Where the value moves
For decades, much of a broker’s value sat in knowing lender criteria and getting applications through. AI is making that knowledge cheap and fast. Clients can already ask an assistant which lenders suit a self-employed borrower, and lenders keep making simple product switches easier to do direct. If AI carries on improving at its current pace while staying almost free to use, the research part of the job stops being scarce.
What stays scarce is harder to automate. A first-time buyer wants someone to tell them it’s going to be all right, and to mean it. A couple with a new baby needs someone to ask the awkward question about what happens if one of them dies. A client whose income dipped last year needs someone to explain their situation to an underwriter. That’s companionship and judgement, backed by an adviser who puts their name to the recommendation.
What the new-model firm looks like
The adviser leads every client relationship and every recommendation. AI does most of the legwork: gathering documents, shortlisting products, drafting the suitability letter and building the evidence pack. It also keeps watch between cases, so the firm hears about an expiring deal or a change in circumstances in good time and can act before the client drifts to a lender-direct switch.
Because each case takes less admin, each adviser can look after more households properly. The firm’s income can then rest on more clients served well over many years, rather than a fixed number of transactions squeezed through each month. Under Consumer Duty, that ongoing contact also gives you better evidence that clients are getting good outcomes and fair value.
How to use this section
The six moves below set out the route, in order. Each one has a checklist a small firm can start this quarter, a worked example and the common mistakes to avoid. Start with Take stock, which takes about two weeks, and use the advisers’ AI training alongside it. If you’re an appointed representative, involve your network early, because its rules on fees, tools and client communications will shape several of these moves.
Where the value moves
The facilitator beside the client
Buying a home or protecting a family is a big, anxious decision. AI can compare lenders and policies in seconds, but clients still want someone to talk it through with and to stand behind the answer. The adviser becomes the companion to a smart decision, while AI does the searching and records the reasons.
Always-on reviews
AI keeps watch on every client's rate, product expiry date and cover, and notices life events such as a new baby, a job change or a pay rise. It prompts the adviser at the right moment, so the relationship runs continuously instead of waking up every few years when a deal ends.
Evidence packs
Behind every recommendation sits a pack that AI drafts and the adviser checks: the client's circumstances, the options considered, why the chosen product fits and why others were ruled out. The adviser's time goes on the conversation, and the file shows the reasoning clearly for the client, the lender and the regulator.
The joined-up front end
A house purchase usually involves a solicitor, often an accountant for the self-employed, and sometimes an IFA for pensions and later-life plans. The mortgage adviser is often the first professional the household speaks to, so a firm that refers well across the three professions becomes the natural starting point for any big move.
Today and the new model
| Today | The new model | |
|---|---|---|
| How you charge | Procuration fees and commission per case, sometimes a client fee. | Clear case fees plus, where it fits, a disclosed ongoing review service. |
| Where adviser time goes | Fact-finds, sourcing, lender forms and chasing paperwork. | Conversations, judgement calls and checking what AI has prepared. |
| Research and sourcing | Adviser searches sourcing systems and lender criteria case by case. | AI shortlists options against criteria; the adviser tests and decides. |
| The suitability file | Written up after the event, often in a hurry. | An evidence pack drafted as the case runs, checked by the adviser. |
| Client contact | Busy at application, then quiet until the deal expires. | Always-on reviews triggered by rates, expiry dates and life events. |
| Client tools | Generic calculators and lender links on the website. | The firm's own assistant and client portal, under its own name. |
| How clients find you | Referrals from estate agents, past clients and search engines. | Referrals plus AI assistants that can find, understand and recommend you. |