… their house, car and life cover from an insurance broker, sit down with a pensions expert to discuss their retirement needs and go to an investment specialist if they had a nest egg that they wished to grow.
Things have changed however and individuals don’t have the time, money or inclination to visit a range of professionals if they can receive the products and service they require in one place.
In the same way that the rise of supermarkets has led to a decrease in the number of local butchers, grocers and record shops, so too has a need for convenience and cost-saving caused a number of brokerages to consolidate with former competitors or join services with complementary financial services providers.
This isn’t to suggest that mortgage brokers have become in any way obsolete, but more to point out that they can capitalise on this desire for ‘one-stop shops’ by referring suitable home loan clients on to wealth managers who can satisfy all their clients’ advice needs in one hit.
With advisers across the financial services spectrum struggling to see large volumes of business this year, mutually beneficial synergies such as this are worth their weight in gold.
The services that wealth managers can provide are more valuable than ever in an economic climate such as the one we are experiencing at present.
Although some people may think insurance is a luxury they can’t afford when money is tight, this myth is soon dispelled when it comes to having to replace something that is stolen or broken. Likewise with services such as general financial planning.
Enlisting the services of someone to save you money when you don’t have much of it to start with may seem counterproductive, but once the cost efficiencies take effect then it all becomes worth it.
No one is asking mortgage brokers to lose sight of their core business of writing home loans, but putting the blinkers on and failing to recognise the benefits of diversification and potentially lucrative partnerships is somewhat myopic.
Richard Adams is managing director of Stonebridge Group
