The total was up by £4.4bn, or 12 per cent, from the £37.5bn completed in 2017 and is up 21 per cent in the two years since 2016 when £34.6bn of lending was completed.
In 2007 at the peak of the pre-crash market the club and network completed £57.5bn worth of mortgage lending.
Sesame Bankhall Group (SBG), parent company of the network and club, also announced that protection premium income and general insurance (GI) policies written both increased last year.
Protection annual premium income through PMS and Sesame increased by 8.5% in 2018 to £69.1m, up from £63.7m in 2017.
And GI policies written rose by 14%.
Target product transfers
Discussing 2017’s results, then Sesame and PMS managing director Mark Graves said that in a relatively flat market, brokers would need to make their mark in the product transfer space.
With £158bn of product transfers completed in 2018 it appears this has been the case.
However, the group did not have a breakdown of how much was completed in product transfers by its members during the year.
SBG saw a significant management overhaul in 2018 with Graves departing in September.
And last month Richard Howells was appointed managing director of the Sesame network.
Evolving product transfer market
Commenting on the latest results, SBG executive chairman John Cowan (pictured) continued: “In challenging market conditions our PMS and Sesame members have once again delivered impressive results.
“They have demonstrated their professionalism and adaptability by embracing the customer opportunities being created in an evolving product transfer and remortgage market.
“However, we are living and working in a time of political and economic uncertainty, combined with increasing competitive pressures driven by new disruptive technology, which all serves as a wake-up call for our profession.”
He added that SBG’s was very confident about the future need for advice, the adviser community and the outlook for the group, but that it was critical advisers remain close to their clients and evolved their businesses around client retention.
“We believe that technology will prove to be an enabler in this transition and, as a group, we are investing to help advisers so that both their customers’ experience and their own is greatly enhanced, thus allowing advisers the time to do what they are best at – advising clients.”
Future-proof businesses
SBG group managing director Schultheiss congratulated the group’s members and business partners on a “fantastic year”.
“These results mean that thousands of people have benefited from expert advice on what for many is the largest financial decision they will ever make,” he said.
He added: “This is just the beginning and we are deeply committed to helping our members to future proof their businesses in a changing world.
“Professional advice remains the best way for consumers to secure the financial wellbeing of themselves and their families.
“SBG supports over 10,000 advisers and we will ensure our member firms have all the tools they need to build and maintain healthy long-term customer relationships.”
