FR: As a northern based lender, what opportunities does the region offer the short term sector?
Really we are a national based lender with a significant northern presence.
It is possible we are the only short-term lender with two offices in the UK. Theacquisition of Mayfair Bridging reinforced the Amicus’s Group intention to diversify and capitalise on the expertise we had in the north of the country.
It has been a distinct advantage to the Amicus brand to have a well established team based in the north, able to forge relationships with local developers, brokers and the likes of local Chamber of Commerce, who are looking seriously at the opportunities short-term lenders offer for the growth of development funding in areas of growth such as Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.
FR: What more can be done to educate brokers on the benefits of short term lending?
Education is a priority element of the Amicus service model.
The growth in the sector has been well publicised but there remain too many brokers who are ignorant of many of the benefits that our type of funding can bring.
The onus is very much on the lender and their trade bodies to support brokers. I am a firm believer that through well designed case studies we can show how all parties in the process can profit from what is no longer, the funding of last resort.
It is only by having open and honest exchanges of opinion on matters such as products, rates, fees and commissions, service levels and relationships, that a lender can develop a proposition that will be flexible enough to cater for the many intricacies of our market.
The education piece is made up of many elements but what we have to get better at is proactive two-way communication between all stakeholders in the process. By that I mean lenders, distributors, brokers, lawyers, valuers and borrowersmust understand better the role of each element in the process and work closer during the transaction to ensure client satisfaction, that will generate repeat and referral business for all in the future.
Amicus is at the fore front of educating all parties on how to make the most of the opportunities that our sector offers, as witnessed by being the first lender to hold a stakeholder workshop in September.
Representatives of all the parties mentioned previously gathered to exchange frank opinions on how best to drive the need for greater education by all for the benefit of all. It was a resounding success and will be repeated in the New Year.
It has to be said that the growth in ASTL membership over the last three years has been very encouraging and that can only be good for the education programme as more lenders contribute to the growth of the sector.
FR: Do you foresee rates continuing to fall, and how can brokers find the right balance between headline rates and the right solution for their clients’ needs?
In such a competitive market it is inevitable that rates will fluctuate and lenders will respond to their own market needs and on occasions these responses can affect other lenders rates but in the main I see rates being steady over the next six months. I never predict rates over a longer period.
As you say it is getting the balance right that matters and the experienced lender will do that by knowing their market, knowing there distribution partners and having strong relationships with their panels of valuers and lawyers.
At the end of the day it is the talent of the lenders team in finding the right solution for the client that will determine what rate can be levied. We have just appointed Mark Harrison as the Relationship Manager for Amicus in the north and he has a vital role to play in ensuring that working with our underwriting team the client gets what they want when they want it.
We have many examples of clients ignoring the rate of interest because we were able to fund their investment to their satisfaction and delivering their expected return.
Quality clients will pay for quality service.
FR: You have stressed that relationships are at the core of the Amicus proposition – why are they so important and how will relationships evolve as the sector grows and changes?
As in all walks of life strong relationships are essential for success and all strong relationships are founded on good two-way communication.
I like to think in our Preston office we are good at proactive communication but I am sure it can be better just as I am sure it can be better across the sector as a whole.
Amicus has faced challenges in this area, as over three years we have grown from six staff lending £25m to 38 staff who we predict in 2016 will lend over £400m.
Get the internal communication right and you have a much better chance of getting it right with your external partners and this again is where we believe Amicus is getting it right. The Stakeholder workshop highlighted many areas in which we need to improve but I am convinced we will make these improvements to the satisfaction of our external partners and with that satisfaction will come more business for us all.
We support all our stakeholders and that includes our relationship managers working with them on ways of finding more business opportunities. So a valuer or solicitor does not only do what he is paid to do but he works with us to find more clients for us both so we again benefit from the opportunities that the sector offers.
FR: Your recent survey revealed that 73% of brokers continue to be dissatisfied with the response levels from clients' solicitors – is this hindering the market and do you think this service will improve over time?
Again we are back to the education piece. The figure you quote was from a survey last January and since then we have worked on educating our selected panel of solicitors on what our expectations are. Again the workshop was very useful for all parties in getting a better understanding of what the legal process involvesand how complicated and time consuming it can be.
They know our growth has been built on service so if they want to share in that growth they must buy into our proposition, but don’t get me wrong successful lenders like Amicus know they have a responsibility to brokers and clients to ensure they are as proactive in the legal part of the process as they can be… it is not always the solicitors fault.
It will get better. Many ASTL members are committed to improving the situation and with the growth of stronger more experienced legal panels being established the response times will improve if the solicitors want to share in our growth…and many more now do.
FR: What changes can we expect to see to short term lending over the next 12 months?
Sustained growth inevitably brings change.
I have already said I think rates will remain more or less where they are but I think they will reflect longer loan periods.
At Amicus we see 2016 being a year of Communication, Education and Diversification.
Lenders are always looking for different channels to fund and with this comes the need for lenders to attract different funders to fund those markets. The last few years have seen the confidence in the STL market increase dramatically and that confidence is fuelling enthusiasm amongst investors to support successful lenders as they diversify their propositions.
So in the next years I see more lenders offering a broader menu of funding solutions to support commercial and development markets.
