Positive Solutions, one of the UK’s largest and most established independent financial adviser firms, has appointed Brightstar Financial, the national intermediary hub for specialist lending, as partner of choice for its IFA Partners.
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Brightstar becomes preferred partner for Positive Solutions
24th May, 2012 By
Manchester Building Society joins Brightstar panel
6th January, 2012 By
Brightstar Financial is delighted to announce that we have added Manchester Building Society to our first charge lender panel.
Brightstar will work closely with the mutual to offer a case by case approach to individual underwriting and those set to be targeted include borrowers with less than three-years accounts, unusual property types or being employed on a contract basis.
Rob Jupp, Managing Director at Brightstar Financial, says the difficulty in placing quality business with mainstream residential lenders is often infuriating.
“We are confident that the Manchester’s cogent approach to lending will provide assistance to a number of our clients, in turn producing additional income for mortgage intermediaries.”
Chris Mitton, Market Relationship Manager at Manchester Building Society, says: “Our underwriting assessments are based on our common sense culture and we are committed to providing finance to clients with sound covenants at sensible pricing.”
Saffron BS reduces Brightstar Buy-to-Let fee by 1%
21st October, 2011 By
Saffron Building Society has reduced the fee on its two-year buy-to-let fixed rate exclusive with Brightstar Financial from 3% to 2%.
The deal has a maximum LTV of 80% and comes with refunded valuation fees and free basic legal work on remortgages.
Rob Jupp, managing director at Brightstar, said: “Feedback from our broker partners loved the LTV at 80%, loved the rent calculation, but felt the completion fee was too high. Our friends from the Saffron listened to our feedback and have made this really positive change.”
John Eastgate, Saffron’s sales and marketing director, added: “Reducing the fees on this deal will no doubt heighten the attraction of what is already a distinctive product, owing to its 80% maximum LTV.
“Our common-sense attitude to lending allows us to support a wide range of mortgages and we think that our personal underwriting approach differentiates us from the mass market.”
Brightstar offer’s Link Loans cheapest UK Secured Loan
25th February, 2011 By
Specialist distributor, Brightstar Financial has been chosen to offer Link Loans’ market leading second charge rate of 7.9%.
Brightstar will also have access to the whole Link Loans suite of products including loans for the self-employed and those that don’t always fit a prime vanilla offering.
Rob Jupp, managing director at Brightstar, says: “We are absolutely thrilled to have secured this unique and fantastic product which is the cheapest second charge in the UK now and also the cheapest for almost three years.
“It provides brokers excellent value as a blend versus a remortgage and opens up a new and innovative product. No one will be closer to Link than Brightstar geographically which will give and brokers real commercial advantage.”
David Johnson, Chief Executive officer of Link Loans, says: “We are delighted to be working with Rob and the team at Brightstar. Link continues to strive to help brokers with innovative products and premium service. Brightstar is a great addition to our intermediary network
Brightstar Teams up with Intrinsic
25th February, 2011 By
Specialist distributor Brightstar Financial has made the first of a number of high profile distributor appointments with Intrinsic Financial Services.
As part of the deal, Intrinsic’s 1600 plus advisors will get access to Brightstar’s suite of specialist lending products that include the UK’s cheapest bridge and second charge.
Rob Jupp, managing director at Brightstar, says: “I have been a great admirer of Intrinsic’s model since their launch in 2006 and am delighted to be working with their advisors.”
Surge in Packagers’ Appetite
22nd February, 2011 By
January’s figures suggest that packagers are returning to favour on the mortgage market.
When The Mortgage Alliance (TMA) questioned a group of directly authorised intermediaries (DMAs), they found that around half believed that there had been an increase in the number of lenders willing to use packagers’ services.
Rob Derry, Managing Director of Brunel Mortgages and Loans, said: “The last three years have been difficult but the professional, flexible and experienced packagers have survived. Brunel have been packaging secured finance for the last 25 years and brokers needn’t worry that we will steal their clients.
“We do not cross-sell any products, we don’t market to customers introduced and we don’t have a direct-to-customer arm that is competing with our customer, the broker. With more lenders flexing their criteria and being open to making lending decisions outside criteria, a packager with a good relationship with a range of lenders adds enormous value to the process.”
The survey also revealed that 41 per cent of respondents found the services offered by packagers relevant in the current market and helpful when placing a non-standard deal.
Broker Bob Havenhand, of south Yorkshire Property Consultants, said: “I think that they (packagers) can be extremely useful, particularly in the buy-to-let market where up to date information is essential”
While the interest in packagers seems to that of be reverting to pre-credit crunch days, the industry as a whole is non-recognizable and has changed significantly.
“I think the packaging days as we knew them ‘pre-credit crunch’ are long gone, with lenders fighting over themselves to have packagers distribute their specialist products, and paying extremely healthy commissions for doing so,” said Lucy Barrett, Director at W&B Mortgage Solutions Ltd.
” However, I do believe that lenders are seeing a value which can be added by this distribution channel again, and although the products look very different, and the way packagers operate has drastically changed, they have reinvented themselves to be able to work with lenders effectively in today’s market”
Phil Whitehouse, Head of TMA, said:Not everyone will be comfortable using packagers but what is clear is that there is still very much a place for packagers in the modern mortgage market as intermediaries are continuing to struggle placing the growing number of non-standard borrowers who are failing lenders strict credit scoring.
“There are still specialist lenders out there with an appetite to lend through specialist distributors who can really help with complex applications and clients with non-standard criteria. And it is up to mortgage clubs such as TMA to continue helping members to ensure their clients have access to all the available deals.”
This recent surge in interest for packagers does not mean that the road is onwards and upwards for packagers, who are painstakingly aware that the environment is still competitive and still capable of receding.
Lucy Barrett added: “Packagers need to be very on the ball when it comes to product knowledge, processing applications, and ability to market products effectively. Lenders have gone back to basics in evaluating the need for packages, rather than just taking more and more packagers on, paying away large commissions just to keep up in a very fluid market.”
