it’s a case of focusing on what you’re really good at and your core business while still having access to a really good mortgage proposition. It’s been great for us but also for Honister because they can still offer competitive products and services to their clients via our club.”


BIgger BuT BeTTer It is this type of planning and relationship that has helped Legal & General to grow over the past two or three years, says Smith. In 2007 9.2% of intermediated lending went through the mortgage club. By comparison, it finished 2010 with approximately 15% of intermediated lending by value. “We want more scale and have plans


to continue growing,” says Smith. “The aim is to get to 20% by 2013. Other people must be losing market share because the market has gone back this year from £140bn in 2009 to roughly £135bn in 2010 and we’ve grown from £10bn to £11.6bn.” To achieve that growth it’s imperative


that Legal & General maintains its core relationships with lenders – it is the strength of these links that gives Legal & General’s members access to so many product exclusives, explains Thompson. “Part of what I do is working with


lenders to develop attractive tranches of products which we then put out as exclusives to our members,” he says. “We do a lot of research into pricing and statistical analysis and we take a swipe on each mortgage transaction so we have data on every case every day. That is very valuable information for lenders and not something that all the networks are able to do.” Smith nods in agreement. “The other


big thing is quality,” he says. “Five, six, seven years ago lenders measured cases in completions, abandon rates and a


few other bits of key information and that was it. We are now seeing much more detail. One lender we deal with measures everything right through from initial application credit scores to non- performing assets and repossessions at the back end. “The whole data print from front to


back spells out that Legal & General’s business for many, many years has


been excellent quality. We have seen lenders channelling business through us disproportionately because of that.” As well as the flight to quality that Smith


refers to, there has been some indication from lenders that restricted panels may be more normal in the future.


“From a lender’s view point they would


much rather do all their business through one distributer and chose who that was,” says Smith. “We’re trying to get to the point where brokers have enough choice through us and can put all their business through Legal & General.” To help the duo achieve that objective


they’ve not only looked at their supplier relationships but also at how they can work more closely with their members. “Our relationships are about more than


just good product,” says Thompson. “Our average productivity per head has gone up through a downturn – that’s partly due to us investing in a field team to go out and recruit into the club and also spending money on a telephone desk to help deal with members’ queries as efficiently as possible.” Legal & General also invested in


two big road show events last year in a further effort to engage with their members. “Frankly everybody is sick of looking


back,” says Thompson. “We’re not telling brokers to diversify - if they’re still in the market now then they’ve done that. I think people are tired of hearing that as well. Our road shows were about looking forward. It’s all about what market are we going into and how best you can position yourself for that.”


BuIldIng a new markeT But what does the market we’re going into look like? Smith is firmly of the view that we have the chance to shape our own futures. “There needs to be some more close


working together,” he says. “We have a chance to design a market through the next decade – we need to be thinking about what we want it to look like.” No one is under any illusion that


the single biggest problem facing the mortgage market is the ongoing lack of new funding. While everyone in the industry has thrown in their ha’penny’s- worth to the debate there are relatively few who have taken it upon themselves to try to solve the problem. Smith and Thompson are two who


have not only decided to try to make a difference but have actually started that process.


mortgage introducer FEBRUARY 2011 33


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  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56