It had been speculated that the Bear Sterns-owned lender would take the opportunity to re-adjust its business model to focus predominantly on packagers. The lender currently offers non-conforming products exclusively through the broker market and already works with a number of packagers including em-financial, Beacon Mortgages and Praxis Mortgage Solutions.
Mary Sung, marketing manager at Rooftop, confirmed the lender was looking at possible changes to its distribution model, but denied this was out of the ordinary.
She said: “It is business as usual for lenders to review their distribution model on an ongoing basis. At Rooftop, we are continuously looking at more effective ways to bring our products to market in order to grow our market share.”
Nigel Payne, managing director at The Mortgage Business admitted it would be a surprise if Rooftop opted for the packager-only route. “I cannot see the rational. Why would it want to cut off the direct broker? It may want to focus more on packagers but I doubt it would take on a strategy to only distribute through them.”
Kim Barrett, proprietor at KS Barrett & Associates, added the possible change could be a result of increased competition in the market. He said: “If it is changing its strategy to deal only through packagers, I suspect it is to chase business. There are so many lenders out there competing for business that it may feel it has to change tactics and concentrate its efforts.”
