In the Spotlight with Dale Jannels, Impact

We spoke to Dale Jannels, MD at Impact Specialist Finance, about the firm's recent rebrand from AToM and how going directly authorised has benefited the business.

Related topics:  In The Spotlight
Rozi Jones
22nd February 2019
Dale Jannels
"It is a time when good, professional advisers can really come into their own and cement long-standing relationships with any new or existing clients. "

FR: Impact Specialist Finance recently rebranded from AToM – what prompted the decision and what changes can brokers expect to see from Impact?

It was sad to lose the very well-known and highly respected AToM name as it’s served us incredibly well over the last 27 years. However, change comes to us all and in the modern mortgage market we must embrace it in order to continue moving forward. Making this decision meant sitting down and evaluating all the things we now do such as intermediary mortgage packaging and creative technology.

Mortgages is a big part of this equation and we felt we needed a brand which better encapsulates what we are trying to do in the broker fraternity. It represents an exciting new era for us and having a fresh, dynamic, eye catching new brand is a great start to what we believe will prove to be a busy and exciting new year. It signifies the end of ‘confusion’. Our broker partners know exactly who we are, and I won’t get asked ‘are you the bank?’ any longer!

FR: What are Impact’s main aims or focuses in 2019? Do you have any exciting news or plans you can tell us about?

Initially it will be continuing to work closely with all our strategic partners to ensure they fully understand this transition. It’s important that we manage these relationships properly as these have helped establish us within the industry and enabled us to grow as a business. We have huge foundations on which to build, but we don’t want to lose the ethos which made AToM so successful.

Rebranding is not a quick or simple process, but this is certainly not a time to step off the gas. It’s still a little too early to say too much but we will be working hard to embed the new brand in their minds. What I can say is that with Brexit uncertainty hanging over us all, we will be going back to our roots and working on everything specialist to help our broker partners seek new avenues and revenue. I urge brokers, lenders and everyone else to watch this space.

FR: The firm recently became directly authorised – what challenges and benefits has this brought to the business?

We applied for FCA authorisation to increase the breadth of the services we can make available and to add efficiencies to our processes.

The journey in becoming directly authorised was very straightforward, thanks mainly to the help of SimplyBiz. They made sure that they were happy with everything before the full application was submitted to the FCA. This saved us a lot of hassle and time, which meant that the application period was very short. It’s very early days, but I have been really impressed with the support they provide, so I’d like to thank everyone who has helped us so far.

One major factor in becoming DA was having the ability to be able to take on any advice to clients when a broker may not have expertise in this area, or where their network partner may not allow them to deal in certain financial sectors, such as bridging. This allows a broker to possibly open more avenues to assist their clients on a referral basis and we can work together to make sure the client is suitably looked after from all angles.

FR: What are the biggest issues facing advisers in the current economic environment and what should they be aware of when dealing with clients?

This is a tough one. Uncertainty is never an ideal scenario for any business operating within financial services or for the general public. A lack of clarity surrounding Brexit makes it tougher for potential first-time buyers and existing homeowners to make decisions on their homebuying needs as they remain unsure of what might be around the corner. And this is fair enough. Although what it does do is to really highlight the merits of the advice process.

It is a time when good, professional advisers can really come into their own and cement long-standing relationships with any new or existing clients. This is a time to drill a little deeper into clients wants and needs. Use technology to support you and your clients on this journey. Nobody is saying its easy in the current economic and political environment, but it’s time for advisers to utilise tech advances to streamline processes and use this time saved to explore new avenues/revenue streams.

Client’s needs are ever-changing, and advisers must prove themselves to be flexible enough, or align themselves with the right kinds of strategic partners, to meet their requirements.

They should also ensure they keep in contact with clients. One of the things I learnt from the last recession was how many customers were kept at arm’s length, and how many brokers don’t speak to their clients between their two or five-year fixed rate deals. If you’re out of sight, you’ll be out of mind when the lender contacts your customer throughout the life of a product.

FR: If you could see one headline about the mortgage market in 2019, what would it be?

'Mortgage market performance continues to defy Brexit fears'. Brexit is impossible to get away from as it is currently casting a lingering shadow over lenders, distributors, intermediaries and borrowers.

But I have no doubt that the mortgage market will remain strong throughout, whatever the outcome. So, we need to keep positive and consistently send the right message to those borrowers - who are in the right financial position - that they can make decisions now and not have to wait for any greater levels of perceived certainty. Wheels need to keep turning within the mortgage market.

The more we, as an industry, can talk about and facilitate the highly competitive range of offerings over the next few months, and beyond, the better. And with increasing numbers of borrowers not fitting the high street tick box credit scoring systems, this will generate additional specialist lending business in 2019.

Finally, despite the huge forward strides being made in technology, the more complex the deal, the more you can’t beat a good old conversation with a human being. 2019 might be tech driven, much like 2017 and 2018, but it’s still good to talk.

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