February 2018
Adam Tyler, executive chairman, FIBA
The Financial Intermediary and Broker Association (FIBA) has now been launched and, while formed from the Association of Bridging Professionals, we are recruiting new members as well as working with our existing membership to ensure registrations are completed successfully.
As FIBA emerges, the uniquely diverse range of brokers and intermediaries from across the financial spectrum are complemented by those with similar activities that make up the 10,000-strong adviser membership to which we have connections. Of course, the existing membership is traditionally aligned to the specialist property sector and its wide range of lenders in the short-term and development space. We want the Association to continue to provide individual support to financial brokers and intermediaries of all types currently working in the specialist lending sector at a reasonable cost; we have introduced this at just £20 per month.
We have a range of benefits. Essentially, we will be a central representative body to put the views of financial professionals to the FCA, UK Finance, British Business Bank, HM Treasury and any other relevant government body or organisation which impacts the operation of the financial Intermediary and broker industry.
We also want to promote a forum for the exchange of non-competitive information and to provide a range of benefits for our members that are real, worthwhile and exclusive – and to that end, we are pleased to announce 30 regional meetings for FIBA members and intermediaries interested in joining FIBA, alongside our partners and providers.
The first scheduled event was in partnership with the ASTL and took place on 22nd February, where FIBA and a select number of its members were invited to participate in a discussion with a group of ASTL lenders, including UTB, who hosted the event. This is the start of many similar ideas to ensure that all sides of our industry are complementing each other in satisfying the borrowing needs of customers.
Future events are being held throughout the year, many of them in association with other trade bodies and organisations, with opportunities to meet FIBA committee members as well as taking part in wider panel and group discussions on industry matters. The planned events are available to view on the FIBA website.
We have been working very hard to develop collaborative relationships with our partners, trade bodies and other organisations which represent advisers, and the first fruits of that collaboration are already in place with our extensive event programme for 2018. My colleagues and I are looking forward to meeting as many advisers and partners as we can in the coming months, to listen to their concerns and talk about how FIBA can help them build their businesses.