Broker in Focus: Brett Wadelton, My Expert

Broker in Focus is a dedicated series that highlights the unique journeys of mortgage brokers, providing them with a platform to share their experiences, insights, and expertise. Through compelling personal stories and professional reflections, each featured broker recounts the key moments that have shaped their careers, delves into the challenges and opportunities facing the industry today, and shares the valuable wisdom they have gained along the way.

MPA caught up with Brett Wadelton (pictured above), founder and CEO of My Expert, whose early exposure to banking began as “the bank manager’s son” growing up in country towns. What started as a childhood connection to the industry evolved into a career in mortgage broking — one that now spans more than two decades. Over the years, Wadelton hasn’t just witnessed the evolution of the broking profession in Australia; he’s played an active role in shaping it, with a strong emphasis on trust, diversification, and giving back to the community.

Full name: Brett Wadelton
Job title: Founder and CEO
Company: My Expert
Number of years in the industry: 26
Location: Narre Warren, Victoria 

How and when did you become a mortgage broker?

I’ve indirectly been involved in banking pretty much all my life. My dad worked with the National Australia Bank. When he became a bank manager, we used to move around country towns a lot and resided in the branches themselves in the main streets. I came to be known as the bank manager’s son through my teenage years.

So, it’s a bit of a coincidence that I did get an opportunity back in 1999 to become a mortgage broker through my dad getting me involved in a local land estate. We started working together for several years and then decided to go our own way with different opportunities. So, I must thank my dad for the introduction to the industry and getting me up and running.

In 1999, aggregation was not known, and I would drop off written applications to the Suncorp Metway branch. I received $300 one month after settlement as a payment. I would also charge the clients a fee of $1,950 because I had the opportunity to get them into a new house and land package. We’d basically get the clients to choose a housing package, get the house built and allow them to move in six months’ rent-free – because to qualify for a loan back then, you needed 5% genuine savings held over six months, and people would struggle to save that sort of money.

We would literally allow the client to move in, not pay any rent, then I’d have to collect their equivalent in rent and save or bank that weekly with one of the local branches. After six months, they’d have the required $15,000-$20,000. We would then be able to get their loan approved and settled. We didn’t get paid a trailing commission; we had a direct agreement with one lender. I suppose a savings plan or rent-free program is what we did back then. And that was my first introduction to mortgage broking.

In your opinion, what has been the most positive development in broking?

I would love to say that technology has improved the loan process, but I can’t. If we're talking 25 years ago, we used to do debt service ratio and allow the client to borrow with the commitment repayments up to 35% of their income. We’d assess clients very quickly in getting a loan. Technically, you’d have to qualify for certain items – and then it would be approved with technology. It has actually not sped up the overall process. Some lenders’ turnaround times today are often worse than what they were two decades ago. I wish I could say technology has had a positive impact on turnaround times and, in turn, a better experience for the clients, but I have to say that’s questionable.

The most positive development in my mind has been the introduction of Best Interest Duty, which probably hasn’t been communicated clearly enough, but I think the quality of brokers and advice in the industry has improved over the years.

Broking as a full-time job and a career has also definitely improved client outcomes. Some of the tools we have available today compared to when I started out are completely different; I would have loved to have had an equivalent to Quickli back then. Even having conversations online and having brokers and clients embrace that has been a positive that I guess was forced on us by the pandemic.

The market share we have seen steadily increasing to the point where brokers are now overwhelmingly the choice of borrowers ahead of lenders is a great reflection on our industry. It truly shows the value of a broker, especially businesses like ours that have diversified into other related areas such as car and personal loans, financial planning, and focusing on personal insurance.

I think technology that has allowed broker businesses to evolve into advice businesses that can also offer the likes of tax and legal advice, as well as conveyancing, is a good thing. Technology will allow the more efficient onboarding of clients once, and brokers will offer a fully holistic service offering across the business. That’s going to be exciting moving forward, especially once we have full open banking, where clients will be able to select their trusted adviser. That’s what I’m hoping will happen in the future.

What challenges do you see currently facing the industry, and what solutions would you propose?

Once technology evolves, I can see in the future that we will probably end up just pressing a few buttons after having a holistic conversation with the client and completing the advice clients are happy with to implement. That’s where I think there’s going to be a “rise of the adviser” in relation to being able to have a more comprehensive offering with experts or specialists behind the scenes implementing that advice.

Knowing your customer and seeing everything will be based on the client approving or selecting their trusted adviser. The main challenge there is positioning your business to get into that space and building on that word “trust”; being supportive and available to clients, having a visible local presence, and giving back to the community will be critical to growth in the future. An online presence will always be important, but for people to truly trust and embrace you, having that physical face-to-face presence and engaging with the community is so important. That is why we’ve invested in and started our own not-for-profit charity to support kids in sport.

Can you share a memorable or challenging experience from your career as a broker and the lessons you gained from it?

Around 23 years ago, I applied for a franchise after a branch was offered to us. I felt in my early days that I needed to be part of a brand to get leads and build trust. My best mate at the time sat me down and said, “Brett, do you know what you’re doing? Do you connect with people? Do you believe in yourself?” And that was a turning point; we could easily have accepted the franchise offering and gone down that path. In hindsight, it was the right decision as the franchise failed and is now closed.

I ended up backing myself and our business model and brand we had at that point, which was Pinnacle Home Loans. Then, about 12 years ago, we pivoted to our new brand and offering with a vision of providing advice across industries, and started trading as My Expert.

My best advice would be to back yourself. If you’re confident and know what you’re doing as a broker, study your trade. Know your products, know your rates, understand credit, and give amazing service and your customers will respond positively. For me, it’s about the emotion and getting the customer to truly believe in you, to know that your intentions are honest, and they’ll want you to guide them on their lifetime financial journey.

Could you share any valuable advice for individuals aspiring to become brokers or those new to broking?

Make sure you come into the industry for the right reasons. It’s a people industry. You genuinely need to like dealing with people and doing what’s right by them. If you’re coming into the industry purely on the back of making money and seeking a flexible lifestyle, it’s more about you and what you want, and you should probably think twice about it. Because the industry itself is a full-time job, and as a career, you need to live and breathe it, including working weekends and nights around your clients.

It's important to know that you’re influencing and guiding people in making important financial decisions, so that’s why it’s also crucial to make sure you don’t have an agenda coming in. You should have the passion to service the client and make sure that you’ve always got their best interests in mind. And that means, potentially, at a cost to yourself, whether it be financially or for other reasons. I feel the industry needs people who are committed to helping clients build their wealth and giving genuine advice. If that’s your focus, then you’ll be on your way to success.

Once you have that success, you’ll be able to give back – which is one of the most rewarding things you can do. Having been heavily involved in sport all my life, it’s long been an ambition of mine to give back to the local community in some way around sport. I finally realised that aspiration last year when we established a not-for-profit charity called Kids in Sport Inc. Our mission is to raise funds to provide the financial assistance primary school-aged children need to play sport and thrive. Whether it be contributing to registration fees, competition costs, coaching, uniforms, or equipment, I’m proud to say we’re now actively having a positive impact on the lives of young people on and off the sports field.

I love being involved in the broking and advice industries in a business that’s offering a broad range of complementary guidance to our clients, with a charitable purpose that’s making a real difference in the community.

Broker in Focus is a weekly MPA feature spotlighting mortgage brokers from diverse firms and locations across Australia. Among those recently featured are Jasmine Alexander of Prosperity Mortgage Partners, Cory Palazzolo of Think Home Loans, Janine Ashmore of Bliss Home Loans, Allan Culbertson of Ledge Home Loans, Katherine Persoglia, Property Before Prada, Luke Mansour of Legal Home Loans, Livio Tramontin of MPL Mortgage Services, Mark Bonnici of Westlend Home Loans, Rebecca Timms of Realise Home Loans, and Scott Stevenson of Mortgage Choice.

Are you a mortgage broker interested in being featured? Email the author with your details.