I first started in the mortgage industry as a BDM with the old Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G) in 1996 which had just become a bank. It is fair to say that most of my day was taken up with impressing on the growing numbers of mortgage brokers why they should choose C&G above the other 250 plus lenders who were still in the market at that time.
In the 17 years that have elapsed since then I have spent nine years as a general mortgage broker and the last four as a master broker offering a wide range of funding solutions designed to satisfy the niche demands of a growing number of clients who require the specialist support many general brokers are unable to offer.
I would like to think that it is the relationship we have with a lender and how closely we work with them in developing innovative products. The smaller lenders rely on us to research the market and convince them that the product they take to market will provide the solution and achieve the expected volumes.
A run of the mill broker does not necessarily see relationships with a lender as his number one priority but a specialist should. As our sector finalises its plans to attack the 2014 market we should be confident that we can extend that confidence to our broker distribution.
The specialist distributor never went away but I believe we have a more important role to play than in the past. We need to spread our influence and work more closely with brokers and lenders and as a consequence provide for the mortgagee a solution that is right for their individual needs and within the spirit of TCF.
Packagers, specialist distributors, whatever you want to call us, need to be seen as the specialist and one thing I believe goes hand in glove with that statement is that we have to recruit specialist people with the skills that come with experience and an in-depth knowledge of the market. Recent years have seen the wheat separated from the chaff and I would like to think that those of us who have survived are quality people capable of getting our industry back to where it was.
Tony Bunting is managing director of Platinum Options
