153 finalists competed for the top places in this year's AMAs, find out which 26 walked away with a trophy.
The Australian Mortgage Awards 2016 - 670 attendees, 165 companies and 153 finalists competing to bag one of the 26 trophies.
Winning a trophy is the culmination of years of hard work an exceptional results, which an increasingly professional and influential industry is consistently achieving year after year.
Read on to find out who the 26 winners are and what they had to say.
MOST EFFECTIVE INTERNET PRESENCE
WESTPAC BROKER DISTRIBUTION
National manager strategy, marketing and communication Neville Anitelea explains: “A lot is changing and evolving through digital disruption in a highly tech-savvy world."
BEST COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
HOME LOAN EXPERTS
Managing director Otto Dargan, whose brokerage sponsors educational projects in Nepal. “Your business should make the world a better place, and if it doesn’t, you should probably change your business.”
BEST INDUSTRY ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
PEPPER HOME LOANS
Pepper’s channel marketing manager Sarah Pikardt says, “Brokers want to see real experiences and options for their customers, and that’s what specialist lending is all about.”
BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM AN INDIVIDUAL OFFICE
EMPOWER WEALTH
Finance adviser Simon Gillespie says delivering quality customer service is simple: “Follow through; do what you’re asked to do, set expectations and don’t let them down.”
BEST INDUSTRY SERVICE
CORELOGIC RP DATA
Joshua Hodge, CoreLogic’s head of mortgage solutions says, “We have a fairly clear ethos at CoreLogic, which is the client is always first, and we look at a whole end-to-end solution, not just from the lender to the broker but also the customer at the end – and part of that is feet on the ground, ensuring we can be contacted.”
QUALITY YOUNG GUN OF THE YEAR – FRANCHISE
MARSHALL CONDON MORTGAGE CHOICE
SOUTH YARRA
"I don’t see it as a challenge; I see it as an opportunity," says Condon. "As an industry we are very new, but I think there’s a lot of opportunity for ... us to create the next generation of brokers and a certain quality of advice for customers."
QUALITY YOUNG GUN OF THE YEAR – INDEPENDENT
RACHELLE EYNDHOVEN
SPHERE FINANCE
“The hardest part was managing staff, and that was a challenge and something I hadn’t done before,”
BEST NON-BANK BDM
GRANT SMITH
LIBERTY FINANCIAL
“I suppose my background in asset finance as well as residential lending has helped me offer something different to my brokers,”
BEST NON-MAJOR BANK BDM
JANITA DE PAOLI
BANK OF MELBOURNE
"(Brokers) want somebody that they can call on that will answer their call and help them navigate around bank policy and process and get things done for their clients.”
BEST AGGREGATOR BDM and AUSTRALIAN BDM OF THE YEAR
TIMOTHY SCHNEIDER
CHOICE
What made Timothy Schneider stand out was the quality and sheer quantity of his nominations from the broking community. He was praised by brokers for being constantly available – including after hours – but more broadly for going beyond the traditional narrow definition of a BDM as a problem-solver; he helped his brokers take their businesses to the next level.
BEST MAJOR BANK BDM
TONY SEMRANI
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA
"Pick up the phone, be responsive, be honest, and have a little bit of a backbone.”
NEW BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR
TIME HOME LOANS
“I think for me personally, knowing there’d be a lot of challenges, and facing them head on, and perseverance”.
BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR – DIVERSIFICATION
THE 500 GROUP
Darren Barclay says, "It’s what the clients want at the end of the day; they want to come to one business to take care of all their financial needs.”
BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR – FRANCHISE
MORTGAGE CHOICE IN BRISBANE AND SUNNYBANK
Managing director Matt Cunliffe says, “Within Mortgage Choice we obviously carry a fair bit of weight with our brand; we like to leverage off that. I’ve been with the brand for eight years, and our business has been there for 15 years, and it carries a bit of weight and our clients love it.”
BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR (≤5 STAFF) – INDEPENDENT
TIME HOME LOANS
Director Ruan Burger and his team have received nominations for inclusion in lenders’ highest broker segments, and for innovative ways of dealing with referral partners.
BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR (≥6 STAFF) – INDEPENDENT
AUSTRALIAN LENDING AND INVESTMENT CENTRE
ALIC managing director Jason Back says, “I think it comes down to individual service that the guys provide the clients. We tailor our strategy and structure to our clients’ needs; people like Mark Davis and Kevin Agent are some of the best people in this country at what they do; they’re passionate about their business and they love it every day.”
BROKER OF THE YEAR – PRODUCTIVITY
DAMIEN ROYLANCE IPROPERTYPLAN
“It’s the support that I’ve got. I’ve got Hume [Leow] here, who manages my files from submission to settlement; we take great pride that we make sure we get the deal pretty much approved before we submit it, and do the research before we submit it.”
BROKER OF THE YEAR – FRANCHISE
JOSH BARTLETT LOAN MARKET BAYSIDE
“Doing the right thing day in, day out, year in, year out” is a must.
BROKER OF THE YEAR – INDEPENDENT
JUSTIN DOOBOV INTELLIGENT FINANCE
"All our business comes from referrals and repeat business from existing clients, so we don’t spend any money on advertising ... we don’t need the big brands behind us because our brand is the last deal we’ve done. Our clients will go and sell us more than any Aussie franchise with advertising on TV; our clients will go to BBQs, sit around a dinner table, and onsell our services.”
BROKER OF THE YEAR – FINANCE
GEORGE KARAM BYBLOS FINANCE
“We know what our client is looking for as soon as he walks into the office, and if he’s a good client with good character and good credibility then we’ll fight for the deal,”
BROKER OF THE YEAR – INSURANCE (MORTGAGE PROTECTION AND LIFE)
PEITA DAVIES
CHOICE HOME LOANS BLUE MOUNTAINS
“Why shouldn’t you protect your clients? Every client is going into debt; it’s our job to make sure they protect that debt.”
BROKER OF THE YEAR – NON-CONFORMING
GIULIO AVIAN
FUNDSNATIONAL
"You can be making an enormous impact on an individual; someone who doesn’t meet the general lending criteria of a bank.”
AUSTRALIAN YOUNG GUN OF THE YEAR
RACHELLE EYNDHOVEN
SPHERE FINANCE
Already writing huge volumes just servicing NSW’s Central Coast, Eyndhoven is someone we’re sure to be seeing more of in the next few years.
AUSTRALIAN BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR
AUSTRALIAN LENDING AND INVESTMENT CENTRE
ALIC is pioneering new ways of working, from encouraging reciprocal responsibility in client relationships to proactively hiring young and female brokers. The brokerage is also experimenting with different ways of sharing support staff and is determined, in the words of managing director Jason Back, to be “more than a transactor”.
AUSTRALIAN BROKER OF THE YEAR
JUSTIN DOOBOV
INTELLIGENT FINANCE
One of the best-known brokers in this industry, Justin Doobov has become legendary for his sheer dedication to the job, as evidenced by hard work and extremely long hours. Coming second by just $3m in this year’s MPA Top 100 Brokers list, smashing the $300m barrier, he continues to build an enormous client base without the need for advertising, in a brokerage that remains relatively small in size, albeit with an excellent and hard-won reputation.
