Choosing a financially strong business

22 March 2010

2009 was a challenging one for our industry and as we now face the difficulties of a fragile economy in recovery and deepening regulation, the opportunity to build a stronger profession that continues to deliver a valuable service to clients has made us more determined than ever to overcome these obstacles in 2010.

The good news for our customers is that Sesame’s financial position remains strong. This means we are ideally placed to continue investing in new services for our members to help them meet the challenges of the Mortgage Market Review and, for those with broader permissions, the Retail Distribution Review by offering the right blend of services for their individual needs.

Sesame benefits from having stable ownership, an experienced management team and a broadlybased business across all product areas which extends from mortgages, general insurance and protection to pensions and investments. The ability to help our members navigate through regulatory change and develop new areas of income has enabled us to recruit significant numbers of new advisers over the past 12 months, and to support our existing members through the worst of the recession.

I believe Sesame is ideally placed to support advisers now and in the future, and our team is looking forward to working with member firms to capitalise on the on the opportunities over the course of 2010 and beyond.

I believe Sesame is ideally placed to support advisers now and in the future, and our team is looking forward to working with member firms to capitalise on on the opportunities over the course of 2010 and beyond.

So what can advisers expect in 2010? The mortgage market is showing some early signs of thawing in 2010 with house prices rising and lenders starting to offer more products. Funding still remains the key issue, coupled with lenders’ cautious approach to credit and underwriting.

But most commentators are predicting a slow, but steady recovery this year. There are unlikely to be any dramatic market changes, with a return to more traditional styles of underwriting. We know that there are new lenders with pending authorisations at the FSA which can only be good news for intermediaries and their clients.

Overall we believe that a vibrant advice market for mortgage customers will continue to exist in the UK and we will be doing everything we can to support intermediaries grow their businesses in 2010.

If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Mortgage Strategy and Follow @mortgagestrat