Opinion
Be an asset to the sector Now is the right time for new asset finance brokerages to break through ​​Julian Rose Director Asset Finance Policy
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or what, on paper, appears to be only a small part of the asset finance market, the broker channel attracts much attention. In this article, I explore why brokers are more important than they might first appear, and why the health and vitality of the sector is so important to the leasing industry’s future as we move out of the coronavirus crisis.
How important are brokers? According to FLA statistics, brokers generate around 20% of total new asset finance business. One reason this sector matters so much is that at least a third of the largest lessors, according to the Asset Finance 50 ranking survey, rely on the broker channel for most of their origination. This includes independents and smaller banks alike. However, the 20% figure only tells part of the story. Around 57% of the overall market is leasing to small and medium-sized businesses, which is where brokers predominantly operate. This would suggest that the broker channel accounts for around 35% of SME asset finance by value and given the smaller deal size compared to direct business, closer to 50% of all SME leasing transactions.
Who are the brokers? Since I launched Asset Finance Policy, I have aimed to maintain 46 | NACFB
the only comprehensive list of UK asset finance brokers. In 2014, I identified around 500 broking firms (firms, not individual brokers) that specialised in asset finance, together with around 100 general commercial finance brokers that appeared to have particular asset finance expertise. (I do not include all brokers, for example I exclude firms operating without websites or individuals acting as agents or appointed representatives of other brokers, but most other firms are included). That number has dropped over the past six years. My latest broker directory lists around 450 firms of which around 350 are dedicated to asset finance. That is a fall from around 500 to 350 specialist asset finance broking firms in six years, a net attrition rate of around 25 firms per year. To some extent, this is to be expected due to the demographics. Many brokers are former senior regional banking professionals who left the banks 15 to 20 years ago. Inevitably some of these highly experienced professionals have retired. Yet seeing the numbers of brokers fall is disappointing on several grounds. First and foremost, because asset finance brokers have such a vital role to play in supporting small businesses, offering face-to-face local support that is so lacking elsewhere in the financial services industry. Second, despite some high-profile exceptions where some of the largest brokers were able to sell their firms, typically with lengthy earnout periods for the key individuals, most brokers retire unable to pass on their businesses. There are not many professions where it is quite this difficult to pass on a well-established business. Third, it is unfortunate that some brokers appear to have decided that FCA regulation is too much bother. Despite the bureaucracy,
