The Money Centre to relaunch
Share
The Money Centre is planning to relaunch in April and will offer a range of financial services specifically for landlords.
Lloyds Banking Group stopped accepting mortgage applications from The Money Centre in December and the brokerage was forced to make all of its staff redundant.
Instead of offering buy-to-let broking, the relaunched firm will offer financial advice, consultancy, estate planning, finance and insurance broking and property lettings and management solutions.
Mark Alexander, CEO of the firm, says it has been working on the plans for two-years but fast-tracked its diversification after Lloyd Banking Group stopped accepting its mortgage applications.
He says: “Lloyds decision last year was, undoubtedly, the biggest set-back that we’ve ever encountered. However, it could also lead to our greatest challenges and our biggest opportunity.”
He says ever since the securitisation markets began to collapse in August 2007, its ability to sustain business levels and a profit growth of over 60% per annum were gone.
He adds: “For two years we’ve worked on our diversification business model. We expect our new website to come online this month and to be ready for a full launch by mid April.
“By this time all business relationships will be contracted and training and integration with our panel of service providers and advisors will be completed.”
Readers' comments (10)
Anonymous | 4 Feb 2010 11:27 am
You can't keep a good man down, well done Mark. As a past customer of TMC I know the service standards and the high regard TMC has for us. I look forward to the expert help and advice of these new and varied services and all TMS's future business devolvements. Good luck chaps.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 4 Feb 2010 3:32 pm
I worked for TMC for several yrs and was one of the last employees to leave through redundancy. I was working on the diversification project for 2 years with the company and I think the timing of the re-launch, in the light of RDR, will be a blessing for many IFA’s who will be forced to operate exclusively on a fee charging structure, akin which The Money Centre has been operating for several years.
TMC have a huge database of high network clients, all of which are landlords, which IFA’s have found almost impenetrable. The stock response from a landlord to an approach from an IFA would typically be ‘pension is my property’,’ I’m not interested in any other type of investment’ and ‘I don’t need insurance because my tenants will still pay their rent even if I’m dead and my spouse will be able to sell the properties if necessary’. TMC’s new strategy cuts through all of this BS and based on what I saw of the new website it addresses all of these issues exceptionally well. In view of the relaunch in April it will not only be great news for IFA’s it will also be great for landlords and for the city of Norwich in the terms of new employment.
Who knows, I might even have a job to go back to soon?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 4 Feb 2010 4:46 pm
It seems like reports of TMC's demise were premature. It's great to see a forward looking business taking on new opportunities - such a refreshing change from the endless bleating that the gravy train has crashed !
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 5 Feb 2010 10:33 am
This all sounds great, but you have to ask what TMC were doing to get thrown off the Lloyds panel. Should we now be celebrating these same people creating a new business offering finacial advice and insurance, both of which are regulated activites.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Charles Walker | 5 Feb 2010 12:53 pm
The forward thinking approach that Mark Alexander and his team have taken to positively respond to exceptional market conditions, is an inspiration! I am hugely enthused by the opportunity for Focus Search and Selection to work alongside the Money Centre, 'Marketing' the new proposition to the IFA community in order to benefit their businesses.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 5 Feb 2010 2:37 pm
Enthusiastic, really ??? Ask yourself what happened to the few hundred or so consultants that they used to promote they had previously!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Geoff Laird | 5 Feb 2010 6:34 pm
I have known Mark Alexander since 1997 therefore it comes as no surprise to learn that he has raised his organisation like the Phoenix and his his aspirations for moving the company forward into a new and exciting phase deserve to be applauded
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Mark Alexander - CEO of The Money Centre | 5 Feb 2010 7:12 pm
There is an opportunity in every difficulty and there is a difficulty in every opportunity. Success is all about how you look at life, the choices you make and the actions you take.
Many of our former mortgage Consultants are personal friends which made it even more heartbreaking to share the news from LBG. However, like me, they are incredibly positive people. They know the property investment business inside out and for the ones that have chosen to stay in the mortgage broking business I am sure they will do well and I wish them every success.
Our new business model will not be in mortgage broking but will help property investors by giving them access to fully trained IFA's who can help them to develop a strategy to minimise risks and maximise returns. The new business model will also help IFA's to get through RDR.
The Money Centre business model was always fee based. Our clients appreciate that good advice always costs money and that fees ensure true independence. By contracting with IFA's to roll out the property investment strategy that made me so successful will give the IFA's access to markets they never knew existed.
Clients that followed The Money centre strategy are highly liquid, they have incredibly positive cashflow as a result of interest rate reductions and they have a whole new set of problems now that both the property market and access to funding have become so much more difficult. They are crying out for quality advice about whether to repay their mortgages, where they should invest their liquid assets and how to insure against the risks of being able to sell up at the right price in the event of a crisis.
We look forward to introducing these clients to the forward thinking IFA firms who will contract to us on a commission sharing basis.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 8 Feb 2010 1:11 pm
The strategy of high gearing as promoted by this company along with other organisations has resulted in many of these landlords being in negative equity even though the rates currently be enjoyed may be capable of funding the current mortgages;and unless they have been prudent in their handling of any rental surplus I believe the problems mentioned by Mr Alexander which they are facing is what do we do when the low rates have finished and until the market improves considerably there is absolutely no point in having an IFA on board since funding above 75% is a very remote possibility.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Mark Alexander | 8 Feb 2010 7:17 pm
Dear "Anonymous | 8 Feb 2010 1:11 pm"
I strongly recommend that you download The Essential Property Investment Strategy document from our web-site when it re-launches. This publication documents the strategy that we have been sharing with our clients for several years via eNews, FREE workshops with no hidden agendas UK wide etc.
At The Money Centre we've always promoted a strategy of high gearing combined with high liquidity. Clients who followed this strategy are in an excellent position now and will continue to be when interest rates rise again.
Negative equity is only a problem if you need to sell and you can't make up the balance. No liquidity = problems. High gearing is not a problem so long as it's combined with high liquidity.
A fall in property values creates a potential liability (e.g. negative equity) in the event of death or inability to manage a portfolio, However, interest rates are low. which means that investors should have cashflow to insure against these risks.
It is unlikely that interest rates will rise as quickly as property values from this point in the market. Therefore, if and when the insurance becomes unaffordable is will be less necessary anyway.
We will obviously notify the press when our new web-site goes online.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment