Press
Mortgage Solutions 12th Dec 2005
Exciting times ahead for Advantage after takeover by Morgan Stanley
Advantage Home Loans has joined Morgan Stanley in a move intended to provide the packager and branded lender with greater financial backing for future expansion.
The acquisition of Advantage by the investment bank will enable it to add a range of specialist mortgage products, funded by Morgan Stanley, to its existing range next year. Advantage is also planning to make further investments in service, technology and efficiency.
Advantage denied this would cause a problem with its existing arrangements, and claims it will retain its brand identity and lender relationships and its day-to-day management will not change.
Keith Dearling, founding partner of Advantage Home Loans, said it was delighted to be joining forces with Morgan Stanley and felt the move would enable it to build on its success over the last 15 years. Dearling believed the acquisition would allow Advantage to continue to provide an unrivalled offer to networks and brokers.
Commenting, Ellen Brunsberg, a managing director of Morgan Stanley, said: "We feel there is strong potential in the UK non-conforming market. Acquiring Advantage Home Loans gives us the opportunity to work with a well established distribution platform and provides us with a strong foothold in the market."
James Carter, independent financial adviser at Virtue Financial, said he thought a lot of the bigger banks were now using mortgages and certain insurance products to try and acquire the high net worth clients of intermediaries. Carter added: "I think by buying a company like Advantage, it is a sure-fire way to go about doing it."
The acquisition of Advantage by Morgan Stanley represents the latest move by an investment bank to enter the specialist mortgages market. Merchant bank Close Brothers is considering whether it will launch a UK lending proposition early next year (Mortgage Solutions, 05/12/05, p1) and Deutsche Bank is also set to enter the market in 2006.