Gay sets out stall to create vision for future with trade body review
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Stephen Gay, the new director-general of the Association of Mort-gage Intermediaries, has called for a review of the trade body to examine whether it offers value for its members.
The review, which will also en-compass the Association of Independent Financial Advisers and the Association of Finance Brokers, was called just days after Gay took on his new role.
He says the review aims to appraise and set objectives for all three organisations, and define their purpose and value to mem-bers. The review will look at what the organisations stand for, their fees and their proposition.
He says merging all the trade bodies or just two is not something he has considered, but that it would be strange if feedback from the review did not raise questions about their structure.
Gay says: “I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with the way the trade bodies function at the moment, but I am not going to assume that and take it for granted.”
The review, which will take around three months, will be led by Gay with support from the executive team at AIFA.
Gay says with the changing economic, demographic and regulatory landscape, and the European agenda coming to the fore, it is important to appraise the three trade bodies’ roles.
He adds: “We need to set out a vision for the future.”
Mike Fitzgerald, sales director at The Emba Group, supports the plan to review the trade organisations in light of the crisis in the mortgage industry and the Mortgage Market Review.
He says: “AMI does a good job, but if there is any way the trade bodies can work more closely to have a stronger voice and more muscle that would be welcomed by a lot of brokers, as many have started to write to their MPs about the MMR.”
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