For some, this has meant building on their skills and knowledge to guarantee they are armed with the right tools that result in the best outcomes for consumers.
Mortgage Solutions spoke to brokers about what they had done to brush up on their knowledge, not only because of the new rules but to make sure their advice evolves with their client’s needs.
Scott Taylor-Barr, financial adviser at Barnsdale Financial Management, said he had been “very well guided” by his firm’s network The Open Partnership.
The network created two bespoke Consumer Duty training modules to inform brokers and test that they were up to speed with the new rules and what was expected from advisers.
He added: “Changes are now rolling out, again guided by Openwork, in terms of defining our value proposition and what other changes we need to make within our businesses to processes and systems to meet the new standards.”
Additionally, Taylor-Barr is relying on resources available within the sector.
He said: “I am also looking through the Consumer Duty guides and listening to the podcasts that have been released by the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), which are a further excellent source of information on what the duty means in terms of business structure and advice delivery.”
Continuous learning
Stephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages, said while he had not gained any additional qualifications, brokers in general were “always reading and learning and improving their industry knowledge”.
To expand on its capabilities, his firm has moved into equity release, commercial lending, investment and pensions. More recently, it has broadened its services further into wills and estate planning, which will include bringing in experts to “ensure as many client needs have been identified and advice given”.
Otherwise, Perkins said: “Consumer Duty has not changed anything really for us, as we were already all about the customer with no targets and charged a fair fee for our high level of service.
“Our network ensured all our advisers have the details of expectations around Consumer Duty, which for us is just common sense.”
Howard Reuben, principal of HD Consultants, said his firm always tried to be “ahead of the game” with its internal systems. This includes a virtual library, resource centre, training programmes and weekly team meetings with a business development manager present.
These weekly team meetings are fully booked up until mid-January, Reuben said. He added that this practice helped HD Consultants to “maintain our competence, industry knowledge and sector-specific expertise”.
A duty to inform
Darryl Dhoffer, mortgage expert at The Mortgage Expert, said as a directly authorised firm, it was up to his company to “do what we can in terms of continued development, as a company and as an individual”.
Dhoffer said the effects of Covid and the cost of living crisis encouraged him to obtain his CeRER qualification, enabling him to offer equity release advice to current and future clients.
He added: “I am now undertaking my (CPSF) Certified Practitioner in Specialist Property Finance to offer even more solutions for bridging and development finance. We have a duty as advisers to hold the correct qualifications and have a responsibility to ensure that clients are correctly informed at all times of all the options open to them.
“The benefits are enormous, as ensures with the correct permissions, a broker can offer a qualified, holistic approach to mortgage and loan advice, which I believe, as advisers, we must offer to clients.”
