortgage customers, away from home movers and buy-to-let landlords. We expect this profile to continue over the short-term, as low mortgage rates encourage existing borrowers to remortgage and government schemes help first-time buyers. We do not expect any marked effect from the General Election." (

[chapchip] 31/3/2017 08:32

The increased proc fees will in part be due to increased house prices and therefore increased borrowing, as the proc fees are directly linked to the amount borrowed.

clients fees increased probably related to increased adviser numbers and more advisers charging a higher fee.

I m one of the only firms who are part of MAB that do not charge a client fee

[gsbmba99] 31/3/2017 08:12

Interesting. So the effect you describe (lower mortgage procuration fees offset at least partially by higher client fees) might be what's visible in the 2H16 on 2H15 comparison which saw mortgage procuration fees +9.1% but client fees +17.2%?

[chapchip] 31/3/2017 07:15

its to do with what are called Product Transfers or Rate Switches.....whereby at the end of any fixed or preferential rate period a customer can choose a new product with the same lender, as opposed to remortgaging to a new lender.

Lenders have long battled to keep this all in house, but the tide has changed recently and most now allow brokers to process this transaction or will do by the end of the year, although the procuration fee lenders is about half of what they pay for the origination of new business. approx 0.20% of the loan as opposed to 0.40%.

I guess where MAB see this as a revenue enhancer is most of their brokers charge the client a fee of which they get a slice, as well as getting a slice of the 0.20% and an opportunity to review protection (life cover etc etc)which they get a slice of the advisers commission and an override from the life assurer.

[gsbmba99] 29/3/2017 05:24

I'm intrigued by this statement from the results announcement: "Intermediaries previously had limited access to the product switching market in which customers change products with their existing lender. However, more lenders have started providing intermediaries with full access to this market which is estimated to be equal in size to the remortgage market which was c. £90bn in 2016. The CML industry data excludes product switches with the same lender." That suggests that the MAB addressable market could be up to 35% (£90bn/£240bn) larger than it is now. That sounds like a very good thing.

[gsbmba99] 23/3/2017 09:46

CML gross mortgage lending estimate for Feb 17 is £18.2bn marginally up on £18.1bn in Feb 16 ( Jan 17 appears to have been revised up from £18.9bn originally to £19.8bn. YTD17 (Jan-Feb) gross mortgage lending is £38bn vs £36.7bn 2016 or +3.5%. "Mortgage lending is holding up well, but under the surface buyers face mixed fortunes. First-time buyers and customers who are remortgaging are driving total lending, while home movers and buy-to-let remain weak." Mar 17 likely to be down significantly owing to last year's BTL surge. Next update 20 Apr.

[gsbmba99] 23/2/2017 10:23

CML gross mortgage lending estimate for Jan 17 is £18.9bn up 2% on Jan 16 and highest Jan total since 2008 (hxxps://www.cml.org.uk/news/press-releases/gross-mortgage-lending-189-billion-in-january/). "Overall mortgage lending continues to hold up pretty well, but we seem to have a twin-track market. Weakness in buy-to-let and home movers has been offset by an increase in first-time buyers and remortgage lending." Next update 23 Mar.

[gsbmba99] 20/1/2017 18:37

Trading update 27 Jan (hxxp://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1484928367593262800.html)
CML forecasts of gross mortgage lending £248b in 2017 and £252b in 2018 (hxxps://www.cml.org.uk/news/press-releases/new-cml-forecasts-for-2017-and-gross-lending-up-3-in-november/)

[edale] 07/1/2017 18:48

This has perked up nicely since it got hammered following the referendum. There should be a trading statement later in January so hopefully some good news.

[firtashia] 29/9/2016 08:50

Forecast for FY EPS left unchanged following the results.