The Intermediary –- June 2026 - Flipbook - Page 92
Meet The Broker
WIS Mortgages and
d Insurance Services
Marvin Onumonu speaks with Ifthikar Mohamed, director and
mortgage broker at WIS Mortgages and Insurance Services
What made you
become a broker?
In my late teens and early 20s, I
spent a number of years travelling
the world and working as a water
sports instructor. I was teaching
windsurfing, sailing and similar
activities, doing seasons abroad and
even moving to live in Australia for a
while. My wife and I also spent a year
living in New Zealand.
We started our accountancy
practice around 17 years ago, and
that business is still very much alive
and well – in fact, it is still larger
than our mortgage operation. Our
mortgage proposition began almost
accidentally, as a by-product of the
accountancy work.
A lot of our clients needed help
with mortgages, and we used to refer
those applications out. It was not
something we did for money; we did
it as a favour.
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The Intermediary | June 2026
Over time, we realised just how
many cases we were referring every
year. We decided to start our own
mortgage firm rather than simply
sending the business away. We set
up the mortgage arm in 2016, and
this year marks 10 years since we
launched that side of the business.
It has grown steadily and organically.
Today, we have around 20 advisers.
What sets your firm apart
from others?
Customer service and technology.
I believe our customer service is
genuinely very strong across the
whole team. We currently have in
the region of 400 five-star reviews
on Google and Trustpilot combined,
written by our customers. That
kind of feedback doesn’t happen
by accident; it tells us we are doing
something right in terms of how we
look after people.
A related point is how we attract
new business. We don’t really
advertise much in the traditional
sense. Instead, a significant
proportion of our new customers
come through referrals from existing
clients. For me, that is one of the
most powerful indicators of client
satisfaction – when someone is
happy enough with the service
to send their friends, family or
colleagues to you.
Technology is something I’m
very passionate about personally.
We use proprietary software, and
we integrate artificial intelligence
(AI) into our processes to make
the customer journey faster and
smoother. That matters particularly
for younger customers. Nobody
likes filling out long forms, but the
younger generation, who are native
AI users, have even less patience
for manual, paper-based processes.
Our use of AI and tech is designed to
remove friction, speed things up and
