I was surprised to read Tim Hague’s suggestion headlined, Poso probe is needed to check fees (Money Marketing, September 21), that either the FSA or OFT will become interested in the profit margin made by lenders on their up-front fees.
If they did, they might query the 1,499 arrangement fee that BM has charged on some of its products. But they won’t because fees and interest rates clearly quoted by lenders on their pre-sale KFIs are already subject to intensive competitive pressure and form no part of a regulator’s remit. For our point of sale offer (Poso) system, we charge the same application fee scale that we have used for many years. On the majority of business we do, this fee is refunded after completion. About 40 per cent of cases go to manual valuation anyway and our approach to fee-charging (that is, no extra) and our continuation of fee-refunding has been extremely well received by intermediaries whose business lives are being transformed by full, binding mortgage offers being delivered in minutes at point of sale. This to me sounds like sour grapes because we are so far ahead of BM and the rest of the market with this technology, which also means that we have a while to go before we can assess what competitors will charge. An extra charge for something that should be the customer’s by right – an instant mortgage offer – does not look sustainable. But if Tim is hinting that BM will be charging less, then that is certainly something we will take a look at so long as the systems in the hands of the intermediaries are truly comparable. Jeff Knight, Director of marketing, GMACRecommended
Size up the situation
Key Retirement Solutions business development director Dean Mirfin says downsizing does not have to be the only route for equity-release clients and he tries to assess the FSA’s compliance view on the matter
New Star loses £10m as online gambling sinks
New Star UK fund managers Stephen Whittaker and James Ridgewell saw almost £10m wiped off the combined value of their funds after online gambling shares plummeted on Monday. Whittaker’s £390m UK growth fund held a 5.2 per cent weighting in the sector which has since dropped to 2.9 per cent. Ridgewell’s £51m UK special situations […]
Lenders look abroad for a green example
Housing minister Yvette Cooper’s call for the mortgage industry to adopt environmentally-friendly homeloans has been met with a cool reception. Most lenders say they have little experience of what a green mortgage is and need further guidance. The Government failed to consult the industry before making the request, just as it failed to consult the […]
Multi-manager is now in the mainstream
Multi-manager investing has moved from being a satellite investment product to becoming part of the mainstream over the last few years, according to multi-manager round table delegates. Gartmore multi-manager fund manager Marcus Brookes said funds under management in funds of funds have soared to £26bn – an increase of 48 per cent from a year […]
Tax avoidance (the fight goes on)
In recent times, we have witnessed high-profile celebrities and sports stars make the headlines for potential tax liabilities on ‘failed’ tax avoidance schemes. We are now used to reading about these individuals, but what about those who advise on such schemes? Read more
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Simon Collins: FCA tightens grip on value for money
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Boss of new financial guidance body to get £175k salary
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