Mortgage and insurance network Stonebridge Group has reported a year-on-year quarterly increase in business applications and completions across its three key product areas.
Mortgage applications for the three-month Q1 period totalled £1.778bn – up 36% on the same quarter of 2016; mortgage completions were up 35% at £1.167bn.
Meanwhile, life application commissions were up 32% at £4.23 million with £3.28m completed during the three months, up 35% on the same quarter in 2016.
In addition, £156,000 of general insurance application business was placed through Stonebridge, up 40%; general insurance completions were up to £210k – 34% on quarter one last year.
The network attributes its growth down to increases in productivity levels by its entire membership.
At the end of 2016, the network announced it had achieved 500 active advisers, spread across 226 firms. As of today, this has grown to 521 advisers in 253 firms.
Last year Stonebridge also launched its Genus proposition for directly authorised (DA) firms. It now has over 220 advisers using the proposition and anticipates ongoing growth during 2017.
Richard Adams, managing director of Stonebridge Group and Stonebridge Genus, said: “In a marketplace which many are calling ‘subdued’ it’s extremely pleasing to be able to report strong business growth across the three core product areas we concentrate on at Stonebridge. In mortgages, life and GI applications and completions we’ve seen, on average, growth of a third compared to the last quarter of 2016 and this has provided us with a very strong foundation on which to build the rest of our year.
“Even with some significant upheaval – particularly in the political and regulatory space – we have posted these fine results and this is down to the hard work put in by all our advisers within the Group. We are delighted with such significant percentage gains and it shows the commitment from our advisers not just to the provision of mortgage advice but also to delivering a fully-diversified proposition that caters for many, if not all, client’s financial needs.
“Our adviser numbers continue to grow within the network. We are particularly pleased that almost 50% of new advisers have joined existing AR firms which is testimony to their business confidence. We are also pleased that Stonebridge Genus, our DA proposition, has grown quickly. From a standing start we have well over 200 advisers now using the services we offer via Genus, and it’s our intention to continue this level of growth and service development throughout 2017.
“Support and technology is a key differentiator for Stonebridge and we will continue to offer our advisers the best in these key areas as well as helping them develop their own propositions and ensuring they are able to maximise their potential in this marketplace.”
