The Intermediary – September 2026 - Flipbook - Page 94
B RO K E R B U S I N E S S
Opinion
The ‘broker’
is dead
I
n financial services, words
maer. They shape how our
clients perceive us, how we
value our own time, and
ultimately, how we run our
businesses. Unfortunately, for
too long, the industry has clung to a
title that no longer reflects what the
best of us actually do.
It is time to accept the hard truth:
that the term ‘broker’ is dead. Worse
still, it does a massive disservice to the
real value we provide to our clients.
We are advisers, and it’s time we
started being proud of it.
I recently sat down with James
Tucker, the CEO of Twenty7tec,
on ‘The Financial Services Show’,
and this very theme was central
to our conversation. We discussed
the rapid evolution of the mortgage
and protection landscape, the role
of modern technology, and what
the future holds for ambitious
professionals in our space.
Our discussion made one thing
abundantly clear: the days of merely
‘brokering’ a deal are over.
The difference
Let’s look at what a ‘broker’
traditionally represents. A middleman
and a transaction facilitator. Someone
who takes a client’s basic details,
searches the market, and points them
toward a product or a rate, it is an
inherently transactional term.
If your entire business model is built
around being a traditional broker –
simply finding the cheapest 5-year
fixed rate and filling out a form – your
days are numbered.
Why? Because technology has
already mastered the art of brokering.
As James Tucker highlighted
during our podcast, platforms like
Twenty7tec are already empowering
more than 16,000 advisers by
streamlining the mechanical side
of the job, from product sourcing to
application submission. The heavy
liing of aggregating data, matching
92
The Intermediary | September 2026
criteria, and finding the right product
can now be done by soware in
seconds. If technology can do the
‘brokering’, what is le for the human
to do? The answer is: everything that
truly maers, which is the advising.
An adviser does not just process an
application, they navigate complexity
as they can understand a client’s fears,
aspirations, and family dynamics.
An adviser tells a client hard
truths, challenges their assumptions,
and ensures they don’t just secure a
mortgage, but that they keep their
home if the worst happens through
proper protection planning.
Technology cannot hold a client’s
hand through the stress of an intricate
chain-break. Soware cannot read
a client’s body language when they
are hesitant about a life insurance
premium. Artificial intelligence
cannot provide the emotional
intelligence required to reassure a
family making the biggest financial
decision of their lives. All of this
requires a human adviser.
Doing a disservice
When we refer to ourselves as
‘brokers’, we subconsciously devalue
our expertise. We reduce years
of experience, deep regulatory
knowledge, and sophisticated
problem-solving skills down to the
role of a go-between.
At The Wealthy Advisers Club, one
of our main focuses is understanding
why some professionals struggle to
make £50,000 a year while others
comfortably generate £500,000.
The answer always comes down to
positioning. The professionals who are
scaling their revenues and building
real, long-term wealth aren’t acting
like brokers.
They are operating as highly trusted
consultants, and they command
respect because they position
themselves as experts offering holistic,
strategic advice, not just order-takers
facilitating a loan.
TERRY BLACKBURN
is founder at The Wealthy
Advisers Club
The heavy lifting
[...] can now be done by
software in seconds. If
technology can do the
‘brokering’, what is left
for the human to do? The
answer is: everything that
truly matters”
James Tucker and the team at
Twenty7tec are building the tools that
allow us to shed the administrative
weight of the past and process business
with incredible efficiency. They are
giving us the gi of time.
The question is, what are you going
to do with that time?
If you spend it trying to out-compete
a computer on data processing, you
will lose. But if you spend it deepening
client relationships, doing proper
fact-finds, leaning into comprehensive
protection conversations, and
delivering undeniable value, you will
build a highly profitable, scalable
business that no algorithm can
ever replace.
It’s time to retire the word ‘broker’.
Let’s drop the transactional mindset,
embrace the technology that supports
us, and proudly own the value we
bring to the table.
We are not middlemen.
We are the architects of our clients’
financial futures. ●
