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One person who praises specialist lending is Arthurmac director Stuart Styles.
He told The Adviser that specialist lending accounts for 80 to 90 per cent of his total loan book, with his business solely conducted in this space.
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“We do have our prime clients, but that’s not our main focus,” he says.
“I started specialist lending back in 2003 and we really haven’t deviated from that. Our main income stream definitely comes from the specialist lending area.”
Mr Styles says offering specialist lending has been a true value-add to his business.
“The main thing that I see from dealing with specialist customers is that they are particularly loyal, whereas if you’re dealing with prime clients the whole time, a lot of the time it’s just about rates. In specialist lending, you really offer clients a fuller service,” he says.
It’s neither easier nor harder to write a specialist loan, according to Mr Styles.
“In some cases it can be easier; in some cases it can be harder. It’s horses for courses in specialist lending because a lot of it depends on the back story of the client. They may have certain credit impairment or issues around providing documentation like, for example, a self-employed, low-doc applicant,” he explains.
For brokers looking to make the move into specialist lending, Mr Styles says that they will be well supported.
“I actually think that the specialist lending segment is better serviced. That may well be a case of there not being so many specialist brokers, but also there’s more of a ‘can-do’ attitude with a lot of the BDMs we deal with,” he says.
Mr Styles believes the specialist lending space is here to stay and forecasts there will be more brokers realising its benefits and opportunities in the future.
“With the market expanding as it is and the credit reporting issues that have come in this year being a little bit more stringent, it just goes to show that it is a bit of a growth market,” he says.
“If you help out a credit-impaired client or one that needs specialist lending, unless you do something silly, they’re guaranteed to come back to you.”
