MIp10-11_1209:MI 12 Jan 24/11/2009 16:28 Page 20
10 | Distribution
Gambling on
balancing the
books
Phil Whitehouse, head of The Mortgage Alliance
(TMA), looks at the evolution of distribution and
what the future may hold
he distribution landscape has whether or not the booking has been successful offer the same products direct and via brokers, it
T
evolved beyond all recognition leaving them safe in the knowledge that their does question why, in some cases, broker deals
over the past few years. The client will get the product they have opted for. are so uncompetitive. I have it on good
initial impact of the credit authority that it was standing room only in the
crunch certainly provided Solution auditorium when Lesley Titcomb, director of
lenders with food for thought Such an all compassing solution looked like it small firms at the FSA, addressed brokers - and
on how they were going to was ideal in a market where product providers rightly so. There have been many issues raised
distribute their products in relation to their had to closely monitor both the volume of recently by the FSA that brokers need
vastly depleted funding lines. Gone were the lending and any interest rate movement. clarification on.
heady days of rafts of exclusive and semi- However, in reality many lenders have had to
exclusive products and tranche management look at balancing their books in a variety of Dual pricing
was predicted by many to be the salvation for ways. Some have had to stop lending altogether. Dual pricing is a highly emotive area for brokers
lenders who had to limit their funds Some have restricted the number of distribution and it continues to upset many who suggest that
accordingly. partners. Some directed the majority of their such tactics fall foul of the FSA’s ‘Treating
Essentially tranche management was products - or at least the more attractive ones - Customers Fairly’ principles. There really is still
introduced so lenders were able to manage their through their network of branches. Of course no getting away from this issue and while there
funds via a system allowing them to receive this last point has given rise to the great dual are some positive signs emerging from the
regular management information to keep track pricing debate. Whilst this is a subject that has market, continued dual pricing issues have given
of the performance of individual products and certainly never really gone away, it has again hit rise to a great deal of general dissatisfaction
exactly how much, in terms of funds, is left in the headlines due to a flurry of articles amongst brokers. Playing devil’s advocate,
the pot. A good system should also allow brokers emanating from an FSA seminar at the recent lenders, of course, will view this debate from a
to book funds for their clients in a manner of Mortgage Business Expo. different perspective as they may feel that
ways including online or over the telephone. I wasn’t in the seminar personally but the gist attractive branch mortgage products will bring
Invariably once this has been done the system of the reports seem to intimate that the FSA in more customers and savings deposits that can
should be able to immediately notify them believes that while lenders are not obliged to then be fed back into overall mortgage lending.
December 2009 Mortgage Introducer www.mortgageintroducer.com
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44