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MPA’s Top Brokerages of 2024 are a collection of innovative and skilled operations. Features that drive the success of these outstanding brokerages include:
While all have their own secrets to success, each brokerage is resolute in its desire to be a trusted industry partner to its customers.
Top Brokerage rank: 25
Location: Liverpool, NSW
Years in operation: 7
Conversion rate of loans settled or written: 82%
While Rethink Financing is currently riding high, it is set to go even higher. It has built its name on commercial property investing and being a partner to its clients dealing with:
Rethink managing director Son Pham says, “We’re not transactional. We’re about wealth building. Our clients don’t come to us saying they want the lowest rate. They want another property; they want to build their portfolio and need funding.”
The firm has developed deep expertise due to the complexity of its clients having multiple properties.
“We understand their long-term vision of what they want to do, and we explain how we’re going to utilise certain lenders to get them where they need to go. We may need to go to one lender first before we get to the next spot,” says Pham.
Commonly, clients first encounter Rethink after being referred due to other brokerages being unable to help them.
“I love it when someone says, ‘I’ve spoken to three brokers, and none of them can do it’,” says Son. “Then I really look into it and go, ‘I think it’s possible.’ I might not get there straightaway, but with a bit of digging and restructuring, we can make it happen.”
The 10-strong broking team often workshops deals in order to find these solutions. Typically, Rethink’s clients make up about 1% of the market and have multiple investment properties.
“Sometimes you can’t use a standard bank because their policies start charging you these investor loadings, and banks have to hold more capital reserves when they’ve got more exposure to a client. It does put more pressure on me, but I like the challenge.”
Post-pandemic conditions have also driven the firm’s growth, as it can now sign deals electronically, meaning it can work with customers nationwide.
While being able to access more of its niche target clients is positive, finding brokers with the skill set to support them is challenging. Most of the leading commercial brokers are employed by banks.
“They typically don’t move unless we pay them big money,” says Pham. “We’ve been finding residential brokers with experience who want to learn and be better, so I bring them on board. I put them through training and mentoring with myself, and the feedback is that it’s very intense and a big learning curve.”
That upskilling is set to continue across the brokerage as it prepares for a relaunch later this year. Under Pham’s leadership, there is a detailed plan that aims to build the business out and capture a slice of the residential market.
“All I say is ‘watch out’ for all those other businesses out there,” Pham says. “People are always searching for professionals who know a bit more to help them get more. We have the expertise and knowledge, and the team is good. We’re going to expand a lot in that space – that’s the big plan for the next 12 to 24 months.”
Top Brokerage rank: 47
Location: Mount Waverley, Victoria
Years in operation: 4
Conversion rate of loans settled or written: 66
Weme Finance director and principal finance broker Joanne Liu isn’t surprised by her brokerage’s growth, as she was her own target customer. Previously working in a corporate role and as a certified practice accountant, she could see her peers needed mortgage brokers to satisfy their needs.
“Coming from a professional background, I wanted to help people like me,” Liu says. “Even though I had a master’s degree in banking finance and the knowledge, I didn’t have the time to manage my own mortgage.”
Weme was created to target professionals such as lawyers, doctors, accountants, etc. Liu also pitches towards self-employed business owners, as her accounting skills mean she can decipher their financials and understand their limitations. All eight of the firm’s brokers share the same background as Liu.
“That’s the main point of difference; we are a band of people who are coming from finance and accounting backgrounds,” says Liu.
With such a targeted customer base, Weme must operate accordingly. It is open to booking meetings between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Liu says, “We make ourselves available even at weekends, especially for that first meeting, to understand their goals and show them the possible options. They’re super busy, but we accommodate them, as I believe it’s far better to meet each other to form a bond and create a sticky relationship.”
The major driver of the brokerage’s success is Liu’s determination. She founded the business on 6 June 2020, had her accreditation by the end of July and had her first client by August.
By the end of the first financial year, Weme had settled 50 loans, and then this rose to over 100 in the second. The brokerage is currently doing over double that.
“We deal with a lot of complex cases and complicated structures; that’s how I’ve also made the brokerage different,” says Liu.
Getting those tricky cases over the line isn’t the end point for Weme. Liu has instilled a deeply service-oriented mindset.
She says, “We always believe we need to provide outstanding service to the clients, as a lot of brokers focus on just winning business.”
Weme prides itself on presenting clients with a range of options and letting them choose what is best for them.
“We don’t promise anything we can’t deliver, and we don’t push people to take the option that we prefer. Everything is transparent, and we make the client understand using simple language, so what they choose is in their best interest, not ours,” says Liu.
Another feature of Weme’s service is monitoring each client’s situation and reaching out to see if something else can be done.
Liu says, “Maintenance doesn’t create any revenue, but it does create potential revenue in the future.”
Top Brokerage rank: 50
Location: Canberra, ACT
Years in operation: 4
Conversion rate of loans settled/written: 72%
Loan Market Canberra’s success allows its people to play to their skill sets.
Franchise owner Nitish Kumar says, “Most brokerages get so caught up in admin, so one of the big things I wanted when I started the business was for brokers to be able to focus on the client and not worry about the backend. That’s why we built out a really large admin team.”
This has a twofold benefit:
The second arm of Kumar’s overarching strategy was to ensure that brokers were as productive as possible with their clearer schedules.
“It’s important for me that the brokers are not working six or seven days a week. I make sure that they have a good work-life balance and can spend time with their families.”
To this end, Loan Market Canberra operates a nine-day fortnight, giving those with children or other commitments a day back solely for them.
The rapid rise of the brokerage isn’t down to chance; Kumar had a clearly defined blueprint from inception.
“I started with ‘What does 2030 look like?’ And then I worked backwards so I thought of all the problems.”
The building blocks are:
Remarkably, every person in the business has come in via referral, fortifying the internal atmosphere.“They are automatically part of the culture because they already know someone, and that person ends up taking accountability for inducting them into the business,” says Kumar. “We know that a staff member would not recommend a person who’s not going to be good.”
Loan Market Canberra sees most of its staff choosing to come to the office daily, even though they do have the option to work remotely.
Kumar has correspondingly moved into a supervisory role, devoting time to solving complex cases due to his experience.
He says, “When I had clients, my ability to actually be available was pretty limited, so the idea behind getting off the tools was to have a bit more time. But the brokers all help each other and come together if they need to find a solution. If they’re really struggling, then I end up being the last resort, but we definitely aren’t set up in a way where I am the first resort.”
Bankwest has the ambition to be the best broker bank in Australia and continues to support brokers in the critical role they play in improving customers’ financial wellbeing across the country. This is one of the many reasons why brilliant brokers choose Bankwest.
Ian Rakhit
General Manager
Third Party Banking
To find the Top Brokerages of 2024, MPA invited Australian brokerages to submit their figures for the period 1 January to 31 December 2023. The online form also asked for details such as the number of active brokers working at each brokerage as well as its total loan book value and conversion rate.
To be eligible, brokerages needed to have five or more loan writers in a single office headquartered in Australia. Aggregator information was also provided by applicants, and their aggregators were then required to verify the details submitted.
The final ranking is weighted across three areas: total loan book size, total settlements in the specified 12-month period, and conversion rate. Each brokerage was ranked in each of these areas, and the ranks were then combined to produce a final tally.
MPA’s Top Brokerages 2024 report is proudly sponsored by Bankwest.
