COVER FEATURE
20
TAYLOR: What proportion of products do you offer through
brokers and how much of your business is direct?
▲
STOCKTON: The volume mix has not changed – it’s still about 60/40 in
favour of brokers. We probably have the widest product ranges in all
channels at the moment, and we’re also doing our best to ensure that
where there is dual pricing it is not a significant issue for brokers.
We will have some more news on that front in the next two or three
weeks.
We have competitive products in all market channels and this is
reflected in the amount of business we are doing. If you look at
Council of Mortgage Lenders data you can see that we are the
biggest lender overall, as well as the biggest for brokers.
TAYLOR: HSBC recently launched deals at 90% LTV and rates of
4.99% which the market received warmly. Are you going to be
offering something similar?
STOCKTON: Remember that those are direct-only propositions. If you
look at the percentage of business being done by brokers compared
with that being done direct, everything is broadly stable but for the
Nigel Stockton’s career timeline
1987:
Starts career at NatWest as a
graduate trainee. During the course of
the 12 years he spends at the bank he
progresses through various areas,
including corporate finance.
1999:
Leaves NatWest to co-found
online financial news service
Thestreet.co.uk, targeted at
financial services companies.
2000:
Joins the Financial Times Group
as commercial director of
FT.com, then becomes
European circulation
director.
2003:
Joins HBOS Group as
head of partnership
and affinities.
fact that HSBC is probably taking share from the broker market.
We always look at what our rivals are doing. For example, Abbey
has got some great deals at the moment and Woolwich has started
advertising its offset proposition aggressively on television.
So we consider what our competitors are up to and ask ourselves
what we can do against them, but we are comfortable with our LTVs
and the amount of money we are lending. We will react to com -
petition when we need to but equally we have announced initiatives
in areas such as Council Tax and Stamp Duty and I reckon we might
see other players reacting to these.
TAYLOR: Have your customers welcomed the government’s
Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme?
STOCKTON: The fact that we are participating in it has been welcomed
and we intend to ensure that we are an integral part of the scheme,
as you would expect from the country’s largest lender. We will do all
we can to ensure our clients are looked after properly under the
terms of the scheme.
TAYLOR: The group recently tightened buy-to-let lending criteria
2005:
Becomes managing
director of BM Solutions.
2009:
Made sales director of mortgages at Lloyds Banking
Group with responsibility for Lloyds TSB, Halifax,
Cheltenham & Gloucester, Intelligent Finance, Bank
of Scotland, Scottish Widows, Birmingham
Midshires, telephone and internet sales, surveying
business and the C&G branch network.
MORTGAGE STRATEGY May 4, 2009
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