According to MAB’s interim results for the six months ending on 30 June, gross mortgage completions, including product transfers, came to £12.1bn, which is flat year-on-year.
Barring product transfers, gross new mortgage completions ticked up 1.3% to £9.1bn compared to the same period last year.
MAB said that around 53% of its business mix by lending value was for purchase business, up from 52% in last year’s figures, while remortgage activity fell slightly from 31% to 30%. Product transfer business stayed static at around 17%.
MAB’s market share of new lending came to 8.2%, which is in line with 8.1% in the same period last year.
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Mainstream adviser numbers come to 1,908 and revenue grows
Mainstream adviser numbers contracted slightly by 0.7% to 1,908, but the company said that post-period adviser numbers have grown to 1,945 as of 20 September.
Revenue per mainstream adviser has increased by 9.2% to £65,300 compared to the same period last year. The company said this reflected a “lower proportion of new advisers in the period and a slightly higher rate of protection attachment”.
Protection and general insurance commission increased to £48.8m during the period, an increase of 8.6% annually.
Client fees also rose by 9.5% year-on-year to £24m, with mortgage procuration fees growing by 0.8% year-on-year to £48.8m.
Other income came to £2.4m during the period, which is up 4.6% on last year.
MAB continues investment in lead generation
Regarding lead generation, the company said that it had made further investment in “early customer capture and nurture, data analytics and customer profiling”.
MAB said that the “optimisations” are showing “early signs of the size of the opportunity we have”. This includes growing customer referrals, lead conversation and identifying demand for additional products and services.
The firm added that client bank and related retention opportunities continue to grow, and it was in “early stages of implementation” where it will “layer additional opportunities to attract potential customers to MAB”.
“Lead generation – whether that be new customers, retaining customers, or increasing the lifetime value of a customer – is the major and increasing differentiator for MAB that drives adviser and AR growth, performance, and retention.
“Technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are likely to have an increasing impact on how we acquire, retain, and build extended value for our customers and for MAB, its appointed representatives (ARs) and their advisers. Accordingly, continued investment in these areas remains a priority, regardless of market conditions, and will continue to underpin our strategy for strong market share and profit growth,” MAB said.
‘2024 is shaping up to be a year of stability’
MAB said that written new case numbers were 11% up in July and August compared to 2023 and it said it expected a “pick-up in activity” to continue throughout the final quarter of the year.
“A significant amount of mortgage refinancing has been delayed for several months and we expect August’s Bank of England rate cut – and the prospect of further cuts – to foster a more active refinancing market, as well as a gradual recovery in the number and make-up of housing transactions.
“As expected, 2024 is shaping up to be a year of stability, following a highly challenging 2023. Our targeted investments in lead generation and customer retention put MAB in a strong position to capitalise on the growing market momentum, both in the latter part of this year and into 2025,” the company explained.
MAB expects ‘momentum to continue’
Peter Brodnicki, MAB’s chief executive, said that the first few months of the year began well, with mortgage rates edging down in expectation of base rate cuts and a more stable political landscape.
He continued: “When it became clear those cuts were not imminent, lenders adjusted their mortgage rates back up and the increased activity we saw started to tail off towards the end of Q1.
“Refinancing and purchase activity remained subdued for the rest of H1 ahead of the general election. Having now seen the first of a number of expected base rate cuts, activity levels are starting to gradually build again, and we expect momentum to continue.
“Against this backdrop, I am very pleased with the progress MAB continues to make in a year that mortgage volumes are likely to be at very similar levels to 2023.”
Brodnicki said that MAB’s investment in technology and AI was a “strategic priority as we shape the business for strong and sustainable growth, while further increasing our operational resilience”.
“Significant progress continues to be made in terms of lead generation, which is becoming an increasingly major differentiator, and will support our strategy to help scale firms and increase adviser productivity,” he added.
Regarding adviser numbers, Brodnicki said that they had started to pick up since year end and it expected to “deliver further growth this year as new ARs are recruited into MAB and our existing ARs start growing adviser numbers again after a sustained period of market-induced consolidation”.
“We expect to see record years in terms of refinancing activity in 2025/2026 and it is very encouraging to have a new government that is so focused on housebuilding and other initiatives that will bring a tailwind to MAB and our market,” he noted.
