HML. Homeloan Management Ltd

 Few things make me feel better as a CEO than new business deals coming through, and the past month has certainly brought a smile to my face.

We signed three standby servicing deals, agreed a contract to administer mortgages worth over £1bn and secured our 50th client, all over a relatively short space of time.

I believe our recent successes can be put down to the investments we’ve made over the last few years in improving services for existing clients and their customers. No corner of our business is the same as it was, we’ve invested in our risk framework, customer experience and IT infrastructure, which have all strengthened our core proposition of industry expertise, scale and flexibility.

For example, in IT we now boast market leading core system availability in excess of 99.9 per cent and our productivity has increased by 20 per cent year on year since 2008.

Internal projects around continuous improvement and automation have also delivered efficiencies that allow us to work faster and eliminate human error.

All of these changes create a compelling proposition for our commercial team to take to the market and I’m certain that anyone who hasn’t engaged with HML for a few years will be genuinely surprised at our progress.

In a wider context, as a major player in the mortgage servicer industry, our successes are a good barometer for the state of the market.

Standby servicing is an area of our business that has seen big demand of late; driven primarily by concerns from ratings agencies that state intervention would not be automatic, or even possible, should a major financial institution fail. Our scale and expertise make us an obvious choice as a standby servicer, and we are now contracted to step in and service £27bn worth of mortgages, sometimes with only 48 hours notice, should the servicer be unable to provide the service.

Mortgage administration remains our core service offering, so to win a tender for a large mortgage portfolio is testimony to the relevance and quality of our proposition in today’s market. I know we fought off tough competition to secure this deal and that gives me a great deal of confidence. The reasons behind our appointment as primary servicer included cost reduction, technology and migration expertise, so one can infer that these remain pressing priorities for holders of mortgage portfolios.

However, I believe it is also evidence of the advances made in the outsourcing industry as a whole and its ability to meet clients’ objectives. By aligning capabilities in risk and customer experience, outsourcers give more confidence to lenders that their portfolios will be run in a way that protects their interests and reflects their values and brand.

This is not limited to mortgage outsourcing either. We have identified the unsecured loans market as an industry where HML’s servicer credibility can help lenders meet demand for their product, and we’ve recently appointed Graham Donald, who has 25 years experience in the market, to front our proposition.

Finally, I have held conversations with current clients and prospects about new mortgage lending, which is encouraging for all of us. There is no doubt that the market remains difficult, but the right combination of products and flexibility from lenders still gains traction with consumers and I’m optimistic this will continue to be the case.