Five UK mortgage broker firms have collaborated to form a consortium named Concordia in the hope of gaining greater influence and bargaining power with lenders.
The five companies involved are Alexander Hall, Chase De Vere Mortgage Management, Cobalt Capital, Hamptons International Mortgages and Savills Private Finance, which together aim to generate GBP10 billion of lending via the consortium in 2007.
The consortium will be chaired by Andy Pratt, current COO of Alexander Hall, in its first year.
Concordia has been set up as a loose arrangement between its members and the brokers have stated that they will still remain independent of each other, dealing with their own advisers. By combining its members’ volume of lending and experience, the consortium hopes to be able to offer improved products and service agreements, to the benefit of both new and existing customers.
The primary advantages for lenders will be the consortium’s single point of contact, the simplification of product ranges, and a better understanding of the high net worth intermediary market.
However, while the newly formed consortium claims that it will offer a better service to its clients, others believe that the group will affect competition in the market.
Commenting on the new consortium in Mortgage Solutions, Rob Procter, deputy chief executive of Kent Reliance, said: The collaboration of these five large brokers will reduce competition and choice and create a monster that will try to manipulate the market.