Done your Christmas shopping yet? No, me neither! But the first hints from loved ones are beginning to percolate my brain, so I know it won’t be long before I will have to do something about braving the high street or wading through the internet to find the ‘perfect’ gifts.
While it is a shaky continuity link I think you’ll agree, the second charge market continues to attract new lenders, something that is definitely a gift for the industry. Following the not to distant launch of Optimum Credit to our lender panel with their different approach to lending by adopting a pricing for risk model, I am now also delighted to see Paragon returning to the second charge market and we are pleased to have them on board also. These are clear signs of the return of lender confidence in the second charge market and also serve to give advisers further reasons to cheer as the choice of lenders and products widens. The key here is that we want to be offering a variety of products, because simply competing on price albeit great for the client as it drives rates down, will not in itself serve sufficiently to grow the sector.
Lenders are becoming more proactive in their engagement of the master broker market with more BDMs becoming active again along with the reintroduction of roving underwriters from some of the leading lenders. This has certainly been a help when they can come to the office and smooth the way for cases, as well as look at the more taxing enquiries. What a change from the subdued market of only a couple of years ago! The lenders are hungry for business and are really putting in the effort to help us and that bodes well for our broker partners and their clients and augurs well for 2015.
On the news side, we have been shortlisted for ‘Best Secured Distributor’ for Loan Talk, which is a great honour and I have also been asked to be a judge (though not on my nomination I hasten to add!!) I was also delighted to be asked to be a guest at the recent England vs. New Zealand Rugby International by David & James Gillam of Pure Panel Management.
Still too early to see past Christmas but the vibe is looking very positive that 2015 will continue to smile on our sector.
Bradley Moore is director at Brightstar Financial
