This early success means that Leicester-based PMN is now ahead of target in recruiting a membership of 400 ARs and Principals by April 2005.
Since April 2004, when the network was formally unveiled to the intermediary community, PMN has devoted its efforts towards wooing the Appointed Representative (AR) community. Now, in a new dual marketing approach, the network will start the second phase of its membership recruitment programme. This means PMN will also focus its efforts on intermediaries who are pursuing Principal status as well as those who have declared an intention to seek AR status:
“We have been delighted with the response of the market to our overall proposition,” commented PMN managing director Dale Knight. “We set our stall out to be a cut above the opposition by targeting those intermediaries that put professionalism at the top of their agenda. Our approach is working and high calibre mortgage professionals are the people swelling our ranks. I have every belief that we will meet our targets within a year.
“Because of the impact we have had already, we have decided to bring forward the launch of our Principal offering by six weeks. This means that as of today, we are actively recruiting members who are seeking Direct Authorisation from the Financial Services Authority.”
Principal members keen to align themselves with a professional network can look forward to receiving a wide range of benefits from PMN, including:
- No on going costs for those members who are active within the mortgage market and can write quality, volume-based business.
n Access to MoRe, the user-friendly compliance service of PMN that is recognised as one of the benchmark systems in the mortgage industry. Robson Rhodes, one of the UK’s leading compliance and accountancy organisations, has engineered More.
- Direct access to a market-leading blend of lenders and general insurance product providers.
- A guarantee that all lender procuration fees and general insurance commissions will be paid directly to AR members by the providers.
- A rapid response complaints procedure in the unlikely event that a member or client experiences a problem with a service provided by PMN.
All members must pay a one-off joining fee of £399. In addition, a member will be expected to offer a notice period of two months if they wish to withdraw from the network at any stage.
Added Dale Knight: “Mortgage Intelligence and Mortgage Next have demonstrated that there is a lot of pressure on many networks at the present time. Because our offering is strong, the pressure we are facing is coping with the demand for our services. Long may it continue.”
