Following an in-depth review, Fitch affirmed the existing RPS2+UK(Prime) and RPS2+UK (SubPrime) residential mortgage primary servicer ratings currently awarded to HML.
Meanwhile, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) last week warned of the potential risks inherent in outsourcing business critical functions to India. The regulator concluded that ‘offshoring can contribute a material risk to the FSA objectives of: market confidence; reduction of financial crime; and consumer protection’.
Steve Haggerty, HML’s managing director, comments: “We service mortgages on behalf of over 30 lenders, who demand the highest standards in terms of quality of customer service, security, and financial reporting. While offshoring to India, South Africa or the Philippines may make sense for certain basic business functions, a relatively complex product such as a mortgage requires a high level of technical expertise and a well-trained workforce. Our clients find that outsourcing to HML offers competitive cost with no compromise on service or on business risk.”
Fitch highlighted HML training procedures, specifically mentioning the company’s Londonderry business unit, opened in early 2004. Steve Haggerty explains: “In just 16 months, we’ve grown assets under management by more than 40% to reach the key milestone of £30 billion.”
“To cope with this impressive growth,” he continues, “we have significantly expanded our operations in Padiham and opened a completely new business unit in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, to handle all our call centre operations.”
Fitch studied how HML had faced the challenge of transferring these important functions to the new Northern Irish business unit, noting that in-depth training at the Derry office facilitated the task – with new hires receiving an average of 144 hours of training each.
In examining how HML handled the large organisation move, Fitch observed that "minimal [staff] turnover at the new call centre, highly qualified staff and comprehensive training programmes mitigate much of the risk associated with the call centre migration. HML’s vast experience of boarding large portfolios, acquiring new clients and its detailed risk assessment template for new clients, products and processes further mitigate the risks.’"
In conclusion, Steve Haggerty says: “Opening the new office in Derry has been a great success for us. We have been able to grow the operation more quickly than planned, with over 230 staff already, just 15 months after opening. We now handle more than 13,000 types of product for our clients and continue to grow rapidly. Fitch’s decision to maintain its ratings for HML, the highest for any mortgage servicer in Europe, confirms that we are handling this growth successfully.”
