Broker satisfaction with aggregators seems to have slipped in 2022
Brokers’ overall satisfaction with aggregators appears to have taken a hit in 2022, with brokers citing not getting paid on time, hidden costs and a lack of consultation as key concerns.
For its 2022 Brokers on Aggregators report, MPA asked brokers to rate their aggregators across 11 categories and share their comments and concerns.
Concern about getting paid on time topped the list of broker priorities, possibly reflecting apprehension about what rising interest rates will mean for the market.
Only 7% of brokers said their aggregators weren’t doing enough for broker development, but this was up from 4% last year.
Those saying that hidden costs were not a problem dropped from 90% last year to 82% this year. Those who said hidden costs were either a major or a minor problem rose from 10% to 18%.
One broker told MPA that they never heard from their BDM, and the only contact was “email blasts from our aggregator, which is content with patting themselves on the back.” Another slammed their aggregator for setting up another franchise in the same area without any consultation.
“I would confidently say that my aggregator has gone out of their way to undermine my business by establishing a new franchise within my commercial space without any communication to me that they were planning to do this,” the broker said. “Rather than supporting long-standing business within the group, they are more about feet on the ground and have no genuine interest in looking after the long-established businesses.”
Asked what the main obstacle would be to leaving their aggregator, most brokers pointed to issues related to reaccreditation. The top obstacle from last year’s survey, data migration and IT, slipped to second.
Click here to see the full report.
