Loan Market celebrates 30 years, looks to bright future

More than 800 Loan Market brokers from across Australia and New Zealand will gather in Adelaide on Monday for the annual Scale Up conference as one of the largest brokerage networks in the region celebrates 30 years.

The two-day program on Aug. 5 and 6 at the Adelaide Convention Centre is set to deliver on Loan Market and LMG Partner promises to their franchise and Bring Your Own Brand brokers.

These include growing their businesses, saving them time, keeping them safe, diversifying their businesses, and helping them to find and retain clients.

One of the key speakers to feature on the first day of the conference will be LMG executive chairman Sam White (pictured above left) whose talk is titled “30 years of Loan Market – forever making history”.

A family-owned and led company, Loan Market was founded in 1994 by Sam White and is part of the White Family Group of companies.

Today, Loan Market works with a panel of more than 60 lenders and supports brokers across Australia and New Zealand as well as brokers trading under their own brand. Loan Market franchisees and brokers help individuals and businesses in Australia and New Zealand secure over $36 billion in loans each year.

White, who spoke to MPA ahead of the conference, said he was excited about Scale Up and being part of Loan Market since the beginning had been a privilege.

“It has been a real buzz to look back at the old photos and a pleasure to relive what we have gone through, both the good and the bad,” White said. “There have been plenty of challenges and opportunities.”

He said Loan Market had undergone a number of major changes in the last 30 years, including different broker operation models such as the franchise model, in which Loan Market was an early adopter, to the Bring Your Own Brand option.

White’s presentation will look at the challenges the broker network has faced and what lessons can be learnt from the past that can be applied to the current market, as well as how technology has brought adaptation and change.

In his retrospective, White said he would be joined on stage by a number of people.

They include his brothers Dan White (managing director of Ray White Group) and  Ben White (CEO of Ailo), and father Brian White, the chairman of Ray White Group; Brian Greer, CEO of Loan Market New Zealand; former CommBank general manager of third party banking Sam Boer, and renowned Loan Market broker Chris Dobbie, who joined Loan Market in 1999.

“One of the highlights in Loan Market’s history was when Chris won MFAA Broker of the Year in 2006 and he will be sharing his insights about what the industry was like back then,”  White said.

He said when Loan Market was established in 1994 there weren’t many lenders that wanted to deal with brokers until ANZ got on board in 1998 which “ started a real transformation”.

“Brokers have shown their ability to adapt and adjust over the years.  You’ve got to lean into that change … we’ve come a long way since the days of 30% broker market share to now sit at 74.1%,” White said.

Today, Loan Market works with a panel of more than 60 lenders and supports brokers across Australia and New Zealand as well as brokers trading under their own brand.

Loan Market franchisees and brokers help individuals and businesses in Australia and New Zealand secure over $36 billion in loans each year.

Loan Market was named as Australia’s Top Aggregators in Brokers on Aggregators award. Read all the winners here.

Loan Market had been central to the mortgage broking industry’s evolution and the changes over time had been significant.

These range from :

• the early days of paper applications and manual calculations and introducing lower-profile lenders to borrowers
• the uncertain future for non-bank lenders against the backdrop of the GFC when broker market share was just 30%
• resilience and advocating for brokers in response to the Hayne Royal Commission
• the further adaptation and digitisation of tools and platforms for brokers during COVID and beyond

Scale Up also has future focus

While day one of Scale Up focuses on the past and present, day two will put the spotlight on Loan Market’s future and how brokers can use technology to boost business growth and make the most of opportunities.

The company will unveil its tech roadmap for the next 12 months, including three new powerful, connected efficiency tools in its proprietary business platform, MyCRM.

The tools are designed to power brokers’ productivity and workflows and these much sought after features follow-on from other recent MyCRM additions, including the customer-focused SmartData tool and time-saving integration with Quickli.

Andrew Thompson (pictured above right), national director of Loan Market and LMG Partner, said the Scale Up conference reflected the diverse and forward-thinking nature of the event program.

“Scale Up showcases the wide range of areas in which Loan Market and LMG have been committed to pushing the boundaries and setting new standards in the industry,” he said. 

“We look forward to sharing these insights and tools with our brokers, helping them to continue excelling and growing their businesses.  Scale Up highlights our ongoing support and dedication to their success.”

The customer experience was central to Loan Market’s mission, reflected in the brokerage's industry-leading Net Promoter Score of +98, said Thompson.

Loan Market brokers will have more than 20 sessions to choose from. The program will feature a number of international and national keynote speakers including:

• Grant Hackett OAM, who will discuss resilience and leadership
• Ben Crowe, a corporate culture specialist, who will share insights on maximising staff potential
• Glen Riddell, a global futurist, who will talk about the importance of digital transformation and data use for enhancing customer experience