News in brief - 6 November 2023

Phoebus has announced plans to expand its employee numbers by 20% as it looks to continue developing its technology and service offerings. The recruitment campaign will see 25 new staff being taken on over the 12 months, and it has said that it is accelerating the development of a range of solutions such as API development, migrations, servicing and analysis.

Defaqto has announced that its integration with new fintech challenger, Plannr, is now live. Defaqto Engage now connects with Plannr’s customer relationship management technology for advisers, planners and wealth managers, and is used by more than 30% of advisers in the UK. As a result of the integration, advisers can now transfer client product and fund information from Plannr to Engage, with resulting research and reports being sent from Engage bank to Plannr. Defaqto has said that this means highly user-friendly client records are coupled to the research source, with methodology and focus on compliance.

Hodge has announced further enhancements to its professional mortgage product, offering customers with complex incomes greater financial flexibility in the current economic climate. The specialist lender has removed the need to meet capital repayment affordability when assessing interest only applications, increasing the amount customers can borrow. It is the latest in the series of adjustments made since Hodge launched its professional mortgage product to help barristers, architects, doctors, dentists and other defined professionals with multiple income streams improve their borrowing power. The firm has also reduced the minimum income required for this product from £35,000 to £30,000, and has increased its maximum age from 40 to 50.

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