Major strategic opportunity means Guardian products are now accessible to advisers across all the UK’s major advised service providers and networks.
Guardian has today announced it has joined Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB)’s protection panel. This major strategic distribution opportunity further expands Guardian’s product reach, giving MAB’s 2,000+ mortgage advisers access to Guardian’s award-winning range of protection covers. The panel appointment follows Guardian’s introduction of Income Protection to its menu of products last year.
For Guardian, this announcement is both commercially and symbolically important. MAB reported a market share of more than 8% of new mortgage lending in its latest published interim results,[i] with £12 billion+ of gross mortgage lending completed for that half year period. With MAB’s strategic focus on protection, the associated opportunity for Guardian is significant, and is expected to further boost the insurance brand’s rapid growth. This panel win also marks the moment, just over five years since Guardian’s launch, that the brand’s products have become accessible to advisers across all the UK’s major advised service providers and networks.
Vincent O’Connor, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Guardian, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be joining Mortgage Advice Bureau’s protection panel and to support MAB advisers with their clients’ protection needs. We’ve big ambitions and we’ve been growing rapidly; today’s announcement shows there’s scope to accelerate even more. We look forward to maximising the opportunity that the MAB panel position represents to get more families the protection they need.”
Andy Walton, Protection Proposition Director, Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “We’re pleased to be adding Guardian to our panel. Arranging quality protection forms an extremely important part of our advice proposition, helping to add value for our clients and avoid foreseeable harm. We’re big advocates of Guardian’s approach and believe our advisers will appreciate the brand’s quality features, such as cover upgrade for critical illness and an ‘own job’ definition for income protection. These features, and the client discussions they provoke, help our advisers put the right protection recommendations in place for our valued clients.”
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Notes to editors:
Press enquiries to Natalie Robinson, 07789 501146, Natalie.robinson@guardianfs.co.uk
Guardian Financial Services is an appointed representative of Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Limited which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
All products are provided by Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Limited and we have an agreement with them to underwrite and issue the protection policies we distribute through the UK intermediary channel.
As an appointed representative of Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Limited, Guardian Financial Services Limited is the market-facing brand under which we promote our proposition and engage with advisers.
Background to Guardian Financial Services, owned by Gryphon Group Holdings
Guardian, the life and protection insurance business, launched in 2018 and pledged to grow the protection market. The brand promise of ‘Life. Made Better.’ reflects the company’s commitment to rethink and reinvent protection for the better; making sure customers get cover that’s easier to understand, simple to buy and designed to never let them down.
Guardian’s business partners
Gryphon Group Holdings is majority owned by Punter Southall Group as the largest equity capital investor. Guardian partners with UnderwriteMe for its Underwriting Engine, Liss Systems, the UK arm of Nasdaq-listed EXL, for its policy administration technology, and Space, for its front-end technology, branding and marketing. Guardian’s reinsurance partners are Hannover Re, Gen Re and Swiss Re.
About Mortgage Advice Bureau
Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) is one of the UK’s leading consumer intermediary brands and specialist appointed representative networks for mortgage intermediaries, winning more than 200 awards for the quality of its advice and service.
MAB has more than 2,000 advisers offering expert mortgage, protection and general insurance advice on a local, regional, and national level to consumers, both face to face and over the phone. MAB’s proposition is aimed at supporting high quality and ambitious mortgage adviser firms to deliver the best outcomes for their customers through the provision of proprietary technology and services, including adviser recruitment and lead generation, learning and development, compliance auditing and supervision, and digital marketing and website solutions.
MAB handles more than £20bn of loans annually and is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.
Sources:
- [i] MAB figures sourced from interim results as of September 2023: interim-results-2023-interim-report-25-september-2023-final.pdf (mortgageadvicebureau.com)