Keep track of income to remain motivated
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Something all brokers should watch out for is the way in which bridging lenders calculate interest charges.
You could be forgiven for thinking they were all the same and that they were transparent in how they present information, but sadly that is not always true.
In one case we dealt with recently the difference in the total amount repayable was £28,400 less with us compared to a well-known lender, despite both of us quoting the same rate.
The market norm on bridging loans where interest is retained is to charge it on the whole retained portion from day one.
We believe that is unfair so we only charge interest on the retained portion each month, as it is released.
I had another deal recently where we were quoting 1% per month to match another bridging lender and our gross loan was £8,000 less.
While I cannot confirm that every lender adopts this questionable practice what you get with us is fair and transparent as well as the best value.
Therefore, in the interests of customers, brokers should always check whether interest on the retained portion is charged as it is released, otherwise the customer is paying for something they have not had.Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester has decided to waive his right to nearly £1m of shares from the bank.
It would be interesting to know whether he felt he didn’t deserve them or if the public outcry made it untenable for him to receive them.
Whether you agree with the amount or not, the fact that a bonus payment is part of his contract of employment means he was legitimately entitled to it. Perhaps it would have helped if we’d been told what measures it had been agreed against.
How many people do you know that have handed back a bonus?
Money for most people is a great motivator. Job satisfaction is important but money is the reason why most people work.
We often mention the positive effect a good practice management solution can have on your clients. But what about its impact on advisers?
It’s important that business owners can access real-time management information at any time to know what is happening within their company. It’s also vital that every adviser in a business can understand what is happening to their pipeline and, above all, how this impacts on their income.
This enables advisers to monitor their own income daily and focusses attention on what matters to most of us.
There’s no element of surprise and having the ability to forecast estimated income allows action to be taken in advance and can even motivate individuals to strive harder to increase their earning potential.
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