Aggregator: FAST
State: NSW
Total value of residential loans FY2018/19: $128,194,777
Total number of residential loans FY2018/19: 209
Jumping 10 places this year is Unique Finance Services founder and sole director Vishal Gupta.
With more than 20 years’ experience in finance, Gupta established his brokerage in 2011. He has a strong educational background in finance and business administration, and believes education plays a big role in the industry, particularly as new entrants come in.
“Not only does it lift the standards as to who can enter into the industry, but it also changes the perception of the general public of the entire mortgage industry,” he says.
Unique Finance Services has diversifi ed beyond home loan lending and created long-lasting relationships with its customers by doing so. The brokerage provides specialist services to fund clients’ ventures into the franchise business, pharmacies, dental and other healthrelated types of business.
“Being fully diversified also means that our business has kept a momentum during a severe downturn in the industry,” Gupta says.
That severe downturn has been “draining” on the industry as a whole, he adds, including consumers. He says the unclear direction from lenders and regulators, on top of the difficult market, has produced a mixed outcome.
“Many times decisions, which took a no-common-sense approach, were taken without considering how they would impact the end consumer,” he says. “Everyone was overcautious in the lending space, which at times was hurting the right consumers, and at times it was producing unwarranted outcomes.
“Thank goodness this year has come out relatively well, and we have overcome the troublesome period. The focus should be back on achieving the right consumer outcomes, which we in the broker channel have always worked so hard for.”
Gupta ensures he sets the right client expectations from day one. He says it is important to be realistic about what can be achieved, and open and honest with clients, even if it sometimes means saying no.
“We have a very simple philosophy in our business, which is keeping an open mind, and we pride ourselves in following this at all times. It has kept up our momentum during very low and volatile market times,” he says.v
