PMS Mortgage Club and Sesame Network have reported their highest combined mortgage volumes since 2008.
They delivered £37.5 billion of mortgage completions in 2017, a £2.9 billion increase on the previous year.
Meanwhile, protection annual premium income (API) through PMS and Sesame rose by 15% last year to £63.7 million (2016: £55.6 million API), an increase of £8.1m. In addition, general insurance (GI) policies written grew by 13%.
Mark Graves, managing director, Sesame and PMS, said: “Our focus has been to help our members recruit new advisers and grow their businesses. This strategy has paid off, with strong growth in many firms across the network and mortgage club. In Sesame alone we supported the recruitment of 170 new advisers into existing firms last year.
“The second half of 2017 was particularly busy for our members, with product transfers entering the intermediary market more strongly. This trend combined with continuing high levels of remortgages led to a surge of business activity for our members. As more 2017 industry data emerges, I anticipate that intermediary versus direct market share of product transfer business will have shifted more towards advisers, and I expect to see further growth for advisers in 2018.
“Our members’ protection and general insurance business also grew significantly last year, by 15% and 13% respectively. We have been working with firms to help adapt their business models and free up time to service their mortgage customers’ needs more widely and consistently, with protection and general insurance advice.”
John Cowan, executive chairman of Sesame Bankhall Group, added: “In a sluggish mortgage market PMS and Sesame members have recorded outstanding results, largely by delivering great customer service. Our product transfer business speaks volumes for that service delivery.
“Staying close to and servicing customers will be pivotal for both our Group and our members in a growing digital marketplace. Over the last 12 months we have seen the arrival of new innovators and challenger advice models, and they are stimulating the market to think differently. Over time all advisory businesses will deploy greater levels of technology, and this will be the enabler to free advisers to do what they do best – empathise, listen and offer advice.”