The Intermediary –- May 2026 - Flipbook - Page 41
Q&A
have been guilty of this in the past ourselves.
Over the past few years, though, we’ve invested
considerable resources into our client services
division to make sure we proactively engage
with existing clients – turning a basic refinance
conversation into a full financial review and
ongoing advice. This could be refinancing or the
likes of protection, adverse credit, wider financial
advice, or even staircasing for Shared Ownership.
Gareth Lowndes and his team are doing
tremendous work, supporting our advisers in
nurturing their back book, while also looking after
our orphan client bank and ensuring they too are
still receiving the right outcomes.
Rethinking how we manage existing client
relationships offers wins all round; we’ve managed
to unlock embedded value within our business to
the tune of around £1m, while brokers increase
their income, deliver a better service and better
respond to their clients’ needs. Best of all, it means
we can deliver better outcomes to clients, which is
the ultimate measure of success.
We’ve seen an increasing spotlight
on protection recently, what is your
take on the FCA’s interim findings?
The findings revealed what many of us across
the industry already knew – the majority of
clients with protection are receiving fair value
and importantly, good outcomes. This is great
news. Where work still needs to be done is on the
protection gap. 72% of identified protection needs
are not currently covered by insurance. That is a
massive worry – particularly in the current climate.
The regulator puts this down to affordability
concerns, difficulty around pre-existing conditions
and a lack of understanding. The big one for me,
though, is consumers not being prompted to
consider protection. We all know what it’s like in
a busy brokerage – particularly given the current
circumstances – trying to dedicate the time to
those quality conversations around protection.
The challenge for advisers is making sure that
this is a priority, and that those conversations are
fully embedded within the wider advice journey.
This is the only way for us to increase education,
dispel those myths and really demonstrate the
value of protection cover.
With the help of our in-house recruitment team,
we have seen a growing trend in our self-employed
division with principals looking to appoint
protection-only advisers. We tripled headcount
in 2025 to 19 protection-only advisers, and it now
stands at 32. We continue to help broker firms
identify and recruit new talent – whether it’s
advisers, protection specialists or admin staff – at
no additional cost to their business.
What is the biggest priority
moving forward?
I firmly believe it should be recruitment – making
sure the advice sector is fit for the future by
bringing in new blood. We continue to see
brokerages and networks pinching brokers
from each other, without really addressing the
fundamental need to backfill the talent pool.
Add in an aging broker population and those
leaving to pursue new careers, and we face a very
real problem.
We’ve seen tremendous success with our
academy proposition, which continues to bring
in fantastic talent and sets them up for a fruitful
career in advice. We’ve seen graduates go on to
become some of our best performing and most
successful advisers – which makes me hugely
proud. We need more of this across the industry to
increase the pathways into a career in advice.
There’s also the need to take a step further to
include those without the necessary qualifications,
but the ambition and aptitude to become an
adviser. That’s something we’ve done with our
Just Learning proposition, which supports budding
advisers in achieving their CeMAP qualification,
and then provides a guaranteed interview with the
business once qualified. With continued pressure
on the labour market, there’s a golden opportunity
to attract highly-skilled talent that may not have
even considered advice as a career.
While it’s fantastic to see the majority of
mortgages are still advised, we cannot be
complacent. The issues facing the sector are well
known – whether it’s an aging broker population,
the threat of AI or an increase in direct sales. We
need proactive measures to ensure a healthy
pipeline of new talent, along with ongoing
training, mentoring and support to help advisers
at every level realise their full potential. Through
a combination of routes, we can really unlock the
talent we have and create outstanding advisers,
as well as tremendous mentors, managers and
business principals for future recruits.
Other than that, the priority is being proactive,
staying visible and offering that five-star service
to clients. Are we just focusing on the mortgage
or thinking holistically? What are their protection
needs, should they be referred for a pension
review, are they a business owner – do they need
protection there? The opportunities are endless to
deliver tremendous value and create a client for
life. The right brokerage or network should support
advisers in achieving this.
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