With 63 loan writers and a combined loan book of $5.6bn, we present the remaining big hitters in the Top 10
With 63 loan writers and a combined loan book of $5.6bn, we present the remaining big hitters in the Top 10
Just five brokerages are home to 63 loan writers, MPA’s newly released Top 10 Independent Brokerages report has revealed.
All five brokerages, which were split between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, were also part of MPA’s Top 10 in 2016. They remained in the Top 10 despite huge changes to the investor and foreign investor client areas they specialised in. In the case of one brokerage, 35% of their business had been affected by regulatory and lending changes.
You can read the full Top 10 Independent Brokerages Report, including extensive business advice and statistics, in MPA 17.07, hitting desks next week.
Alliance Mortgage Solutions
$227m over 12 months / loan book $1.2bn
Whilst many brokerages worry about their business being disrupted by new regulations, Alliance Mortgage Solutions has been through all of that and emerged in one piece. Alliance played heavily in the foreign buyer space and the decision of most banks to stop lending in this space was a big blow to the brokerage, recalls sales director Donald Tang, who estimates that 35% of the brokerage’s business was affected. Staying in the Top 10 has required a major change in strategy and some tough decisions.
Loans now require much more work to process, and so Alliance has begun charging fees of $2000-$5000 to clients. This is dependent on the difficulty of the scenario and whether the client had been preparing to buy for a long time; it’s new clients who are mainly charged fees.
Tang’s longer term strategy is to change Alliance’s focus towards local clients: “we are putting more energy and time into local markets, both residential and commercial lending as well.” Alliance has plenty of off-the-plan referral partners and they’re expanding their network of local real estate agents.
Green Finance Group
$209m over 12 months / loan book $702m
Green Finance Group and its founder Daniel Green span aren’t just a long-running Top 10 Independent Brokerage. Green and several of his brokers have also been featured in MPA’s Top 10 Commercial Brokers annual report and Green Finance Group offers a vast array of services beyond residential lending, financing everything from pubs to hair salons.
This diversification has helped insulate Green Finance Group from lending changes this year, but residential lending remains a part of Green’s one-stop shop. This year the brokerage expanded its residential lending arm into northern NSW and has been advising residential clients how they can minimise costs, for example switching from interest-only to P&I whilst banks still allow this for free. Quality residential advice is paying off, Green believes: “we are starting to see the benefits of cross-border relations with commercial referrals and it’s proved a rewarding challenge for the team.”
N1 Loans
$310m over 12 months / loan book $780m
Previously a buzzword, now a pressing issue, ‘diversification’ is a strategy used by many brokerages to respond to changes in lending and remuneration. For most brokerages that means 10-20% of revenue coming from outside mortgages, but what happens when that number hits 40% and growing?
That’s the case at N1 Holdings, the parent company of N1 Loans, where real estate has become the major growth driver, says CEO Ren Hor Wong. N1 Realty was launched in late 2016 and since then “we’ve refocused very much on the real estate business; the resales and the auctions; because that’s very much how we generate leads for our brokers, at the open inspections.”
Shore Financial
$872m over 12 months / loan book $1.65bn
Entering the Top 10, as Shore Financial did this year, can hardly be accomplished through business as usual. “We’re actually going through a massive restructure” explains CEO Theo Chambers “we’re looking at becoming a bit more of an online brokerage, generating leads online on the back of our real estate data”
Chambers’ restructuring at Shore goes beyond marketing, however. The roles of learning and development coordinator and operations manager have been combined under a new operations manager, who brings with her several years of experience in finance. The brokerage’s commission splits will also be tiered to better incentivize brokers, passing on up to 80% of commission to the broker. Costs will be controlled by outsourcing some marketing and social media tasks, adds Chambers: “we’re probably getting more done now it’s outsourced.”
Acceptance Finance
$313m over 12 months / loan book $1.25bn
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On the face of it, nothing much changed this year at Acceptance Finance, says Daniel Di Conza: “it was very much business as usual, the last twelve months”. 2016-17 was the calm before the storm as, Di Conza warns, changes to investor lending changes are about to bite: “we haven’t really seen the impact of that in settlements yet, but we expect to get a reduction.”
Aiming to be one of those brokerages left standing when the dust has settled, Di Conza has already begun making changes to Acceptance Finance. The retirement of a member of management provided an opportunity for restructuring: “previously we had one sales manager running the whole team. What we’re really doing is dividing the brokerage team reasonably equally amongst the three leaders – the CEO, GM and sales manager.”
Just five brokerages are home to 63 loan writers, MPA’s newly released Top 10 Independent Brokerages report has revealed.
All five brokerages, which were split between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, were also part of MPA’s Top 10 in 2016. They remained in the Top 10 despite huge changes to the investor and foreign investor client areas they specialised in. In the case of one brokerage, 35% of their business had been affected by regulatory and lending changes.
You can read the full Top 10 Independent Brokerages Report, including extensive business advice and statistics, in MPA 17.07, hitting desks next week.
Alliance Mortgage Solutions
$227m over 12 months / loan book $1.2bn
Whilst many brokerages worry about their business being disrupted by new regulations, Alliance Mortgage Solutions has been through all of that and emerged in one piece. Alliance played heavily in the foreign buyer space and the decision of most banks to stop lending in this space was a big blow to the brokerage, recalls sales director Donald Tang, who estimates that 35% of the brokerage’s business was affected. Staying in the Top 10 has required a major change in strategy and some tough decisions.
Loans now require much more work to process, and so Alliance has begun charging fees of $2000-$5000 to clients. This is dependent on the difficulty of the scenario and whether the client had been preparing to buy for a long time; it’s new clients who are mainly charged fees.
Tang’s longer term strategy is to change Alliance’s focus towards local clients: “we are putting more energy and time into local markets, both residential and commercial lending as well.” Alliance has plenty of off-the-plan referral partners and they’re expanding their network of local real estate agents.
Green Finance Group
$209m over 12 months / loan book $702m
Green Finance Group and its founder Daniel Green span aren’t just a long-running Top 10 Independent Brokerage. Green and several of his brokers have also been featured in MPA’s Top 10 Commercial Brokers annual report and Green Finance Group offers a vast array of services beyond residential lending, financing everything from pubs to hair salons.
This diversification has helped insulate Green Finance Group from lending changes this year, but residential lending remains a part of Green’s one-stop shop. This year the brokerage expanded its residential lending arm into northern NSW and has been advising residential clients how they can minimise costs, for example switching from interest-only to P&I whilst banks still allow this for free. Quality residential advice is paying off, Green believes: “we are starting to see the benefits of cross-border relations with commercial referrals and it’s proved a rewarding challenge for the team.”
N1 Loans
$310m over 12 months / loan book $780m
Previously a buzzword, now a pressing issue, ‘diversification’ is a strategy used by many brokerages to respond to changes in lending and remuneration. For most brokerages that means 10-20% of revenue coming from outside mortgages, but what happens when that number hits 40% and growing?
That’s the case at N1 Holdings, the parent company of N1 Loans, where real estate has become the major growth driver, says CEO Ren Hor Wong. N1 Realty was launched in late 2016 and since then “we’ve refocused very much on the real estate business; the resales and the auctions; because that’s very much how we generate leads for our brokers, at the open inspections.”
Shore Financial
$872m over 12 months / loan book $1.65bn
Entering the Top 10, as Shore Financial did this year, can hardly be accomplished through business as usual. “We’re actually going through a massive restructure” explains CEO Theo Chambers “we’re looking at becoming a bit more of an online brokerage, generating leads online on the back of our real estate data”
Chambers’ restructuring at Shore goes beyond marketing, however. The roles of learning and development coordinator and operations manager have been combined under a new operations manager, who brings with her several years of experience in finance. The brokerage’s commission splits will also be tiered to better incentivize brokers, passing on up to 80% of commission to the broker. Costs will be controlled by outsourcing some marketing and social media tasks, adds Chambers: “we’re probably getting more done now it’s outsourced.”
Acceptance Finance
$313m over 12 months / loan book $1.25bn
On the face of it, nothing much changed this year at Acceptance Finance, says Daniel Di Conza: “it was very much business as usual, the last twelve months”. 2016-17 was the calm before the storm as, Di Conza warns, changes to investor lending changes are about to bite: “we haven’t really seen the impact of that in settlements yet, but we expect to get a reduction.”
Aiming to be one of those brokerages left standing when the dust has settled, Di Conza has already begun making changes to Acceptance Finance. The retirement of a member of management provided an opportunity for restructuring: “previously we had one sales manager running the whole team. What we’re really doing is dividing the brokerage team reasonably equally amongst the three leaders – the CEO, GM and sales manager.”
