The number of appointed representatives (ARs) across the main networks prevalent in mortgages continued to increase in the first half of 2024 with 132 additions, the latest Network League Table reveals.

The study, produced by Network Consulting, found that the number of AR firms leaving networks stood at 442, while 574 joined.

Network Consulting founder Paul Day highlights that AR numbers not only remain stable but are increasing.

Day states: “Despite some isolated noise on adviser forums about the network model being broken, there doesn’t appear to be any negative impact on the wider market, in fact, the opposite.”

While Tenet was a big talking point of 2023, Day believed that Q1 should “draw a line under the demise of Tenet” but this continued in Q2 when Tenet appointed administrators.

Day says: “This final move should bring the last word in the whole Tenet saga. Thankfully, most of the staff and advisers affected have found new homes.”

The study also showed that advisers with mortgage permissions remain stable.

There were 15,680 advisers in the top networks with mortgage permissions at the end of Q2 2024, down from 15,880 at the end of 2023.

In the first half of the year, three networks were removed from the league table, including Tenet, as their AR numbers fell below the parameters of the table, having less than 20 AR firms.

Day says: “From this, we must take that it looks positive within network land.”

The top networks have an average number of advisers with mortgage permissions per firm of 1.9.

However, if the Mortgage Advice Bureau, which boasts a 10.9 adviser per firm average, is excluded the figure drops to 1.6 advisers per firm.

Excluding St James’s Place as it is primarily a wealth network, those with the greatest net growth year to date include The Right Mortgage Network, with 31 new firms, a growth of 8.1%, followed closely by TMG with 29 firms representing a 32.6% increase.

Cornerstone had a net growth of 12.7% while ValidPath gained 27 firms, although they are also primarily a wealth network.

Day suggests that future consolidation of networks is still likely to happen. However, he states: “There are smaller networks on the way, possibly some disruptors amongst them.”

The study is based on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) definition of a network, which outlines that to be classed as a network, a principal firm:

• has five or more appointed representatives (not counting introducer appointed representatives); or
• whose appointed representatives, not counting introducer appointed representatives (and being fewer than five) have, between them, 26 or more representative

Introducer appointed representatives are excluded from the study.