If you’ve been diligently following the latest updates and distribution movements, you’re likely up to speed on what happened in network land in 2024.
For everyone else, here’s a rundown of network happenings last year.
The year kicked off with a bang in January, when LSL added Tenet-Lime to its Primis trading style, giving it four networks under one style and expanding its family by over 200 firms. Pivotal Growth also decided to join the acquisition game, snapping up John Charcol.
Despite some whispers of a decline last year… it seems like we’re doing just fine!
In the second quarter (Q2) it was farewell to Tenet Group, and the Tenet brand finally bade us adieu. The remaining appointed representative (AR) firms in TenetConnect and TenetConnect Services transferred to 2Plan, which, come July, culminated in the appointment of administrators by the group and the end of an era.
There were deals under way in the shadows in Q3 when a mystery mortgage network was listed for sale on a business consultant’s website. Meanwhile, HLP announced that the Better Home Group had made a “strategic investment” into the network.
Winners, losers and movers
There were winners, losers and movers closing out the year as we saw some significant shifts in AR numbers across the piste. John Charcol had appeared to lose over half of its AR firms in Q2, but it was just a reshape of its AR model following the Pivotal Growth takeover, with most advisers staying on as Ris (retail intermediaries).
Primis and Openwork registered the biggest net losses of 48 firms (4.3%) and 44 firms (7.3%) respectively over the year. Primis taking on TenetLime is factored in to this and it is worth noting that only eight of the 107 firms (gross) that left Primis last year were formally Tenet firms.
Openwork’s net loss for 2024 — 64 firms — followed a similar trend to 2023, when it lost 56 firms.
A mystery mortgage network was listed for sale on a business consultant’s website
Standout performers in terms of absolute growth included The Right Mortgage Network, which led the field with a net increase of 38 firms, followed by TMG with 33, Stonebridge with 28, HLP with 25 and Cornerstone with 19. HLP even crossed the 500-AR-firms milestone for the first time.
When we switch to percentage growth, TMG impressed again with 35.5%, building on its 21.3% net growth from 2023. Cornerstone was close on its heels in 2024 with 28.8% net growth.
Valid Path and 2Plan were among the networks with a primary wealth focus to experience growth in the table, up 32.5% and 15.8% respectively. Let’s be honest — Valid Path’s forte is wealth advice and not mortgages. But it is obviously in growth mode.
Despite some whispers of a decline last year, the industry’s overall AR and adviser numbers suggest we’re stable, so it seems like we’re doing just fine!
The year kicked off with a bang in January, when LSL added Tenet-Lime to its Primis trading style
If we take account of the fact that dual-authorised firms were removed from the Quilter figures from 2023, and some networks dipped below the 20-AR-firms threshold so were also removed from the table, numbers remain stable.
In fact, comparing AR figures and adviser numbers at the end of Q2 with those at the close of 2024 reveals an uptick, with increases of 62 AR firms and 149 advisers (with mortgage permissions).
Stability may not be glamorous, but it’s certainly steady, builds confidence and is comforting for the industry. That said, what will 2025 look like? We’ll have to wait and see.
Paul Day is founder and director of Network-Consulting
| Network | Total number of AR firms | Number of AR firms that joined in 2024 | Number of AR firms that left in 2024 | Net change in number of AR firms 2024 | Net change in percentage terms | Net change in AR firms in Q4 2024 | Number of advisers with mortgage permissions as per FCA register (CPD20 & CPD21) | Average number of mortgage advisers per AR firm |
| St. James’s Place Wealth Management Plc | 2776 | 264 | 204 | 60 | 2.2% | 0 | 1394 | 0.5 |
| Primis*† | 1112 | 59 | 107 | -48 | -4.3% | -18 | 2300 | 2.1 |
| Quilter * | 691 | 46 | 67 | -21 | -3.0% | -8 | 1348 | 2.0 |
| Stonebridge Mortgage Solutions Ltd† | 658 | 93 | 65 | 28 | 4.3% | 10 | 1185 | 1.8 |
| Openwork Limited | 602 | 20 | 64 | -44 | -7.3% | -11 | 2406 | 4.0 |
| HL Partnership Limited† | 501 | 63 | 38 | 25 | 5.0% | 11 | 903 | 1.8 |
| The Right Mortgage Limited† | 402 | 73 | 35 | 38 | 9.5% | 8 | 689 | 1.7 |
| 2Plan Wealth Management | 273 | 56 | 13 | 43 | 15.8% | 8 | 393 | 1.4 |
| The On-Line Partnership Limited* | 241 | 22 | 19 | 3 | 1.2% | 3 | 297 | 1.2 |
| Sesame Limited† | 240 | 6 | 17 | -11 | -4.6% | -3 | 554 | 2.3 |
| Connect IFA Ltd† | 213 | 54 | 44 | 10 | 4.7% | 0 | 209 | 1.0 |
| Mortgage Advice Bureau Limited | 186 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 1.1% | 0 | 1884 | 10.1 |
| New Leaf Distribution Limited | 173 | 30 | 18 | 12 | 6.9% | 3 | 261 | 1.5 |
| Sense Network* | 173 | 22 | 9 | 13 | 7.5% | 4 | 178 | 1.0 |
| ValidPath Limited | 154 | 52 | 2 | 50 | 32.5% | 9 | 57 | 0.4 |
| Mortgage Intelligence Ltd† | 140 | 6 | 12 | -6 | -4.3% | -2 | 335 | 2.4 |
| Best Practice IFA Group Limited | 127 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 4.7% | 0 | 101 | 0.8 |
| White Rose Finance Group Limited†** | 110 | 32 | 26 | 6 | 5.5% | -2 | 33 | 0.3 |
| TMG Direct Limited† | 93 | 48 | 15 | 33 | 35.5% | 4 | 275 | 3.0 |
| Julian Harris* | 74 | 4 | 7 | -3 | -4.1% | 0 | 96 | 1.3 |
| Beneficial limited† | 70 | 18 | 26 | -8 | -11.4% | 0 | 78 | 1.1 |
| Cornerstone Financial† | 66 | 24 | 5 | 19 | 28.8% | 3 | 176 | 2.7 |
| Rosemount Financial Solutions (IFA) | 65 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4.6% | 0 | 101 | 1.6 |
| Dragon Brokers Limited† | 62 | 30 | 32 | -2 | -3.2% | -2 | 75 | 1.2 |
| Corbel Partners | 58 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0.0% | 2 | 58 | 1.0 |
| Richdale Brokers | 42 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 7.1% | -5 | 27 | 0.6 |
| John Charcol Limited† | 32 | 2 | 35 | -33 | -103.1% | 1 | 160 | 5.0 |
| Pi Financial Ltd | 30 | 0 | 3 | -3 | -10.0% | 0 | 71 | 2.4 |
| JLM Mortgage Network† | 28 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.0% | -1 | 88 | 3.1 |
| Ingard Financial† | 26 | 1 | 7 | -6 | -23.1% | -1 | 35 | 1.3 |
| TOTALS & AVERAGES | 9418 | 1088 | 919 | 169 | 13 | 15767 | 2.0 |
* denotes multipal principals (networks) trading under one network brand
† denotes networks holding only mortgage and protection permissions
** specialise in consumer credit
Source: FCA register
Figures correct at 8th January 2025
This article featured in the February 2025 edition of Mortgage Strategy.
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