HL Partnership Annual Conference – Mortgage brokers should not fear robo-advice if they adopt the advantages that technology offers them

12 November 2018

HL Partnership’s Annual Conference in Stratford upon Avon, which drew together over 100 of the network’s best mortgage and protection advisers, heard from product and service provider speakers over a day dedicated to the place of technology in the mortgage market.

Three of the main messages to come from the day were to recognise the importance of welcoming, not fearing, technology by adopting the efficiencies it can provide to improve the mortgage broker proposition, regular customer contact and review and demonstrating the importance of human experience and knowledge to the customer journey that online services cannot match.

Speaking after the event, Chief Executive, Chris Tanner, commented, “It was clear from speaker after speaker that while technology is definitely going to have a huge impact on the mortgage industry, far from being a negative threat, brokers, who recognise that their unique skills can only be improved by the adoption of technology, will continue to thrive. By working proactively with their client bases, mortgage brokers’ distinct human USPs are more than a match for robo advice businesses and lenders who will aim to tempt broker customers to go direct.

The changes that technology brings, also highlighted the value that brokers need to place on their client base. It is the singular most important resource we possess, and we can no longer be complacent, thinking that our customers will always be there. Without regular contact and review, customers are far more than likely, in the first instance, to seek help from online sources in the same way we go to the internet to purchase more and more of our goods and services. So frankly, if we are too lazy to keep up with our customers, in today’s market we have no one but ourselves to blame if they go elsewhere.

To thrive in this market, the new technology wave is a force for good, in that it has forced us, as an industry, to re-examine how we operate and those who cannot adapt, will find life very difficult.

At HLP and sister company, MSN, we have invested heavily in providing members with the tools that modern technology provides, and it is heartening to see so many of our members embracing it to maximise the efficiencies that it brings and increase the opportunities to generate new business.”