The Intermediary – January 2026 - Flipbook - Page 16
Q&A
JLM Mortgage Services
The Intermediary sits down with Sebastian Murphy, group
director at JLM Mortgage Services, about being an outspoken
voice for the industry, and to get his take on some of the
issues facing this market
Are you the most outspoken man
in mortgages?
I don’t think so. ‘Outspoken’ makes it sound as if
I’m arriving at these subjects from a very extreme
place, or that what I’m saying is far removed from
what advisers see each day. I may be wrong, but I
don’t believe that’s the case.
I’m an adviser myself. I work with clients
every day. We have a strong set of appointed
representative (AR) firms across a growing
network, and I sense-check that what I say reflects
what others are also seeing.
I also read widely in the trade press. There are
plenty of people who hold similar views. Bob
Hunt and Richard Howes at Paradigm, to give two
examples, often seem to say things that line up
with my own thoughts. I don’t see myself as ‘out
on a limb’. I’m just trying to express what many
advisers already feel but may not always get the
chance to say. AMI, for example does a strong
job in a very tough environment. I speak to Steph
Charman regularly, plus we’re acutely aware that
AMI’s biggest wins are often the ones no one ever
sees. They stop bad ideas before they reach the
policy stage. They point out flaws or knock back
potential ideas that would cause serious problems
for advisers or clients. It’s very hard to take credit
for things that didn’t happen.
Steph and the team are dealing with the
regulator at every level, and that means they
sometimes have to work in a way that advisers
don’t see. I’m in a different position. I can say
things they can’t say, because I’m speaking as an
adviser on the front line, not a trade body. Both
matter.
Do you worry this might impact the
business?
SEBASTIAN
MURPHY
It depends whether you think those who I speak
out against are the sort who would try to punish
me, or the business, for raising such concerns. I’m
not doing it with any sort of personal malice so I
don’t see why hearing those views would result in
a corresponding response.
I’m genuinely trying to secure improvements or
to highlight, what I believe, are bad decisions.
These are serious commercial and regulatory
issues. If lenders are pushing direct business at the
cost of the adviser who brought the client to them,
that hits firms’ retention and income. If I flag that,
it’s not personal. It’s trying to protect advisers
