Ask a handful of mortgage brokers what they think about trailer fees as a compensation model and you'll likely get a mixed response (we did).
Some brokers strongly agree with being paid over a long period time as opposed to getting all the cash upfront. They also see benefits for clients, mainly because of the retention programs trailer fee-friendly lenders offer. However, some brokers like getting paid all at once and are concerned about how trailer commission can be split among associates. They also say any incentive to keep the borrower in one place at renewal time can defeat the purpose of a broker's services.
"Opinions on trailer fees are very individualized," says Marvis Olson, a Calgary-based mortgage planner with Mortgage Architects who is strongly on side with the compensation model. "A lot of people say, 'I want to get paid upfront and I should decide what I want to do with my own money,' but it really depends financially where you're at."
While the issue of trailer fees is contentious, it can be argued that it's not that big of an issue because there are still only two lenders in Canada offering them - Macquarie Financial and Merix Financial, the latter which recently got rid of its upfront payment model completely and now offers two trailer payment options with different splits.
"Our opinion at Merix is that we would love to see another lender jump onboard with trailer fees because it helps validate what we're doing and supports it," says Andrew Kuyper, director of marketing and operations at Merix. "I think the issue you run into in this industry is that there is so much volume being done with the big banks and they have made it clear that they own the customer after they pay that referral fee. So I can't see any of the big banks going with this model as a result - they've already got high retention rates without it."
With that, let's take a look at the issues with trailer fees and why some brokers are for them and others are firmly against.
Commission splitting
The main divide between brokers on the trailer fee issue is the method of payment. Eschewing the traditional upfront model, where commission is paid in one chunk when a deal closes, trailer fees follow the broker throughout the life of the mortgage. A percentage is still paid upfront - for example, Merix pays 90 basis points in its basic trailer fee model - but the remaining points are spread out and another chunk of commission is paid upon the client's renewal with that lender.
Cory McLean, a broker/owner at Verico Axis Mortgage in Lethbridge, Alta., says while he likes the idea of trailer fees ("I can work hard now and be compensated for many years down the road") he doesn't often opt for them because it becomes too hard to split with his associates who pool volume through him.
"The biggest hurdle I have with trailer fees is sharing the splits because all the fees are paid to the brokerage," says McLean, pointing out that he has tried two different ways of fee-sharing: one, splitting all the compensation between the brokerage and associate, and two, allowing the associate to keep the upfront commission and the brokerage to keep the trailer fees.
"If you minimize the accounting, the problem lies with the associates feeling they're not getting compensated nearly as well to write a mortgage with you and they could be going off to somebody else. I think a lot of brokers are keeping the trailer fees in full because if you're sharing the small trailer fee every year it's an accounting nightmare to get it where it needs to go."
Kuyper agrees that splitting commissions can be an issue for brokers who pool volumes with their agents and says an individual focus is encouraged at Merix to avoid confusion and build relationships with brokers. He also points out that to incent individual deal submissions, Merix recently got rid of volume requirements for brokers and replaced them with a 60 per cent funding ratio requirement.
Many brokers are also concerned about whether trailer fees will follow a broker if they decide to leave the network or brokerage they're a part of. Since trailer fees have been introduced in Canada, many networks have agreed to let brokers keep their trailer fees if they leave the network - but not all companies have adopted that policy. To counteract this issue, Merix offers XRewards instead of straight cash and these rewards belong to the originator regardless of their network's policy on trailer fees.
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