During the last quarter there have been a couple of stories within network land that may not have caught everyone’s attention.

As Paul Day founder of Network Consulting points out, recently advertised on Forbes Burton business consultant’s website, was an unnamed mortgage network up for sale.

“Although consolidation is inevitable, as I’ve written previously, there are new challenger propositions that have entered the market and more coming. Secondly, HL Partnership announced what they describe as a “strategic Investment” from The Better Home Group, a major player from South Africa.”

He added: “it may well have noted that MAB appeared to have not recruited any new firms in 2024.  However, it became apparent that all new firms had been recruited in to a different company in the group, Mortgage Advice Bureau (Derby) Limited and were therefore not included in previous tables. This has now been remedied and the correct number of joining firms now included.”

Looking specifically at the latest Network League Table data produced by Network Consulting, Day says it looks as though John Charcol has had a massive loss of firms. However, most of the firms that appear to have left, were single adviser firms and many of the advisers have remained with John Charcol as RI’s.

“Clearly, following LSL completing the purchase of John Charcol in April, they have just restructured their AR model, so not as bad as it first appears,” he explains.

The networks that have experienced the most sizable growth in the mortgage market are The Right Mortgage Network with a net gain year to date of 32 firms, however TMG needs to be mentioned again with an impressive growth in firms numbers year to date of 29.7%, closely followed by Cornerstone with a growth of 24.6%. TMG experienced their first loss of firms of 2024 in Q3, losing 12 firms, which was a net loss of one as they on-boarded 11 in the same period.

The FCA register doesn’t have the functionality to monitor new and leaving mortgage advisers, but by using data Network Consulting has pulled at various points throughout the year, there has been in a net increase in mortgage adviser numbers of 334 across the networks displayed.

This, Day explains, is not affected by the omission of MAB new firms but is slightly skewed however, because Sense network appear to have added mortgage permissions to a large number of advisers that didn’t have them previously. So, the true adviser growth number over the same period is closer to 130, which is still encouraging.

“There are some very strong network propositions and the network model is still enjoying net growth in new firms both year to date and in Q3, despite the “false” loss of 35 firms for John Charcol. Choosing the right model for any adviser business is imperative for long-term, profitable and uninterrupted journey. There are offerings that will suit most businesses and more choice is likely to come to the market in the coming year,“Day concludes.

Network 
Total number of AR firms
Number of AR firms that joined in YTD 2024
Number of AR firms that left in YTD 2024
Net change in number of AR firms YTD 2024
Net change in percentage terms
Net change in AR firms in Q3 2024
Number of advisers with mortgage permissions as per FCA register (CPD20 & CPD21) 
Average number of mortgage advisers per firm

St. James’s Place Wealth Management Plc
2786
186
133
53
1.9%
26
1382
0.5

Primis*†
1125
47
77
-30
-2.7%
-19
2316
2.1

Quilter *
707
37
46
-9
-1.3%
1
1406
2.0

Stonebridge Mortgage Solutions Ltd†
647
69
55
14
2.2%
7
1150
1.8

Openwork Limited
612
16
49
-33
-5.4%
-9
2438
4.0

HL Partnership Limited†
490
44
31
13
2.7%
5
866
1.8

The Right Mortgage Limited†
395
63
31
32
8.1%
10
687
1.7

2Plan Wealth Management
268
46
11
35
13.1%
8
384
1.4

Sesame Limited†
243
5
13
-8
-3.3%
-4
560
2.3

The On-Line Partnership Limited*
238
18
20
-2
-0.8%
-2
299
1.3

Connect IFA Ltd†
210
45
21
24
11.4%
10
210
1.0

Mortgage Advice Bureau Limited
186
18
16
2
1.1%
3
1907
10.3

New Leaf Distribution Limited
170
23
14
9
5.3%
-2
252
1.5

Sense Network*
169
18
9
9
5.3%
4
386
2.3

ValidPath Limited
144
42
1
41
28.5%
14
54
0.4

Mortgage Intelligence Ltd†
143
6
10
-4
-2.8%
0
339
2.4

Best Practice IFA Group Limited
127
13
7
6
4.7%
-1
102
0.8

White Rose Finance Group Limited†**
110
29
11
18
16.4%
5
33
0.3

TMG Direct Limited†
91
38
11
27
29.7%
-1
265
2.9

Julian Harris*
75
3
6
-3
-4.0%
-1
96
1.3

Beneficial limited†
71
16
24
-8
-11.3%
-3
78
1.1

Cornerstone Financial†
65
21
5
16
24.6%
9
175
2.7

Rosemount Financial Solutions (IFA)
65
6
3
3
4.6%
1
101
1.6

Dragon Brokers Limited†
64
28
27
1
1.6%
4
76
1.2

Corbel Partners
52
3
3
0
0.0%
-1
60
1.2

Richdale Brokers
42
12
4
8
19.0%
5
30
0.7

John Charcol Limited†
31
1
35
-34
-109.7%
-35
163
5.3

Pi Financial Ltd
30
0
3
-3
-10.0%
0
73
2.4

JLM Mortgage Network†
29
3
2
1
3.4%
3
92
3.2

Ingard Financial†
26
1
6
-5
-19.2%
0
34
1.3

* denotes multipal principals (networks) trading under one network brand
† denotes networks holding only mortgage and protection permissions
** specialise in consumer credit
Source: FCA register
Figures correct at 10th October 2024

The post Net growth in new firms in Q3 and YTD: Network League Table appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

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