"One of the reasons that we are successful is that we have a real consistency of connection with our referrers and our clients"
Claire Williamson (pictured) is no stranger to small-town living. Williamson grew up in what she describes as a "tiny little place" on the south side of New Zealand's Kawhia Harbour. As of 2024, the population was just over 400 people.
Today, Williamson is based out of Cambridge, on the country's north island, with an estimated population of about 22,000. It's there that she does her magic: helping would-be homeowners and businesses finance their dreams.
"We are a very regional firm. We love supporting small towns in New Zealand," Williamson told New Zealand Adviser. "We love supporting rural professionals. We love that community feel."
It's no surprise then that Williamson — who has been working as an adviser and director at My Mortgage since 2015 — took home the NZFSG Adviser of the Year, Regional award at the 2024 New Zealand Mortgage Awards.
Ahead of this year's festivities, New Zealand Adviser sat down with Williamson to hear her thoughts on the market, what makes her successful and what it's like working in New Zealand's regions. The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.
The details
The annual New Zealand Mortgage Awards — scheduled for Thursday, April 10, from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, at the Auckland War Memorial Museum — brings together the nation's top talent in the mortgage world, as the industry shines a light on best practices and leadership over the last year.
Attendees include commercial mortgage advisers, lenders, aggregators, business development managers, brokerages, loan administrators and service providers, all of whom come to mingle, learn about new trends in the mortgage space and hopefully take home one of the coveted awards.
The 2025 celebration includes an appearance by New Zealand's own radio and television host Jeremy Corbett, who will serve as MC, and DJ Venetia supplying the tunes.
Non-bank lender Liberty Financial will once act as event partner. Sponsors include Avanti Finance, Basecorp Finance, Bizcap, FAMNZ, Finbase, Finsure New Zealand, First Mortgage Trust, Kiwi Advisor Network, Link Financial Group, NZFSG, Pepper Money, Prospa and XCEDA.
Tickets can be purchased here.
Chatting with past winner Claire Williamson
NZA: What is the secret to your success? Why do you think you won?
Williamson: In 2024, I think we'd had a big year of growth. We stepped into a little bit more of a team approach within our overall business. I've got a couple of people on my team. And I think putting people in the right roles and having people do what they're really good at was really key. Having people do administrative [work], I was able to go and build more relationships and support more people, support more clients, for more professionals. I was able to help people do things better, more efficiently, and I think that made a huge difference.
NZA: What makes My Mortgage special in the advisory space?
Williamson: We are a very regional firm. We love supporting small towns in New Zealand. We love supporting rural professionals. We love that community feel. We launched the local community fund, which was a way for us to give back into the community space. We've actually supported some really neat initiatives in that space. Things like helping local schools and events, playground sponsorship, for extending and improving playgrounds, and other ways that people can add value. So just really, really neat stuff.
NZA: What can competitors learn from your firm?
Williamson: I think one of the reasons that we are successful is that we have a real consistency of connection with our referrers and our clients. We've made it a huge priority to have a monthly newsletter for both [referrers and clients]. It's targeted quite clearly towards both parties. For our professionals, our referrals, the newsletter is things regarding what's going on in the lending space, interest rates, what we're starting to recommend to clients, a few examples, case studies, things like that. Things that can help them in their roles. And then for our clients, it's about, how do we add value to you to make sure you're getting independent advice each time you have a fixed rate come up? But also, how do you plan for financial success? We are quite hands on. That means that a lot of our clients and professionals in our network will refer us [to other potential clients]. So I think that really helps.
NZA: What are your best practices as an adviser?
Williamson: I am just constantly touching base with my people, whether they are my bigger clients that have been around for a long time, or people in my referral professional network.
NZA: What kind of advice would you have for advisers who are hoping to be recognized in the future?
Williamson: I think this one [is for other advisers] to tell their story. I think one of the other reasons that I perhaps won was because I became a little bit more active on social media, in particular on LinkedIn. And I really advocated for advice as a whole, for the whole industry. I've started telling stories of our clients' successes, as well as some of the challenges that they've faced.
NZA: What are my thoughts on New Zealand's load and property markets as we enter into the back half of 2025?
Williamson: I think we're going to be pretty stable. I don't see a great deal of growth in terms of value over the rest of 2025. It's going to be a little bit of a holding pattern. I think the people who get really good advice and do good research will be the ones that succeed. For me, it was about planning for the mid and long term, as well. I'm doing a lot more planning with clients to make sure that they're set up for success.
NZA: How is working in the regions different from working in big city New Zealand?
Williamson: I just think it's a big community thing. Being a part of a smaller overall community is really rewarding, because you get to be quite connected with individuals. And I think that's really cool. We get to support local initiatives. We get to be part of the community, which is really cool.
NZA: What trends are you seeing in the market at the moment?
Williamson: At the moment, there's still quite a lot of movement of stock. It's definitely not taking quite as long for properties to sell, which is really good. So there is an opportunity there for people who can get themselves ready. There still seems to be good stock turnover. The time to sell is reducing. Overall, my message is probably for people to take action if they can. And what that refers to is, lots of first-time buyers come to me saying, “Oh, you know, do I need to get a 20% deposit? Or do I need to make more progress on my savings? Or do I need to tidy up my bank statements? Or is it a whole lot of things?” And it's really just an excuse not to take action. If you can get into a position to borrow money, if you've seen an advisor and you are in a position to borrow money, then get into it. Because that opportunity is going to set you up really well, if you can get yourself into property quicker.
