Andrew Mirams shares his thoughts as he enters his 18th year as a broker
Top 100 broker Andrew Mirams says he was disappointed when the implementation of Best Interest Duty was delayed.
He says crisis gives birth to opportunity, and while the industry has had its fair share of tumult over the past couple of years, BID marks the next great opportunity for brokers in a changing lending landscape.
This year he enters his 18th year as a broker, after ranking in the MPA Top 100 from 2015 to 2018.
How things have changed
Moving from banking to broking in 2003, Mirams started his business as a franchise for Smartline before rebranding as Intuitive about four years later.
“I was in a bank and I just wanted to get out and control my own destiny,” he says.
The Melbourne-based broker says despite some fluctuations over the past 17 years the industry has remained much the same.
“Nothing’s really changed, it’s just the rules have fluctuated a bit. Everything goes in cycles.”
“Through every little crisis we come through, people make changes.”
For him the biggest change has been around the amount of diligence and compliance required.
“By and large, the mortgage broking fraternity has always done the right thing,” he says.
“But there was a lot less compliance and the need to document things.”
A process for everything
Mirams says he has been able to achieve the level of success he has by putting in plenty of hard work and developing a good network. Having a clear understanding of the client has also been key, as has developing the right systems and processes.
“I find it interesting in the mortgage broking community how few people have a process that they follow.”
“I guess single operators or smaller operators tend to do that, but we have a process for everything.”
“The ideology is that I could drag anyone off the street and hand them a loan file to process, and with our checklist and processes in place they should be able to do it.”
“They mightn’t know what they’re doing, but they should be able to follow the proper process to get it done.”
“A lot of my staff have come to me without a banking background so we’ve been able to teach them our way and then get things processed without them necessarily having banking experience.”
He says the processes of the business are something they have refined over time.
“We’ve had to be fluid with our thinking any time a crisis hits like we’re in now, and any time something changes, and lenders are changing all the time.”
A challenge for one is an opportunity for another
While many think the current environment is a challenging one, Mirams sees things differently.
“You should never waste a good crisis – crisis creates opportunity.”
“I think it’s a great opportunity at the moment where people can’t necessarily bank in the old, traditional way and they’re looking for options and choices.”
“I was disappointed when the Best Interest Duty was delayed because I think that’s a great opportunity to separate ourselves and further prove to the consumer and the general market out there that we have this duty and we’re bound by it and we want to get the best outcomes all the time for our client.”
He says Intuitive is already providing their clients with extensive knowledge around the options considered.
“The clients, when they get information and written data and strategy from us, that’s really clear on what we are trying to achieve for them.”
“There will be others that will see that as a threat but I see that as a great opportunity for the whole mortgage broking community.”
