Specialising in pub and hotel finance Green knows the importance of staying across a wide range of lenders to find the best deal for his clients
.JPG)
Operating out of Queensland, the director of Green Finance Group, is another returning Top 10 Commercial Broker. Up from seventh place in the previous list, Green has seen a substantial increase in his average loan size. His response to the reason behind his success? Consistency.
“I’d like to think I can help everyone who walks through the door, straight away, but we often find the timing just isn’t right. New business ideas or plans for expansion need time to form.”
While Daniel Green’s lending experience crosses most industries – such as childcare finance and commercial property and development finance - his personal specialty is pub and hotel finance.
After working in banks for well over a decade, Green established Green Finance Group in 2010, working solo. Since then he has expanded to a team of nine specialist finance brokers, a financial planner and three support staff.
As with most brokers, the changes in the market have not gone unnoticed for Green. He has found increased regulatory frameworks mostly as a result of the royal commission, which has resulted in extra documentation requirements and longer turnaround times.
He says changing lender appetites and policy are “par for the course” and it’s his job to be across that no matter what, but the hardest part has not been the extra work for the banks. “I think if anything I’ve had to work harder to educate my clients around timing and preparation and the fact that just because their existing bank worked in the past, doesn’t mean they’ll be receptive now,” he explains.
In terms of working with the banks, Green has a panel of more than 30 lenders, both banks and non-banks, to provide better options for his customers. While other brokers have found bigger banks tightening up, Green says in some areas he has seen the opposite. “Some of the bigger banks have recently revived policy to reduce loan fees for small businesses and additional credit availability is starting to filter through,” he says.
Looking forward, Green expects lending to widen up again, saying “it’s swings and roundabouts”. In his own business he sees a big opportunity to grow through the strategic development of referral partnerships, particularly in the commercial property sector.
Referrals currently account for 70% of his business, either through existing clients or business associates like solicitors, accountants and real estate agents. The client relationship for Green is an important one and he believes in extending the broker value “beyond a simple transaction”.
“There’s a lot of talk in the industry about shifting focus to being customer-centric. While I firmly believe there’s always a role for broader policy and process improvements at an industry level, at the local level the customer has always been at the centre of my business philosophy, without them my business wouldn’t exist.”
Total value of commercial loan settlements: $234,775,128
Number of commercial loans settled: 23
Average commercial loan size: $10,207,614
Years as a commercial broker:11
Aggregator: Choice
