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If you've been diligently following the latest updates and distribution movements, you're likely up to speed on what happened in network land in 2024. For everyone else, here’s a rundown of network happenings last year.
Q1: The year kicked off with a bang In January when LSL added TenetLime to its Primis trading style, giving them four networks under one style and expanding its family by over 200 firms. Pivotal Growth also decided to join the acquisition game, snapping up John Charcol.
Q2: Farewell Tenet group come Q2, and the Tenet brand finally bid us adieu. The remaining AR firms in TenetConnect and TenetConnect Services transferred to 2Plan, which, come July culminated in the appointment of administrators by the group and the end of an era.
Q3: Deals in the shadows, when a mystery mortgage network was listed for sale on a business consultant's website. Meanwhile, HLP announced that the Better Home Group made a "strategic investment" into the network.
Q4: Winners, losers, and movers closing the year, as we saw some significant shifts in AR numbers across the piste. John Charcol appeared to lose over half of their AR firms in Q2, but it was just a reshape of their AR model following the Pivotal Growth takeover, with most advisers staying on as RI’s.
Primis and Openwork registered the biggest net losses of 48 firms (4.3%) and 44 firms (7.3%) respectively. Primis taking on TenetLime is factored into this and it is worth noting that only 8 of the 107 firms (gross) that left Primis last year were formally Tenet firms. While Openwork net losses for 2024 followed a similar trend of 2023, a year in which they registered a net loss of 56 firms (8.4%).
Standout Performers In terms of absolute growth, The Right Mortgage Network led the field with a net increase of 38 firms, followed by TMG with 33, Stonebridge with 28, HLP with 25, and Cornerstone with 19. HLP even crossed the 500 AR firm milestone for the first time in their history.
When we switch lenses to percentage growth, TMG topped the charts again with an impressive 35.5%, building on their 21.3% net growth from 2023. Cornerstone close on their heels in 2024 with 28.8% net growth.
Networks with a primary wealth focus among all others illustrated in the table, Valid Path experienced a 32.5% growth, and 2Plan achieved 15.8%. But let's be honest, Valid Path’s forte is wealth advice and not mortgages, but are obviously in growth mode.
Despite some whispers of a decline last year, the industry's overall AR and adviser numbers suggest we're stable. So it seems like we're doing just fine, thank you very much!
If we take a look at the additional table below you can see for yourself – be mindful that this only accounts for advisers within networks, that are prevalent in mortgages and only those with 20 AR firms or more.
If we take account of the fact that dual authorised firms were removed from the Quilter figures from 2023 and some networks dipped below the 20 AR firm threshold so were also removed from the table, numbers remain stable. In fact, comparing AR figures and adviser numbers at the end of Q2 with those at the close of 2024 reveals an uptick, with an increase of 62 AR firms and 149 advisers (with mortgage permissions). Stability might not be glamorous, but it’s certainly steady, builds confidence and is comforting for the industry. That said, what will 2025 look like? We’ll have to wait and see!
