Press
Abbey starts broker sales account division
by Joy Dunbar
FinancialAdviser 25th February 2010
Abbey for Intermediaries has launched a broker sales category which will be made up of 10 mortgage brokers.
The advisers will be invited to establish a commercial arrangement with the lender, from which they will benefit from a dedicated management and a closer working relationship.
Adrian Whittaker, key accounts director for Abbey for Intermediaries, said the associate accounts division aimed at strengthening its ties with the broker community and offering more commercial opportunities to intermediaries who are not associated with a key account and yet have a strong and ongoing relationship with with lender.
He said: "This is about expanding our level of involvement in the industry and in those brokers who have a mutual interest in working more closely with us. In developing this proposition we hope to engage more closely with companies to ensure we are doing all we can to support their business strategy."
To support the new associate accounts, Claire Chick has been appointed to the role of national key account manager.
Ms Chick has more than five years of experience in the intermediary sector has been working with Abbey for Intermediaries as a sales manager for the south of England prior to her appointment.
James Carter, principal of London-based adviser Independent James, said it came as no surprise that lenders were looking to cherry pick which advisers they want to deal with.
He said: "Lenders are going to be more selective with the intermediaries that they are going to deal with because they have limited funds available. They want the funds to go out the door as efficiently as possible.
"Before it was group of intermediaries who decided terms and now it is the other way round, it has been turned on its head."