Matthew Arena, managing director of Exclusive Connections, believes intermediaries need to place their trust in packagers more than ever, as constant changes to criteria and range re-pricing, particularly within the non-conforming market, mean they now hold “vital importance.”
“There has never been a more critical time for intermediaries to have access to accurate information about lenders, their products and the latest criteria and pricing,” said Arena.
“Not to put too fine a point on it, sourcing systems singularly failed to keep up with changes before the current crisis and they are certainly not coping well now. Intermediaries need packagers more than ever to provide advice and accurate information on potential recommendations.”
Arena believes packagers with restricted panels are more likely to be vulnerable, with fewer lenders who might easily restrict their lending or go out of the market.
“Packagers with small lender panels are unlikely to be able to offer true whole of market assistance and with all the uncertainty, it is even more important that customers are given truly ‘best advice’ and that can only come from the packagers which have the widest possible lending panels.”
