Tenet's mortgage network and Quilter Mortgage Planning saw sharp fall in firm numbers last year, analysis of FCA Register data by FTAdviser suggests.
Data from the FCA Register shows a total of 64 firms have ceased to be listed as appointed representatives of TenetLime, now known as Tenet Network Services, since the start of last year.
Though the data is not a guarantee that the firms have ended their relationship with Tenet's mortgage arm, the figure is more than twice the number (26) that fell off the FCA's listing for the company in 2019.
Taking into account joiners, the firm saw a net 31 removed from the register over the period, compared with nine in 2019. Tenet said it was unable to comment.
Last July FTAdviser reported that several advisers had left TenetLime following the introduction of back-office system Intelligent Office, a move that had attracted criticism from some advisers.
Quilter Mortgage Planning also saw businesses depart its network last year.
The register shows 265 firms stopped being appointed representatives last year, more than twice the amount (102) seen in 2019.
Quilter said the true number of departures was lower, stating that approximately 100 firms left its mortgage network last year, compared with around 60 in 2019.
A spokesperson from Quilter Financial Planning said: “A reduction in numbers of ARs on the register is due to a combination of a number of our sole traders joining other firms within the network, mortgage firms taking on financial planning capabilities, leavers as part of our review of the network, natural attrition and our regular reviews of the FCA register.”
Quilter said this accounted for the difference between the number of firms that were no longer ARs as shown on the register and the number that left its mortgage network.
Not all large networks struggled with numbers amid the pandemic. HL Partnership and Stonebridge were among those that saw AR numbers increase in 2020, according to the register.
HL Partnership saw its total number of AR rise by 13 per cent, to 396, as of the middle of this month. Stonebridge ARs, meanwhile, rose by 21 per cent. Register data also suggests that other networks, such as Sesame and those that are part of Primis, saw broadly flat numbers over the period.
The changes come as mortgage brokers continue to grapple with a fast-moving market, having weathered the disruption caused by lockdowns and lenders' rapid retreat and return, as well as the stamp duty cut that prompted a boom in transactions at the end of last year.
WHAT THE REGISTER SAYS
HL PARTNERSHIP | QUILTER MORTGAGE PLANNING | STONEBRIDGE MORTGAGE SOLUTIONS | TENET NETWORK SERVICES | |
| JOINERS | ||||
| ARs joining since start of 2020 | 84 | 48 | 132 | 33 |
| LEAVERS | ||||
| ARs leaving register in 2020 | 38 | 265* | 36 | 64 |
| ARs leaving register in 2019 | 23 | 102* | 39 | 26 |
| ARs leaving register in 2018 | 31 | 111* | 33 | 19 |
| Net change in 2020 | 46 | -217* | 96 | -31 |
| Total as of 13 Jan | 396 | 906 | 559 | 276 |
| *Quilter says true figures amount to around 100 firms leaving in 2020 and 60 in 2019 | ||||
| Source: Financial Services Register as of January 13th | ||||
chloe.cheung@ft.com
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