Many of you may have noticed a series of advertisements as well as some editorial in Mortgage Solutions regarding the British Mortgage Senate. This conference, designed and hosted by Incisive Media’s mortgage division, was the first of its kind.
Set in Monte Carlo, the aim of the Senate was to bring together business leaders from the most influential lenders, advisers and distributors in the UK, to discuss current issues and deliberate on key factors that will shape the mortgage market going forward.
Writing from my laptop in Monte Carlo, the mood has been split between two distinct camps. There was a sombre tone to some of the discussions, as news of Paragon’s funding troubles reached delegates while they gathered for an early start to proceedings on the first official day of the conference. However, there was also an attitude of perseverance – all the attendees here want to shape a mortgage market that is safe, sustainable and treats all in the mortgage chain fairly.
We are living in very peculiar times. Not only have Northern Rock’s and Paragon’s values plummeted over the past seven days, the Chancellor seems to have inherited a Treasury in disarray – particularly in light of the UK’s largest data protection scandal. It is no wonder morale is low and suspicions are high.
But the Senate represents the first opportunity to come together and discuss the potential outcomes of what has now become a liquidity crisis in the UK, and how we will work together going forward.
My experience over the last couple of days has not seen the industry bury its head in the ground, wishing the crisis would all go away quietly. What I have witnessed has been a great effort by all attendees to pick up the magnifying glass and inspect how our industry could be efficiently structured in the future, to stress test current business models and to explore different avenues, to increase income streams and road test new ideas as to how advisers can be remunerated. It is good to see the mortgage market has finally grown up.
It is amazing how cyclical this industry is. Trevor Matthews, chief executive of Standard Life, has been here at the Senate discussing whether there are lessons from the life and pensions industry that can be learned in the mortgage market, particularly in periods of political and economic upheaval as well as during times of regulatory change. The similarities have been astounding and surprising. The mortgage sector is the most innovative in the world – but it needs to prove it.
Many of the senior figures from our industry have come from the life sector – think of how many of our key commentators originally started at Scottish Amicable, AMP/Pearl, Prudential and so on. Perhaps we need to go back to these roots and revisit the mistakes of the past, to make sure they are not repeated in the future mortgage market. n
