Manager on the challenges he found when he switched from lending to broking
A bank’s national account manager has told how his eyes were opened to the challenges faced by mortgage brokers when he stepped out of lending for a year and became a whole of market adviser.
Tim Sorrell (pictured), from Perenna Bank, has been in the industry for nearly 25 years, predominately with business development and key account management experience for large & specialist lenders.
Granted, his foray into mortgage broking between 2022 and 2023 wasn’t the best time for the industry, coinciding as it did with the infamous Truss and Kwarteng mini-budget, but Sorrell was struck by how challenging the role is.
“It is not an easy job in any way, shape or form at all,” he told Mortgage Introducer. “It is a difficult job and, certainly with some of the rate pulls that occurred with very little or short notice because of those wider market conditions, it did make for a challenging time. It meant that clients just basically stayed put and did product transfers, and, as a new broker, if the market isn't moving, it is very, very difficult.
“I did put in a lot of hours, a lot of work and it was very, very tough going - more so because of the wider set of those financial circumstances, with budgets, etc. around me - I had no control. It does certainly open your eyes. So, I suppose I did use that time as time for reflection, looking at what I did want, which parts of the roles I've had within the industry that I've liked, and this really led me to where I am now.”
Sorrell switched back to lending and took up his role with Perenna Bank, little more than a year after he went into mortgage broking.
“I think it's good to have experience on both sides,” he said. “You get that wider view of the market and how it all comes together and that's been something that I've always liked and I've always tried to go out and push myself and learn a bit more. Sometimes when you sit on the other side of the fence, you think brokers have got it easy. They probably sit on that side of fence and look over at lenders and think, ‘they've got it easy.’”
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Are more mortgage professionals moving between broking and lending?
Having seen mortgages from both sides of the coin, as it were, Sorrell considers that it’s an experience that could be beneficial for anyone in the industry. In fact, he believes that more professionals within the sector are moving between broking and lending now.
“I'm starting to see it more often than not, actually,” he said. “There does certainly seem to be a lot of newer BDMs, those junior BDMs who have come across from broking. Could that be because the market has been a little bit difficult in more recent years? Maybe those younger people have now got families and like that regular income. Is it because the earning opportunity just wasn't there?”
Having experienced the fallout of the Truss mini-budget as a broker, and experienced firsthand from that perspective mortgage rates escalating at short notice, it confirmed for Sorrell the value of working for a lender that provides flexible long-term fixed rate mortgages of up to 40 years, and what it describes as ‘payment certainty’.
“You’re not going to have those payment shocks,” he said, “so that resonated with me and I really was keen to secure the role that I've currently got. I would love brokers to start having conversations about longer-term fixed rates. I've obviously got a very vested interest, and I suppose, up until now, there hasn't really been a priority or a focus to dig really, really deep when someone says they want a fixed rate.”
Would Sorrell ever consider returning to a broker role?
“I would, absolutely,” he replied, without hesitation. “There potentially will come a point in time when I get to a certain age, maybe retire a little bit early, and keep my hand in by doing a little bit of self-employed mortgage broking.”
