Each firm will launch with a minimum of two advisers and offer a range of residential and second charge mortgages, commercial finance, equity release and, soon, investments and pensions.
The new brands, supported by directors Martin Stewart and Scott Thorpe, will be authorised directly by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) but rely on the infrastructure and compliance support provided by London Money, including its mortgage club, The Adviser Alliance.
The Money brand funds the location set up, then takes a 50% stake in the business and has big expansion plans having created limited companies for 20 cities across the UK.
Advisers disillusioned
Stewart said: “There’s a great entrepreneurial spirit among many brokers. By opening up our brand, knowledge and our contrarian approach we can give those brokers the chance to build their own business. Many advisers are disillusioned with the current offerings within the marketplace and we believe our model will allow brokers to go directly authorised but without feeling lonely in the process.
“Furthermore, by working with The Adviser Alliance brokers will be able to keep a larger percentage of their procuration fee than was previously the case.
“This isn’t another network in the traditional sense of the word, more a group of directly authorised companies, self-reliant and independent but with our backing to help build a business with a national presence but a local touch.”
Last week Stewart wrote why he believed brokers should be more willing to take the risk and become directly authorised.
Kris Day, founder of Glasgow Money, said: “We could have set out on our own, but London Money already has the foundations in place, which helps with speed to market. More importantly though, it’s about working with like-minded people who have the same standards as us when it comes to fairness and transparency.”
London Money director Scott Thorpe added: “We are uniquely positioned, and our flexibility and collaborative approach means we can get people trading in weeks as opposed to months. We can incubate these fledgling businesses using the tools given to the industry by the regulator. In our opinion this is a game changer for those advisers who want to be business people and not just mortgage brokers.”
