Australian Broker magazine Issue 6.19

$4.95 POST APPROVED PP255003/06906

ISSUE 6.19 October 2009

Brokers turning to aggregators for help

 Aggregators the

key to coping with licensing, brokers say Nearly one in two brokers will be turning to their aggregator, franchise operator or head group to help them get their licence, according to the 2009 Australian Broker Regulation Survey.

Licensing: who will brokers turn to for help?

56% 19% 15% 14% 2% 2% 1%

my aggregator/ franchise/broker group FBAA MFAA doing it on my own other a lawyer colleague

Source: 2009 Australian Broker Regulation Survey.

In comparison, only a third of the 340 brokers who took part in the survey said they would turn to their industry body (the MFAA or FBAA) for guidance, while a significant proportion (14%) were confident enough to do it all on their own.

And despite a number of law firms gearing up to provide licensing services for brokers, just 2% said they would seek legal help when putting together their applications.

John Holland, a PLAN broker from Allied Mortgage Finance in WA, said he would seek help from both his aggregator and the FBAA; while Jaclyn Merlino from the Midas Group in Baulkham Hills said her aggregator FAST “has support partners which can assist me on an ongoing basis”.

Many of the comments suggested brokers would get help

from a number of sources starting with their aggregator and industry body and only turning to legal colleagues if necessary.

Lou Pozzebon from Champion Loans on the Sunshine Coast said if he needed help he would first turn to the FBAA and “then my solicitor”.

National Mortgage Brokers (nMB) managing director Gerald Foley said the results were not surprising: “I would expect an aggregator to be the first port of call for such information, support and assistance. Any aggregator not filling this role should look at what their value proposition is.”

Equally, Foley was not surprised at the fact that just one in three would turn to their industry body: “I think the MFAA has done a really good job in being part of the whole process in formulating these new regulations and has communicated excellently along the way.

“As an aggregator, the way forward will vary from business to business so it makes more sense to seek advice from your Page 28 cont.

2009 Regulation survey in-depth

RAMS goes paperless RAMS has implemented paperless processing, but will still allow brokers to fax applications through Page 16

>>

I want to be ‘me’ Marshall Goldsmith explains the dangers of excessive ‘me’ behaviours that can hamper the functioning of a team Page 20

>>

>> An Aussie in the UK

Turn to pages 12 for more on the survey results Turn to page 22 for a comprehensive round-up of all the results

AB journalist Tim Neary’s diary entries from his trip to the UK on St.George’s Flame Study Tour Page 24

>>

2 www.brokernews.com.au

News

Face regulation with heads held high: Russell

Michael Russell

“St.George Bank’s Flame study tour to the UK has given us the view that we can approach the GFC recovery and impending regulation with our heads up,” said Mortgage Choice’s CEO Michael Russell.

Speaking at the tour’s closing ceremony, he said the manner in which UK brokers have remained positive despite having their backs against the wall should serve as an inspiration to everyone in the Australian mortgage market.

In giving his thanks to St. George’s Steven Heavey and his team, Russell declared the conference “a wonderful initiative” and said that he hoped it would be the inaugural Flame Study Tour.

He added that there were many positives things to take away from it.

An important lesson from the conference was that the Australian downturn has been nowhere near as bad the UK experience.

To put it in perspective, Russell said Australians should not be moping at our modest housing

Key points  UK brokers remained positive in the crisis  Australian downturn mild by comparison  better fees, better lender relationships in Australia  dual pricing huge issue in the UK  diversification can add as much as 50% to revenue  time to return to looking after the interests of the customer

credit growth increase of around 7.5% – when in London alone housing credit had fallen 58% from £250bn to £145bn since the onset of the credit crunch.

“That is horrific. In the 30 years I have been in the industry we have only had a handful of single digit growth years,” he said.

He also said that compared to the fees UK brokers earn and the relationships they have with their lenders, “we are in pretty good shape” in Australia.

Dual pricing is a huge issue in the UK. “They have six banks pretty much doing all the lending. Four or five of them offer dual pricing – not by 10bps, but by as much as 200bps,” Russell said.

He said that another key take-away from the London study tour was the real need to diversify our income.

“Having had anywhere from 20–30% taken off us, it was time to work smarter, not harder, to really re-engineer our businesses and revenue models – and at the same time service our customers better,” he said.

Many UK broker business models add as much as 50% to their income stream by their cross selling activities.

“It is clear that the GFC and impending regulation has forced us to go back to what we started 15 years ago – and that is to look after our customers a little better,” Russell said.

www.brokernews.com.au Publishing director.... Justin Kennedy Managing editor.....George Walmsley Editor........................Larry Schlesinger Journalist.............................Tim Neary Production editor............ Tim Stewart Design manager..... Jacqui Alexander Designer...................Jonathan Phillips HR manager.................. Julia Bookallil Marketing manager.........Danielle Tan Marketing coordinator... Jessica Lee Traffic manager............. Stacey Rudd Advertising sales Simon Kerslake t: 02 8437 4786 f: 02 9439 4599 simon.kerslake@keymedia.com.au Rajan Khatak t: 02 8437 4772 f: 02 9439 4599 rajan.khatak@keymedia.com.au Editorial enquiries Larry Schlesinger t: 02 8437 4790 f: 02 9439 4599 larry.schlesinger@keymedia.com.au Distribution Australian Broker is available by subscription. E-mail all subscriptions and mailing enquiries to: subscriptions@keymedia.com.au t: 02 8437 4731 f: 02 8437 4753

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Contributions are invited, but copies of work should be kept, as Australian Broker can accept no responsibility for loss. © Key Media 2009 Australian Broker is the most often read industry publication, according to independent research carried out by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science at the University of South Australia in December 2008.

The research also found that brokers rate Australian Broker as the best for both news content and feature articles, followed by sister publication MPA. Overall, on all categories, Australian Broker ranks top followed by MPA. The results were based on a sample of 405 respondents who were the subject of telephone interviews.

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News

MFAA action won’t get rid of rogues: culled broker

Bob Thompson, one of the 1,500 brokers who lost their MFAA membership because they had not completed their Certificate IV by 1 July, claimed the action would not rid the industry of its rogue element, nor was membership of the association a sign of a broker’s worth.

“There are many worthy brokers in Australia, and their value is not related to their membership of the MFAA. Mostly they are trustworthy individuals who try and always do the right thing by their clients,” he said.

“The rogues in the industry are probably still members of the MFAA and use the brand as a shield to mask their crafty deals,” he added.

Furthermore, he said he was “pleased to be included” among the “cull”. “[The MFAA] has never provided me with any benefit, and

in 10 years of broking, not once has a client ever asked me if I was associated with any governing body,” he said.

Judging by Thompson’s reaction (and his contention that other brokers who lost their membership might take a similar view), the lack of outcry at the MFAA’s decision was not surprising. Indeed, it appeared to attract more attention in the mainstream business press than anywhere else.

Making the announcement, CEO Phil Naylor said the members in question had been given “several reminders” before losing their membership.

In addition, he told Australian Broker that a two-month extension to 1 September had been granted to those brokers who were already in the process of completing the course, but had not done so by 1 July cut-off.

Naylor said the MFAA did not expect a backlash as a result of its actions: “What has been done is to enforce a membership requirement that is well known and advertised to members. The feedback from the overwhelming majority of members is very supportive. Professional brokers want to belong to a body which has these standards and is moving to higher standards over time.”

The move was also supported

by Mortgage Choice, with the ASX-listed broker describing the action as pleasing to see.

Senior corporate affairs manager, Kristy Sheppard, said “any broker that has not achieved the industry’s fundamental qualification needs to take a good look at their priorities, think about their responsibility to their customers and complete the certificate ASAP”.

MFAA members were first alerted to the Certificate IV requirement in May last year,

giving them over a year to complete the entry-level course.

Ray Weir, a licensed broker from Finance Solutions in WA, said brokers whose livelihood depended on completing the Certificate IV would have done so months ago.

“When I entered the industry in WA in 1984, it was a licensing requirement that I complete “Finance Broking Practice 1 & 2” at Perth TAFE, which took 1½ hours per week attendance at TAFE classes over 10 months to complete,” he said.

But Peter White, national president of the FBAA, could not help but have a dig at his rival, questioning if the move was not just a way to cover up membership shrinkage.

White said the Certificate IV had been a requirement for FBAA brokers “for some time”.

“We have given members leeway up until their next renewals to complete it. It’s tied in with legislation,” he said.

“Certificate IV a farce” Not content with dismissing the MFAA as irrelevant, culled broker Bob Thompson said the process brokers went through to obtain their Certificate IV was a “farce”.

“Every BDM that ever conducted an accreditation course has always made it an open book exam, and if you weren’t sure of the answers, they would give you the correct answers on the spot,” he said.

“When I paid for my Cert IV course, the individual I spoke with told me ‘no one ever fails, just give me a ring if you have any problems’.”

“So I have now been culled because I haven’t completed one of these farcical courses.”

Thompson said he found it impossible to get past the first lesson where he was asked to “send copies of two e-mails which proved I knew how to communicate with clients”.

“Duh!” he said.

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News

Capped product via brokers sends “strong message” BankWest’s head of retail sales, Mark Reid, says the banks’s decision to offer its new capped rate home loan via brokers sends a strong signal of its commitment

Mark Reid

to the third party channel. The discounted standard variable interest rate product, which BankWest claims is the only one of its kind in the market, is capped at 7.5% until 10 November 2012. Customers have access to a variable rate that is comparable to the current market average.

The discounted variable rate will be priced at 30bps below Bankwest’s current rate. Rates can decrease, but they cannot exceed the capped rate.

“We’re really excited about offering the product to the broker channel,” said Reid.

“I think that by extending this unique home loan product to the broker industry, we are sending a strong message about our commitment to the channel.”

“By offering this product beyond the retail channel, we are

Brokers expect industry bodies to lobby on their behalf A high proportion – 14% – said industry bodies should organise lender/broker forums, providing support for future roundtable discussions such as the one hosted by the MFAA in April.

MFAA CEO Phil Naylor said in general the responses seemed to confirm what previous MFAA surveys have shown.

“Obviously we will be awaiting the results of the MFAA Strategic Review, which incorporated a member survey,” he added.

FBAA president Peter White the survey results were “right on the money,” in particular the top two (lobbying and helping brokers comply with regulations).

On the issue of training and education, he pointed out that the FBAA was not a registered training organisation, but said it did see its role as facilitating education and training by experts in their fields. White said he was also pleased to see that brokers

did not see industry bodies as providers of social events.

These he said were best organised by aggregators and lenders. “That is why the FBAA does not have a conference.

There is no need to do it as well,” he said.

What do you see as the role of industry bodies post-licensing?

27%

to lobby on behalf of brokers

22%

to help comply with new regulations

20%

to provide training and education

14%

to facilitate lender/broker forums

8%

merely as a requirement to keep lender accreditations

4%

to organise social events/networking/conferences

2%

no role for them

3%

other

Source: 2009 Australian Broker Regulation Survey

While the MFAA awaits the outcome of its strategic review and the FBAA puts the final pieces of its industry co-op into place, brokers have made it clear where they believe these two organisations should be heading post-licensing.

More than a quarter of the 340 brokers who took part in the Australian Broker Regulation Survey said the most important role for industry bodies moving forward was lobbying on behalf of their members.

Just over a fifth said their role should be to help brokers comply with the new credit rules, while 20% said they should facilitate training and education.

acknowledging that we recognise the important role that brokers play in the success of Bankwest as an organisation and that cultivating this relationship important to us,” he added.

But the proof will be in the pudding. In July last year, BankWest drew flak from brokers when it pulled its most popular product – Rate Tracker – from the market because it hit “volume hurdles”. In February this year the bank made amends by releasing a new version of the product – Rate Tracker Ultra – available for brokers to sell.

Reaction to the new capped product on Brokernews was mixed, with one reader pointing out the numerous fees attached to the product including a ‘purchase fee’ equal to 0.15% of the loan amount. Another said the 0.3%

discount did not stack up against other variable discounts.

But other readers gave it the thumbs up, describing it as “innovative” and attractive to borrowers who want to protect themselves but don’t want to take on a three-year fixed rate product.

Another broker said “in a volatile market, any reassurance for the client is good.” But they added that the fees associated with the product would put them off selling it.

Bankwest’s head of mortgages, Dean Gillespie, said the new offering was reflective of what Australians want from a home loan product. A recent Bankwest/ MFAA found that 75% of respondents think interest rates have hit a low point. In addition it also found less than 60% have a clear preference when it comes to fixed and variable loans.

“Many people who don’t have a definitive preference when it comes to fixed or variable loans would benefit from a home loan that offers the advantages of both,” Gillespie said.

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News

Read informative profiles of broker industry leaders at www.brokernews.com.au

FBAA rejects diploma as industry entry point The FBAA has once again put itself on a collision course with the MFAA after attacking its rival industry body’s plans to make a diploma the minimum entry point.

This follows MFAA CEO Phil Naylor’s disclosure that his organisation intends to raise its educational requirement from a Certificate IV in Financial Services (Finance and Mortgage Broking) to a diploma qualification “over the next few years”.

Key points  FBAA rejects MFAA diploma plans  says “bolstered” Cert IV should be entry level  diploma only needed for industry specialists  brokers still angry that Diploma in Mortgage Lending is not recognised

FBAA chief Peter White called the suggestion “crazy” and said while work needed to be done to “bolster” the Certificate IV course, a diploma qualification should only be for those people who want to take their qualifications to the top end of the profession.

“Not everyone wants to be a specialist. A lot of people just want to be GPs,” White said.

He said that the FBAA, in conjunction with law firm Clayton Utz and training provider AAMC, had presented its model to ASIC. The plan allows for brokers to rise through the ranks from entry point to diploma level and then on to an “independent certification”.

However, he said requiring someone who might just be an authorised credit representative working for a licensed broker to hold a diploma was “not clever”.

“But we do need more than the Certificate IV,” he added.

White’s comments come as more brokers join Mark Caesarowicz, director of Positive Lending Solutions, in demanding that their Diploma in Mortgage Lending (DML) be recognised as a Certificate IV equivalent.

The Diploma, which was offered by the Securities Institute of Australia (now part of Kaplan) and was previously supported by the MIAA, is not recognised by the MFAA due to it being a “lending course” that does not focus on broking.

But brokers who have completed the course claim it’s a far harder course than the Certificate IV, and are demanding it be recognised.

One broker wrote on Brokernews: “If we cannot have this Diploma recognised as an acceptable qualification by the MFAA now, I along with hundreds of others who completed the recommended course will be seeking a solution that may mean a new director, a new national board, and the reimbursement of my course fees of about $3,000.

Kaplan has told Caesarowicz that it is unable to give an

Phil Naylor

automatic exemption into the Certificate IV for students that have completed the DML course.

Instead, it has advised diploma graduates to undertake the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) procedure. Kaplan will then determine, taking industry experience into account, if the graduate should be given an exemption into the certificate.

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www.brokernews.com.au

News movers & shakers Name: Robyn Strickland From: PLAN Australia To: Capel Court Financial Services Title: Business Development Manager Robyn has been in the finance industry since 1982, working at NAB, St.George, IMB and most recently as a Commercial BDM for PLAN. Robyn takes on the role of Business Development Manager in NSW to focus on expanding the use of the financial service offering provided

by Capel Court Financial Services, which includes loan packaging, a contact centre and aggregation.

Name: Steve Lake From: Mortgage Broker Principal To: Capel Court Financial Services Title: Business Development Manager Steve takes on the role of Business Development Manager in Victoria, having occupied similar positions at CBA, Mortgage Choice, Macquarie Mortgages, NBG and TMP. Steve’s experience in retail mortgages will be invaluable in assisting Capel Court Financial Services expand its offering to existing mortgage professionals .

Name: Tony Crossley From: Mortgage Choice To: brandmanagement/CoreData Tony Crossley joined the financial consultancy firm on 31 August 2009.

Before that, he held a number of senior positions with Mortgage Choice – most recently that of Chief Financial Officer.

His experience includes a spell as CFO of Macquarie Securitisation. Andrew Inwood, brandmanagement/CoreData principal, said “Mr. Crossley will bring further expertise into what is already a very successful market operation.”

Resentful brokers to struggle most with regulation: UK experience The worst way to approach regulation is with cynicism – because it is the people who resent it the most that find it difficult, according to Robert Sinclair, director at the UK’s Association of Mortgage Intermediaries.

He made this point at the UK broker panel discussion on coping with both the GFC and impending regulation, which formed part of St.George Bank’s Flame study tour to England.

But don’t love it either, Sinclair added. “You should never be afraid to push back against regulation. The regulator must operate in a way that you respect. It should understand your industry enough for you to be demanding of it,” he said.

Paul Welch, managing director of the UK firm largemortgageloans.com, advised brokers to find ways to add value at every step of the process.

Welch also said that brokers should get into what he termed “survival mode”. He said this involved looking for ways to outsource and cut costs.

“Be as lean as possible. Saving 1–2% in five different areas will make the business 10% more profitable,” he said.

Andrew Montlake, communications director at The Coreco Group in London, recommended keeping the lines of communication “very open” with lenders, as well as each other.

He also said it was important to do things correctly “right from the start”, and deal with each client “as properly as you can”.

“Extract the maximum value out of every client, and make sure they feel valued too,” he said.

Key learnings on coping with GFC and regulation • be demanding of the regulator • add value at every step • be as lean as possible • keep all communication lines open • extract maximum value

from each deal • recessions always provide

opportunities Montlake agreed with Sinclair that the impending regulation was something that ought to be embraced, not feared.

“It’s not as scary as you might think it is, and even provides opportunity in places you might not recognise at the moment,” Montlake said.

Speaking on surviving the GFC, John Cupis, managing director of the UK aggregating firm Mortgages & GI – whose business fell 80% during the meltdown – said that every time a recession struck opportunities arose.

The trick is to cut costs “to the absolute bone” and maintain your client relationships, he said.

“We have been trimming costs for the last 18 months, but with the benefit of hindsight we should not have done it that way around. Rather, we should have taken more drastic action earlier to put us in a better financial position,” he said.

Being financially solid allowed him to capitalise on the opportunities and emerge “significantly stronger”.

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News Licence benefits: a professional industry free of rogues clear understanding of which behaviours are required.

In comparison, only a handful of brokers thought that the main benefit of licensing was encouraging more consumers to use a broker, or putting brokers on a par with financial planners.

And it also threw cold water on any suggestions that being a licensed broker would make it easier to charge consumers a fee, with just 2% of brokers listing this as the main benefit of holding an Australian Credit Licence.

Eugenia Pessios, from Finance National in Melbourne, summed up the mood: “It will remove those who are in the industry for a quick buck, professionalise our industry, and bring in some governance that is needed.”

Christine Tyler from Pengar Finance in Frenchs Forest said brokers would be perceived as being held accountable; while Tony Fimeri from Greg Davies Financial Services said licensing would create a barrier to new entrants, which is “good for current brokers”.

Interestingly (and of potential concern) 15% of brokers selected none of the options offered in the survey, and judging by the number of individual comments which just said “no benefit at all” or made negative remarks, a significant proportion of brokers will become licensed purely because it is a statutory requirement and view it as unnecessary red tape.

Alan Johnston from Comet Home Loans said he saw very little benefit for brokers, with the only beneficiaries being the banks; while Tim Gaspar from CreditLogic in Adelaide did not see any benefit and said “rogues will still get through the system”.

Survey: red tape and fees the biggest concerns

administration of the new rulings and compliance. “How long will it take to rework the legislation if it doesn’t deliver the expected outcomes?” she asked.

John Taylor, from the Mortgage Office in Adelaide, was concerned about “managing time for new regulation and study”.

Catherine Gook, from Independent Financial Services in Melbourne, said the “burden of extra annual fees” would be significant for part-time brokers or those only writing a few loans per month. Jenny Leonard, from Jenerate Financial Planning in Cronulla, said the extra time spent on compliance “detracts from business planning”.

The government has talked up the benefits for consumers in the licensing of brokers and other credit intermediaries, but those who took part in the 2009 Australian Broker Regulation Survey saw far greater benefits for themselves.

By far the biggest benefit, according to two-fifths of respondents, would be the perception that they are part of a professional industry.

A quarter said it would rid the industry of rogues, while 15% said it would give them a

According to respondents to the 2009 Australian Broker Regulation Survey, complying with the new rules will not be a problem – but keeping up to speed with the paperwork and bureaucracy might be.

Two out of five brokers said their biggest concern was the administrative burden and the time that would be spent away from their businesses complying with the new regime. The cost of compliance was also a key concern, with nearly a third of brokers (31%) worried about fees.

On the positive side just one in ten brokers said their biggest worry was complying with the new rules – an indication that most are happy with what the government has proposed to date.

Similarly, less than 10% expressed fears about licensing penalties being too harsh and were chiefly worried about disclosure requirements or the prospect of reporting to ASIC. Comments from some respondents suggested a

Top three benefits  brokers will be perceived as being more professional  it will rid the industry of rogue brokers  clear understanding of what behaviours/actions required Source: 2009 Australian Broker Regulation Survey

relatively upbeat mood with regard to compliance.

Steve Lake from CFS in Melbourne said: “Not really concerned. Gotta do what we gotta do and it benefits all in the end anyway.” Lauryn Weatherall from Australian Mortgage Brokers in SA was upbeat: “I don’t have any concerns. I believe it is all positive for the industry.”

However, Cary M Laue from Oxygen Home Loans in Sydney was concerned about the

What is your biggest concern about being a licensed broker?

5%

5% 7% 10%

42%

 administration burden (time not spent writing business)  the additional costs  complying with the new rules  new disclosure

31%

 licensing penalties will be too harsh reporting to ASIC Source: 2009 Australian Broker Regulation Survey

Brokers expect significant decline in numbers As the MFAA moved to cut ties with 1,500 members, results from the 2009 Australian Broker Regulation Survey revealed that the vast majority of brokers expect numbers to decrease as a consequence of regulation.

Over half of brokers expect a drop in broker numbers greater than 15%; while more than two fifths (43%) expect a more modest decline of between 5% and 15%.

Only 5% of brokers do not expect numbers to change at all, and 1% expect the number of participants to increase.

Many brokers expressed the hope that regulation would result in a clean out of the rogue elements of the industry.

Danielle Polatsdidis, from Peppercorn Mortgage Services in Victoria, said: “This will probably remove some ‘cowboys’, but we will have to see its real impact after a couple of years.”

Linley Morris from Perth-based Opening Doors said she hoped it cleaned up the industry on the East Coast, a sentiment shared by AFG broker Paul Beviss from Littlehampton in SA who said: “Hopefully it will clear out those that should not be in the industry.

Looking at it from a somewhat different viewpoint, Susan Kennedy from Kennedy Financial Solutions in Maroochydore said she hoped it would “entice more legitimate brokers while pushing out the ones that do not represent the industry correctly”.

Terry Boag from Peel Finance Brokers in WA expected the loss of brokers to be higher outside his home state: “There will be a small decrease in WA, and a much larger decrease in the other states,” he said.

Brokers were concerned that licensing would force smaller and specialised operators to quit.

Steve Guyett from Executive Business Finance in Sydney wrote: “It would appear that small operators both in mortgage and chattel finance are being pushed out. It seems aggregators have the lenders’ ear and we need the likes of the FBAA to help small brokers maintain their established businesses.”

Wayne Shepard from Chase Mortgage in Adelaide was even more certain about the fate of smaller operators: “The single broker operation will be finished in five years,” he said.

www.brokernews.com.au

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For all the latest mortgage industry news visit www.brokernews.com.au

Facebook success for brokers The use of social media networks as important business tools was highlighted when two Aussie brokers arranged a mortgage for a borrower via their Facebook page.

Serge Scekic and Jim Sharif used their Aussie Dee Why Facebook page to tell family back in Serbia about their mortgage broking business. But it turned into a business tool when a

customer sent a “friend request” to them and then e-mailed asking about their service.

“He said he was a first homebuyer and was interested in getting pre-approval for a loan,” Scekic said. “I sent him a questionnaire – which outlined his needs and preferences for a home loan – and he completed it and sent it back straight away.”

Scekic then submitted the application to the lender and the customer signed the papers for his first home loan soon after.

“He came into the office to sign up for the loan,” Scekic said.

“I knew what he looked like from his Facebook profile, but it was the first time I had met him in person.”

Scekic said it was an unconventional way of doing business, but had been quick, convenient and easy for both him and the customer.

However, given this success, Scekic he said he was definitely looking at doing more of it in the future.

Aussie founder and executive chairman John Symond said the ‘Facebook deal’ was another example of Aussie’s entrepreneurial spirit. He applauded the innovation displayed by Serge and Jim. “The combination of popular social media tools and great faceto-face service has proved to be a great option,” he said.

It may not have pioneered the use of social media to attract business or promote itself, but Aussie has made a habit of using it to its advantage.

Earlier this year, it promoted a television advertising campaign (which featured mortgage broker Duane Brown parachuting out of a plane) via YouTube and Facebook updates.

“We sold 18 loans via Facebook” The posting of the Aussie story on Brokernews as a possible ‘industry first’ resulted in the predictable claims from others that they had already used Facebook to similar, if not better effect.

One reader (Boris) wrote in claiming that selling loans on Facebook wasn’t “rocket science”: “We have had a company-branded Facebook page for about a year [not Aussie] and have originated at least 18 loans from contacts as a result of re-connecting. This has also resulted in third-party referrals. I am sure others have done better.”

For more online chatter on this subject go to: http://www.brokernews.com.au/news/breaking-news/aussie-brokersarrange-loan-via-facebook/37049

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News

No sudden switch off of bank guarantee Financial Services minister Chris Bowen has ruled out any hasty withdrawal of the government’s guarantee of retail and wholesale deposits.

Regarding the guarantee of wholesale funds, Bowen said the pricing mechanism that had been put in place ensured that banks won’t use it for any longer than they need to “because it is expensive”.

“We did that on purpose so it would naturally wean off, and we’re been involved in discussions throughout the G20 about the future of the guarantee. You can’t just one-off withdraw the guarantee. It would leave Australia’s financial system exposed if we simply

withdraw it as a matter of urgency ... while other countries keep it in place,” he said in an interview on ABC Breakfast TV. To date over $100bn has been raised by banks since the introduction of the guarantee in October last year, the majority by the Big Four banks.

Bowen also defended the government’s guarantee – despite it giving major banks an advantage over their smaller rivals – saying it had prevented a major banking collapse occurring in Australia.

He said the bank guarantee had been “absolutely vital in ensuring continued confidence in, and the sustainability of, the Australian financial system.”

McGurk listed as director of short-term lender Murdered Sydney property developer Michael McGurk ran the short-term lending business Bentley Smythe, based in York Street in the Sydney CBD. McGurk is listed as the director of the Sydney-based business on its website with the following biography: “Michael transformed his vast knowledge of construction into being a successful property developer over the last 15 years. His extensive knowledge of all facets of property, finance and construction allows him and his teams to turn deals around and place Bentley Smythe as a lender

of opportunity. He has become a due diligence expert that strengthens every deal as soon as it is placed in front of him.” The company, which uses mortgage brokers as introducers, lends between $1m and $100m on loan terms of a between one month and a maximum of 12 months.

The Sydney Morning Herald described the company as a “last resort loan business”.

McGurk was gunned down outside his Cremorne home on 3 September. According to the SMH McGurk’s real name is Michael Rushford. It reported that Rushford, who arrived in

Key points  no sudden withdrawal of govt guarantee planned  govt expects banks to wean themselves off it due to cost  Abacus and ANZ among organisations calling for it to stop  big banks pay up to 80bps less than smaller lenders for funds

“We need to remember the type of environment we were dealing with when we brought this guarantee in. It’s been very important in ensuring that Australia is one of the very few developed countries around the world not to have a run on a financial institution,” Bowen said.

Under the government’s guarantee system, the Big Four banks (which have higher credit ratings) have been able to secure funding at half the cost of regional and second tier banks (which have lower credit ratings).

With the improvement in credit markets and overall easing of the GFC, the government has come under pressure to wind back the

program from smaller lenders and non-bank lenders who have been virtually locked out of the lending market.

Abacus, the body representing credit unions and building societies, has urged the government to find an alternative solution to allow non-banks back into the market.

Investment & Financial Services Industry chief executive Richard Gilbert has called for a roll-back of the scheme as soon as is practicable, while ANZ chief Mike Smith has also called for it to be ended.

Sydney in the 1990s, was being chased by Customs officials for overstaying his visa.

Rushford flew to New Zealand via Fiji and returned to Australia with a new passport and a new identity: Michael McGurk.

“Apart from having two identities, McGurk also had two personalities. To his family and friends he was a doting father and generous fund-raiser but in business he was ruthless and violent,” the paper reported.

Industry ties  According to media reports surrounding the murder of Michael McGurk,

the property developer and lender had close ties with the mortgage broking industry.  The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Clinton Sarina, a finance broker and business associate of McGurk, was interviewed by police following his murder.  According to SMH, Sarina was inside McGurk’s Cremorne home when he was killed and stayed there for several hours comforting McGurk’s widow following his death. There is no suggestion that Sarina is a suspect in relation to McGurk’s murder.  The Daily Telegraph said McGurk was due to meet with two associates at The Republic Hotel in the Sydney CBD on the day of his death, one of whom was a mortgage broker identified only as the “Black Prince”.

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AFM extends relationship with Adelaide Bank Mortgage manager Australian First Mortgage (AFM) has continued with its expansion into the commercial space, after revealing that from mid-September, accredited brokers will be able to offer Adelaide Bank commercial products. This follows AFM being appointed to Adelaide Bank’s panel of commercial lenders.

Founding director of AFM, Iain Forbes, described the move as a “big win” for the mortgage manager.

“In keeping with the AFM culture, the entire team is totally committed to the company’s continued national success by providing excellence in good old-fashionedservice, quality products, competitive pricing, professional staff, the further formation of strong alliances and the exploration of creative value-driven ideas and solutions,” Forbes said.

AFM’s main selling point will be its experienced team, with brokers and clients dealing with three senior commercial specialists, Forbes, fellow director David White and Noel Brown.

In recent years AFM has introduced leasing and hire purchase facilities to its product range.

ANZ: brokers role goes beyond mortgages ANZ has attributed its top customer satisfaction ranking among the majors to its convenient banking philosophy, and has highlighted the “independent advocate” role brokers play for its customers.

According to the June Nielsen Financial Services Monitor, ANZ outperformed its rivals in both the percentage of satisfied customers (62%) and the percentage who would recommend the bank (52%).

Most recent annual results show that 46% of ANZ mortgages are written by brokers. A spokesperson for ANZ said the bank understood that “brokers provide the independence and advocacy that many customers are looking for when choosing their next home loan”.

“As a result, we need brokers as advocates of ANZ ensuring they continue to recommend and share details of our home loan products, but equally explain the quality and breadth of the full banking services they can expect from ANZ,” the spokesperson added.

ANZ (along with NAB) has not imposed minimum volume requirements on brokers to keep their accreditation. The spokesperson said ANZ is the only major Australian bank to stick to the same brand and customer strategy, namely ‘More Convenient Banking’.

This strategy was introduced in 2004 following customer research that showed customers ranked access to convenient branches and ATMs, straightforward fees and engaged staff as the most important decision factors in choosing a bank.

Major banks’ satisfaction ratings % of satisfied customers

% customers who would recommend

Market share

1.ANZ

62%

52%

23%

2.WESTPAC

57%

46%

21%

3.NAB

54%

42%

14%

4.CBA

53%

45%

34%

Source: June 2009 Nielsen Financial Services Monitor

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News

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RAMS encourages brokers to lodge online

Now that it has introduced a paperless mortgage application process, RAMS Home Loans is encouraging brokers and franchisees to ditch their fax machines and submit applications electronically.

The non-bank lender will continue to accept faxed submissions for the “foreseeable future”. But since electronically lodged applications are prioritised, a spokesperson said it was “in the best interests of brokers and franchisees to submit applications electronically”.

The new paperless loan application process was introduced in September

following a trial period. Tony MacRae, head of operations at RAMS, said the new technology would “improve the processing capability of RAMS by reducing manual touch-points throughout

Key points  RAMS implements paperless processing  brokers can still submit loans via fax  loans submitted electronically will get priority  faster processing times expected

Young borrowers (and some oldies) seek out brokers Brokers looking to grow their businesses should consider tailoring their marketing strategies to those less than 40 years of age, while there is also interest from the over 60s club.

According to the latest MFAA/BankWest Index Report (September 2009) the borrowers most likely to use a mortgage broker are those under 30, with more than a third (36.1%) indicating a preference for the third party channel. This was followed by those aged from 31 to 40, where 26.9% turn to industry professionals when looking for a mortgage.

Brandmanagement, which conducted the survey, explained this finding by saying it was possibly due to younger respondents not having established relationships with

financial institutions, and therefore more likely to explore options and alternatives.

These findings compare well with Genworth’s recent Mortgage Trends survey which revealed that young Aussies were the most open to using a broker: 58% of Gen Y borrowers had already done so, compared to 54% Gen Xers and 46% of Baby Boomers.

Somewhat surprisingly, while the general trend in the MFAA/BankWest report was for borrowers over 40 years of age to favour using banks, more than a quarter of borrowers aged over 60 showed a preference for using brokers – far higher than those aged between 41 and 60. This might be an indication of the growth in equity release products and a growing disgruntlement with the service provided by

the loan application process.”

MacRae added: “This, in turn, will lead to faster processing times and a better experience for RAMS franchisees and brokers.

Ultimately, it will mean a better experience for RAMS customers.”

Besides allowing brokers to send in their application forms via fax, borrowers will still need to physically sign documents – however, all forms will now be received electronically by RAMS, MacRae confirmed.

The launch of paperless processing is part of a wider program by RAMS that will see an increase in the use of elodgement of applications and the introduction of automated pre-approvals.

RAMS was one of a number of lenders that initially struggled under the weight of increasing volumes earlier this year.

In April, a RAMS BDM reported that it was over a month behind in reviewing mortgage applications.

Besides implementing the new paperless system, RAMS has also cut ties with around 18 lowvolume aggregators in an effort to keep service levels up.

MacRae said RAMS anticipated the introduction of paperless mainstream lenders. The findings about younger borrowers validate the decision by many brokers to set up Facebook, Twitter and other social media presences in an effort to cater to these more internet-savvy borrowers.

Tony MacRae

processing would not only minimise the amount of time spent locating files and retrieving information “but will critically lead to an improvement in conversion rates.”

The non-bank lender will also reduce its carbon footprint in the process - the new system is expected to reduce the amount of paper used by approximately 21,000 reams per annum, the equivalent of 105 tonnes of CO2, as well as significantly reducing distribution and storage requirements.

MacRae said RAMS’ credit and operations teams were already up to speed with the new systems, which has completely cleared their desks of folders.

Mortgage Choice updates borrowers and its franchisees via a Twitter feed and its senior corporate affairs manager Kristy Sheppard said recently that it was getting “some traction” via social media.

Home loan source by age of respondent (%)  Non-bank lender  Building Soc

 Mortgage Broker  Credit Union  Bank

100.0 90.0

6.2

7.4

6.1

80.0 70.0

19.7 36.1

30.9

21.2 8.1 4.0

60.0 50.0

5.8

2.1 3.1

6.4 2.1

46.4

47.9

21-30

31-40

28.6

7.6 1.5

40.0 30.0 20.0

57.2

51.5

57.1

51-60

61 & above

10.0 0.0

41-50

Source: September 2009 MFAA/BankWest Home Finance Index

18 www.brokernews.com.au

News

Market halving sets UK and Australian markets apart One of the things that has affected the UK mortgage market more than its Australian counterpart is the material contraction in the amount of mortgage finance available, according to Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at UK broker group John Charcol.

Speaking to a group of top-end Australian brokers and aggregator heads at St.George’s Flame study tour in London, Boulger said the way that UK lenders had reacted to the strangled liquidity conditions

Key points  material contraction in available mortgage finance  lenders react by curtailing approval conditions  LVRs reduce from 130% to less than 90%  affordability replaces income multiple method to set limits

was to drastically curtail their lending approval conditions.

In the UK, in the year after the onset of the GFC, newly written mortgages reduced from £316bn to just £150bn.

In Australia, housing credit maintained a modest single digit growth for the same period.

“It was common for LVRs to be higher than 100% before the credit crunch – and in some cases borrowers could get a loan of up to 130%, he said.

Now most lenders calculate the amount customers can borrow on an affordability basis. As a result, most banks are reluctant to lend above 90% LVR. To get anywhere close borrowers need a ‘good’ credit score. So most who apply for 90% get turned down, said Boulger.

Lending before the GFC was done using an income multiple method “and typically the standard would be four times a single income or three times joint”.

In certain cases income multiples have actually increased. This has been a result of the lenders’ use of affordability calculations.

As you might expect, this scenario applies to customers without significant debt and high savings.

“So translating affordability back into income multiples – which is what all brokers still do to get a reasonable idea as to what lenders will lend – we find that good quality customers with a high credit score and a high level of earnings can get as much as five times earnings,” said Boulger.

Perhaps less surprisingly, customers with lots of other financial commitments cannot borrow as much now as they could on the ‘old’ income multiple basis.

Ray Boulger

Improper records contributed to UK meltdown: industry body

In the early years of regulation in the UK, while it was true that all brokers were required to take exams and be certified, no one kept any records.

According to Stephen Atkins,

founding director of the UK industry body AMI, there was no central register of who had passed the exams.

“All these guys were applying to the FSA, ticking the education

box, and the FSA just let them all through,” said Atkins, who worked for the FSA (the UK’s equivalent of ASIC) for seven years during the period it established the regulatory framework for mortgages.

It was a mess, he added.

“Everything got pushed to one side because we were all making good profits, and no one wanted to hear that the industry not being regulated properly would cause a problem in a few years’ time.”

Atkins called the decade long period from 1997 (when subprime lenders first entered the market) to 2007 (when the economic meltdown began) “the heady years” in the UK mortgage industry.

It was a time in the UK when everyone – borrowers included, were cashing in on an extraordinarily buoyant property market, he said.

As the headlines in England now hint at early signs of economic recovery, the industry too has been tightened up with

Key points  UK regulator fails initially to file proper records  many unqualified brokers stream into the market  1997 – 2007 the heady years for UK property market  regulator has fixed the error as UK heads into recovery  aggregators assisted in tidying up

proper records now being kept – but the mistakes of the past did come home to roost.

“The networks (aggregators) were being beaten up by the FSA to be really careful about who they took on. But they applied much more detailed checks than the FSA, and they found as many as 20% of the people that said they had passed the exams hadn’t,” he said.

Atkins is currently a member of the working committee involved in the FSA mortgage regulatory review.

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19

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industry NEWS IN BRIEF FAST adds insurance provider to panel

The aggregator FAST has continued to diversify its product offering after adding insurance provider Australian Life Insurance (ALI) to its product panel.

The addition of ALI will give FAST brokers access to ALI’s mortgage protection insurance. FAST already has a number of insurance offerings available to its brokers including advice-based products, while the ALI offering is a no-advice model. ALI CEO Tasso Papachatgis said there was a “growing recognition that there is an opportunity – and indeed a responsibility – for brokers to ensure their clients are offered protection”.

Melbourne trumps Sydney’s growth

Melbourne properties staged a stunning performance during the first seven months of the year, with median prices jumping by a whopping 8.5% to $454,524, according to RP Data-Rismark International’s Home Value Index. Sydney properties also grew solidly, albeit slower compared to Melbourne. Median price climbed by 6.64% during the same period. “Melbourne’s median value is 19% or $112,000 lower than Sydney house values, reflecting a significant difference in values. This may be one of the reasons why Melbourne’s housing performance has been so strong,” the report said.

Darwin continued to outperform the rest of Australia, racking up 10.8% growth in value over the first seven months of 2009. The city also recorded the highest gross rental yield – 6.4% for houses and 6.2% for units.

Interest in home ownership rising: Homeloans Ltd

One in six Australians will consider buying a house in the next 12 months, according to a recent national survey conducted by listed mortgage manager Homeloans Ltd. Its online and telephone poll revealed that nearly 17% of Australians would consider buying a house compared to just 7% of respondents who had purchased in the previous year. Homeloans national marketing manager Will Keall described the results as “very encouraging signs for the mortgage and property markets”.

“Many have anticipated a decline in market appetite to buy property following the reduction of the Government’s First Home Owner Grant, which takes effect on 1 October,” Keall said.

“However, the first homebuyer market represents 52% of those looking to buy in the next 12 months, many of whom have been consciously saving for a deposit over recent months.”

Bidding war intensifies as buyers battle it out at auctions

Auction activity across most capital cities continued to strengthen with the number of auctions held jumping significantly over the week ending 30 August. Melbourne recorded a 29% increase in the number of auctions to 698.

Sydney was up by 8% to 435, while Brisbane saw an increase of 18% to 98 over the same period.

Canberra achieved a 100% auction clearance rate, while Melbourne and Sydney recorded 81.9% and 77.4% clearance rates respectively.

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Column

Marshall Goldsmith is a world authority on helping successful leaders achieve positive, lasting changes in behaviour. Dr. Goldsmith’s 24 books include What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, an NYT best seller, WSJ #1 business book and Harold Longman Award winner for Business Book of the Year. He has been recognised as one of the world’s leading executive educators and coaches in Business Week, the Economist, Forbes and The Times of London.

LEADERSHIP

Do you have an excessive need to be yourself?

Each of us has a core group of actions that make up who we are. Many of them stand us in good stead in our business dealings but there may be others that impede progress, as Marshall Goldsmith explains in his excellent article first published in the Harvard Business School newsletter.

O

ne of the 20 annoying habits discussed in my book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, is “an excessive need to be me.” What do we mean by “an excessive need to be me? ” Each of us has a pile of behaviours that we define as “me.” These are the behaviours, both positive and negative, that we think of as our unalterable essence.

While many of these “me” behaviours may be positive (eg, “I am smart” or “I am hard working”), some may be negative (eg, “I am a bad listener” or “I am always late”).

If we buy into our behaviour definition of “me,” which most humans do, we can learn to excuse almost any annoying action by saying, “that’s just the way I am!”

Some years ago, I worked with a CEO who was generally regarded as a great leader of people but was seen as lacking in the ability to provide positive recognition.

As we reviewed his 360-degree feedback report, he snorted, “What do you want me to do, go around praising people who don’t deserve it? I don’t want to look like a phony!”

Marshall Goldsmith

“Is that your excuse for not giving recognition? ” I asked.

“You don’t want to look like a phony? ” “Yes,” he replied. He then went into a tirade about why he shouldn’t give recognition: • He had high standards – and people didn’t always meet them.

• He didn’t like to hand out praise indiscriminately,

positive recognition? ” “Probably.”

“So please explain to me why aren’t you doing it.”

He laughed and replied, “Because it wouldn’t be ME!” That was the moment when change became possible. He realised that he was not only hurting his employees’ and company’s chances for success — he was hurting his own chance for success.

He realised that he could shed his “excessive need to be me” and not be a phony.

The payoff was enormous.

Within a year his scores on giving recognition were in line with his other positive scores on leadership.

The irony was not lost on him. He accepted the fact that the more he focused on his employees, the more they worked to benefit the company – and that benefited him.

If we buy into our behaviour definition of “me,” which most humans do, we can learn to excuse almost any annoying action by saying, “that’s just the way I am!”

•

because this cheapened the value of praise when it was deserved.

He believed that singling out individuals could weaken the team.

I asked him, “Why can’t doing a great job of providing positive recognition be you? It’s not immoral, illegal, or unethical is it? ” “No,” he conceded.

“Will it make people feel better? ” “Yes.” “Will they perform better as a result of this well-deserved

It’s an interesting equation: less me + more them = more success as a leader.

Keep this in mind the next time you find yourself resisting change because you are clinging to a false – and probably pointless – notion of “me.”

Marshal Goldsmith’s articles and videos are available online at MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com and he can be reached at Marshall@ MarshallGoldsmith.com

22 www.brokernews.com.au

Feature

Regulation: a new era Professional status

Brokers clearly see licensing as being a benefit for themselves, as much, if not more so, than a benefit for consumers.

Forty percent of brokers who took part in the survey said being “perceived as part of a more professional industry” would be the main benefit of being licensed, while more than a quarter (26%) said it would rid the industry of rogue brokers.

Just 2% of respondents said the biggest benefit would be that more consumers would be willing to use a broker – an indication that brokers already believe their value to consumers has been sold.

ED C N ER E C LI ROK B

 More than 340 brokers took part in the 2009 Australian

Broker Regulation Survey aimed at gauging how the industry feels about being part of a federally licensed industry. The results reveal that brokers are indeed ready, but concerns, challengers and fears remain

O

n the 1 November, the industry enters into a new era as those brokers who wish to obtain an Australian Credit Licence begin registering for one with ASIC. They have two months to do so. Once registered, they will then have six months from 1 January 2010 to obtain a licence.

All aboard (well nearly everyone)

And the good news is that the industry is mobilising en masse to begin the registration process.

Ninety-seven percent of brokers who took part in the survey said they intended to register, as good a barometer as any that the industry is all set to embrace the new regime.

Will you be registering 3%

 Yes  No

97%

Survey breakdown  342 brokers took part  45% are MFAA members  28% are FBAA members  72% have 11 or more years industry experience  54 AFG brokers, 50 FAST brokers, 44 PLAN brokers, 27 Connective brokers  27 Choice brokers and 16 National Brokers Group took part (among others)

Of the 3% that do not plan to register for a licence, the reasons given ranged from: uncertainty about whether they needed to register; the cost involved; and the possibly mistaken belief they did not need to register to continue operating.

“I am unsure at this stage because I have another separate business venture, and if that succeeds then I will cease finance broking completely, said Debbie Mosselson, a broker with Demdov Investments in St. Ives.

Ann-Louise Allen from Equipment Finance Professionals in Queensland said “cost” would be the “deciding factor” in her decision to register.

One in four expect a bumpy ride

We asked brokers how confident they were that the transition to becoming a licensed operator would be a smooth process. The results revealed a high level of confidence.

Only 12% said they were “very” confident, but nearly two thirds (60%) of brokers said they were either “somewhat confident” or “confident”.

However, more than a quarter of brokers (28%) expect it will be a bumpy ride obtaining their licences, replying that they were either “not very confident” or “not at all confident” about the transition process.

Confidence that transition will be a smooth process  Some what confident

7% 12% 34% 21% 26%

 Confident  Not very confident  Very confident  Not at all confident

Benefits of regulation 40%

Brokers will be perceived as being more professional.

26%

It will rid the industry of rogue brokers.

15%

Clear understanding of behaviours/ actions required.

2%

Consumers will be more willing to use a broker.

2%

Brokers will be on a par with financial planners.

2%

It will make it easier for brokers to charge a fee.

*Remaining responses listed as ‘Other’

Interestingly (and potentially of concern) 15% chose of brokers selected none of the options offered in the survey, and judging by the number of individual comments which just said “no benefit at all” or made negative remarks, a significant proportion of brokers will become licensed purely because it is a statutory requirement. They view it as unnecessary and pointless bureaucracy, which may create compliance issues.

Red tape and fees

According to respondents, complying with the new rules will not be a problem – but keeping up to speed with the paperwork might be.

Two out of five brokers said their biggest concern was the administrative burden and the time that would be spent away from their businesses complying with the new regime.

The cost of compliance is also a key worry with nearly a third of brokers (31%) concerned about fees.

On the positive side, just one in ten brokers said their biggest worry was complying with the new rules, an indication that most are happy with what the government has proposed to date in its draft documents and policy proposals.

Similarly, less than 10% expressed fears about licensing penalties being too harsh.

Brokers were more worried about disclosure requirements or concerned at the prospect of reporting to ASIC.

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What will brokers be doing to prepare for licensing?

3.3 out of 10 – will undertake additional training 2 out of 10 – obtain Certificate IV 1 out of 10 – join an EDR body 1.3 out of 10 – plan to set up IDR process 1 out of 10 – join aggregator, franchise, bigger group

writers to obtain their own licence (a potential added business cost) or appointing them as authorised representatives and taking on the risk burden of any breaches of credit rules.

The survey found brokers relatively evenly split on what they plan to do. However, a clear majority (57%) said loan writers would be required to get their own licences, with the remainder authorised to act under the licence holder.

Brokers who do employ additional loan writers commented that they were either uncertain about what they would do or had not yet made a decision either way.

Confidence in ASIC Preparing for licensing

More than a third of brokers will be undertaking additional training before applying for a licence.

In response to questions about what they would be doing to prepare their licensing application, nearly one in five brokers (17%) said they would be obtaining their Certificate IV (the proposed minimum educational requirement), while a further 20% said they would undertake additional training above and beyond Cert IV. John Carroll, from Harbour Mortgages in Shellharbour, said he was currently completing a Diploma of Financial Planning; while John Taylor from The Mortgage Office in Adelaide said he was completing a diploma and looking at “other avenues of study”.

Nicole Rajkovic, from Pengar Finance in French’s Forest, said all her admin staff would complete Certificate IV. “Hopefully industry bodies will create a new type of membership for admin staff that requires CPD points and ongoing training,” she said.

A high proportion of responses indicated that most brokers are satisfied with the qualifications they have already acquired and are raring to go.

PLAN broker Jeff Crew from Victoria wrote succinctly: “All in place ready to go.”

Many brokers are also setting up their businesses to comply with dispute resolution requirements, with 11% saying they would be joining an external dispute (EDR) resolution body and 13% preparing to setting up an internal dispute resolution process (IDR) One in ten brokers said they would be joining a aggregator, franchise or bigger broker group, indicating a desire for brokers to be affiliated with an organisation with better economies of scale or offering perceived greater security.

Get your own licence

We asked brokers how they felt about ASIC’s ability to take on its new role of credit industry regulator.

The results will most likely please the watchdog with nearly two-thirds of brokers saying they were either “confident” (25%), “somewhat confident” (32%) or “very confident” (7%).

Just over a third (36%) though said they were either “not very confident” or “not at all” confident”.

Comments in this section came predominantly from brokers unhappy about ASIC’s new role.

Andrew Townsend, from John Baggott and Associates in Sydney, said ASIC did not have a good track record with preventing anything and “react with more regulation after any failure of a business that they are supposedly overseeing”.

Steve Bayly from Go Loans in South Australia questioned how active ASIC would be in policing the industry, while a number of brokers expressed fears about “over-regulation” and unnecessary bureaucracy.

Aggregators expected to help

Brokers will be expecting more help from their aggregators than from their industry bodies in registering and applying for a licence.

Getting a licence: where will you turn for help?

3%

2% 1%

14% 15% 36% 19%

46% 48%

 my aggregator/ franchise/broker group  FBAA  MFAA  no one  other  a lawyer  colleague

Under the proposed new credit laws, brokers will have the option of requiring their loan

Loan writers: authorised credit rep or ACL holder?

43% 57%

 be required to obtain their own licence  be appointed as authorised credit rep

Nearly half (46%) said they would turn to their aggregator, franchise or broker group for help, while only 19% said they would ask for help from the FBAA and 15% from the MFAA. Instead, brokers listed the chief role of industry bodies post-regulation as lobbying government on behalf of members, followed by helping them comply with the new regulations and as training and education providers.

Fourteen percent said they would not require anyone’s help in obtaining a licence.

Despite many law firms gearing up to provide licensing services, just 2% said they would turn to the legal fraternity for help on this front.

Compliance will be relatively easy

Brokers appear to have taken the hundreds of pages of policy proposals and compliance requirements in their stride. The responses to the question “How difficult do you think it will be complying with the new regulations?” suggest a modest level of concern.

How hard will compliance be?  a bit challenging

5% 7%

 easy  quite challenging

11% 48% 36%

 very easy  very challenging

More than a third of brokers (36%) said complying with the new rules would be either “easy” or “very easy” while by far the largest proportion of brokers (48%) said it would be “a bit challenging”. Only one in ten (11%) said it would be “quite challenging” while just one in twenty said it would be “very challenging”.

Michael Robinson, a PLAN broker from Cronulla said: “Most brokers should already be compliant. Time wasted with registering and the additional cost is the challenge.”

Other brokers commented that apart from additional paperwork, time spent and cost, they were not concerned about complying with the new licensing requirements.

Complying with different aspects of regulation

We asked brokers to rate the level of ease, or difficulty, of complying with key aspects of the proposed licensing requirements: • Having “fit and proper” people in your business to satisfy ASIC’s organisational competence requirement.

• Having measures in place for monitoring and supervising authorised credit representatives • Meeting dispute resolution obligations • Meeting requirements re: adequate resources • Meeting the general conduct obligations • Meeting training and requirements Overall, the results were very encouraging with more than two thirds of brokers saying it would be “easy’ or “very easy” to comply with all of the above requirements.

Most encouragingly, 91% of brokers said it would be easy complying with general conduct obligations (not putting a borrower in an unsuitable product) – the cornerstone around which the new credit rules are built.

A very high proportion – 79% – said meeting dispute resolution obligations would be easy, while a similar number (72%) expressed confidence that they had “fit and proper” people in their business.

Responses suggested the trickiest area would be having adequate resources (IT, HR and system) with only 45% saying this would be an easy area of compliance. A third of brokers said it would be “a bit challenging” having measures in place for monitoring and supervising authorised credit representatives, and only 50% said this would be an easy area to comply with.

24

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Feature

Australian Broker in London:

Diary of another world in three days St. George’s recent Flame Study Tour to the UK saw its top-end brokers and aggregator heads covering London from top (courtesy of the Eye) to bottom (in the Underground). AB journalist Tim Neary was there, and regularly blogged on the trip. Here are his reflections.

Day 1: Tuesday

The airplane trip from Sydney to London is brutal.

We arrive at Heathrow with the sparrows and are picked up by a beaming driver called Bill. He’s still thrilled about England and the Ashes.

It’s too early to check into the hotel so Mortgage Choice broker Michele Hutchen and her delightful mum, Anne, take me under their wing.

We make our way through Buckingham Palace which is very posh. I ask a fellow in Royal blue with red trim: “Is the Queen here?” He looks at me as if I’d just crawled out of cheese. Turns out she’s in Scotland.

No one told me!

Later, the conference is opened by Steven Heavey at a penthouse barbeque. The hotel service manager addresses us too, and says he’s “really nervous about making a barbecue for a bunch of Aussies”.

Heavey promises an eventful two days ahead. The UK broker market has thinned; first in response to regulation, and then as it adapted to the onset of the global financial crisis.

The delegation mood is buoyant. Granted, the real work is yet to begin. But without exception the brokers and aggregators who I have spoken to are upbeat about how business is progressing.

The two most-often asked questions are: how much worse off has the financial crisis left the UK market, and how disruptive will moving into a strictly regulated environment affect what is left of it?

Tomorrow it’s off to The Long Room at Lord’s for insights into these issues from UK colleagues.

Day 2: Wednesday

Earlier, I’d scrounged to find an old tie for the trip to Lords. No open necked shirts allowed – along with no photographs of the Long Room and the Ashes urn.

First on the agenda is an address by Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at UK broker group John Charcol.

He tells us the mortgage market in the UK was reined in somewhat by the introduction of regulation, but it was the recession that hurt it the most.

The statistics back him up. New mortgages written reduced in value from £316bn ($561bn) in the year before the recession’s onset to just £150bn ($266bn) last year. Additionally, falling house prices have left 2.5 million mortgage owners in the UK in negative equity – despite being current with their bank payments.

The Space Media Centre at Lords

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We also hear from Stephen Atkins, founding director of the leading industry body in the UK – the AMI. He takes us through the UK’s path to regulation in detail.

It seems the seeds to economic meltdown were sown in 1997 when the subprime lenders entered the market looking for an easy buck.

In the afternoon Grenville Turner group CEO for UK mortgage broking firm Countrywide Plc takes us through his very successful business model.

Having picked the brains of a wide array of UK experts over the last few days of the conference, the feeling is that between ASIC and the mortgage industry itself, the impending process has been well thought out It’s based on maximising the value of local brands and aggressive cross selling to diversify income sources.

Turner walks his talk. Countrywide, he tells us, operates 35 brands from nearly 1,000 individual branches around the UK. Last year it settled 39,000 mortgages; and from them it cross sold 38,500 general insurance and 32,500 life insurance policies.

Consensus at the end of Day 2 is that while the details might be different, the Australian and the UK markets are a lot more similar than had been anticipated.

But today isn’t only about the business. After lunch we toured the hallowed cricket ground.

It starts in the overseas team’s change room and balcony, passes through the spaceship replica media centre and ends in the Museum – where we get up close and personal with the tiny Ashes urn.

Day 3: Thursday

Today is Lender Day and Broker Panel Day at the hotel.

In Britain we learn that a ‘man’s home is still his castle’.

And this aspiration means there is a pent up demand for property that is likely to drive property prices up in the long term, according to one of the UK lenders that addressed us at the hotel.

“Sixty percent of all adults still regard property as a good investment,” the lender says.

But not all is similar in the property market between the two countries.

During the course of the day we were introduced to the unlikely occupation of a ‘packager’. It doesn’t take long for one of the Flame brokers to ask the question “what is a packager?”

It is a middleman between the broker and the lender, performing – for a fee – the verification ‘work ups’ on a loan application.

Once the audible chatter subsides the same broker says out loud what everyone else is thinking quietly.

“Well how good are the UK brokers really if they can’t put a complete application pack together?”

Actually it’s not quite like that. It is explained the ‘packager’ concept had developed out of the rapid growth during the heady days in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before regulation and the onset of financial crisis had put the brakes on the industry.

The broker panel discussion after lunch provides a good opportunity for the Aussie brokers to pick the brains of their UK counterparts and drill down into some of the detail about the legislation and credit crunch matters that have put the UK market back onto its heels.

Mortgage Choice chief Michael Russell closes the conference by saying firstly how much he appreciated the “British-ness” of the brokers on the panel. One of them referred to enduring the GFC as being “bloody awful”.

Russell says we would have used an altogether different set of words to describe it.

Then he declares the Flame Study Tour a resounding success and says of all the takeaways, perhaps the key one is the need to get back to basics and return to looking after the interests of the customer – as the industry resolved to do 15 years ago.

Then, with the conference over and the work all done we all proceed to get high.

No madam, not like that. On a clear day atop The London Eye (the giant Ferris wheel alongside the Thames) it is said you can see just about forever. It is a clear day, and accordingly, I can now vouch for that statement.

At the close, the mood among the all of those on the tour (brokers, St.George and aggregators alike) is one of confidence going into the regulation era in Australia.

Having picked the brains of a wide array of UK experts over the last few days of the conference, the feeling is that between ASIC and the mortgage industry itself, the impending process has been well thought out.

This means there is no reason – despite some ambiguities which exist still – to expect regulations implementation will be anything but a success.

As one of the UK brokers told the group, “Don’t be afraid of regulation. But don’t love it either – keep challenging the regulator”.

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Feature

Software: are you buying what your vendor is selling? support service, or include nonbinding ‘target’ response times only. In those circumstances, a customer that is unsatisfied with the support it is receiving may have no remedy. Also, Standard Terms often permit the vendor to unilaterally vary the nature and scope of the support services, or exempt the vendor from performing if the customer fails to comply with any of a long list of customer obligations.

IP infringement indemnity

Having the right software is vital to running a successful broking business. Lawyer Alfonso Valenti from Minter Ellison highlights what you should look out for before signing up for any new piece of software

S

oftware vendors make many claims about the reliability and capability of their products, and the potential they offer for cost savings and efficiencies. However, in what can be a surprise for the unwary customer, standard vendor licence and support terms (Standard Terms) frequently contain restrictions, limitations and exclusions that do not reflect those claims.

This article identifies some of the onerous terms we regularly encounter in Standard Terms.

Licence scope – who can do what to who?

Software vendors offer a myriad of licence scopes and metrics for different software, which are usually subject to a number of licence restrictions. A customer needs to carefully review the licence scope to make sure it meets the customer’s intended use of the software. Consider a right to ‘use the software by up to 50 Named Users.

Questions a customer should be asking might include: • who or what is a Named User?

• can a third party contractor be a Named User?

• how does the Named User metric operate in particular circumstances, for example, in the case of batch processing?

• is a right to use the software sufficient (additional rights will be required if the customer will itself support the software)?

Warranty

Standard Terms often: • warrant that the software will materially comply with the vendor’s user documentation for a limited time (90 days is common), but exclude all other warranties to the extent permitted by law, and • limit the vendor’s liability for breach of the warranty to repair or replacement of the software or, if neither is possible, a refund of the software price This means that any additional warranties regarding functionality, fitness for purpose or compatibility need to be negotiated (and are generally strongly resisted).

Support – all care, no responsibility?

Frequently, Standard Terms do not include any service levels for

In the case of a third party intellectual property infringement claim (IPR claim), the vendor frequently limits its liability to: • the cost of defending and settling the IPR claim and meeting any judgment finally awarded by a court, and • if an injunction is granted against the customer’s use of the software, at the Vendor’s election: • modifying or replacing the software, or • refunding a portion of the software price based on a pro rata deprecation of the price over a fixed period Ultimately, the customer will not be able to recover any other losses or costs associated with an IPR claim, including: • losses arising from an inability to use the software, • costs associated with monitoring, and assisting in the defence of, the IPR claim, and • the costs of procuring alternative software, including costs of running any tender processes

Exclusions – what are the inclusions?

Standard Terms frequently contain exclusions and limitations of liability that would not be accepted in other industries, and are not justified by risk allocation principles. Vendors commonly exclude liability for indirect, special, incidental, and consequential loss, lost profits, loss of revenue, loss of data, loss of anticipated savings, and loss of goodwill. Some of those terms (including consequential loss) have uncertain legal meaning, but could operate to leave the

customer with little or no remedy for the vendor’s breach.

Negotiating a fair deal

A customer should focus negotiations to address the key business drivers for the software, and the risks and losses that are likely to arise. In the case of reputable and widely used standard software, warranties aplpying to functionality may be less important and a customer may focus on negotiating the license scope to ensure that it meets actual business needs.

If a vendor refuses to negotiate, a customer should assess the business case for the procurement in the context of the relationship between the parties and the restrictions, limitations, and exclusions in the Standard Terms.

A different deal for ‘consumers’ – implied warranties and unfair contracts

The Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) offers some protection to customers purchasing from a corporate vendor where the software (and any related services): • is of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use or consumption, or • does not exceed $40,000 in price – in the form of certain implied conditions and warranties that cannot be excluded (but that can be limited in some circumstances).

The Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Bill 2009 has been introduced into parliament.

If enacted, the bill will permit a customer to void an unfair term in a standard form consumer contract. Under the bill, a term is ‘unfair’ if: • it would cause a significant imbalance in the parties’ contractual rights and obligations, and • it is not reasonably necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the party advantaged by the term.

This article first appeared in Minter Ellison’s TMT News. www.minterellison.com

www.brokernews.com.au Clifton Warren is a specialist with extensive experience and track record in helping companies in sourcing, managing and developing top talent. He can be reached at: cliftonw@claytonandshuttleworth.com.au

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Web guru Sam Benjamin answers questions from readers on how to get the most out of their online presence. If you have any questions on online marketing, please e-mail them to asksam@financetools.com.au

techie corner

top ten tips

Generating traffic and leads Web guru Sam Benjamin tells brokers how they can attract visitors to their website without having to spend thousands of dollars on search engine optimisation

Q

Leveraging your time High performing sales professionals achieve great results by focusing on getting things done and leveraging their time for maximum effectiveness. Clifton Warren offers nine leveraging strategies for brokers to consider Tip 1: Use checklists Use checklist as reminders for repeated items such as sales questions, processes, favourite restaurants, birthdays, keep these list handy in your diary or on your PDA for easy access.

Tip 2: List action items Use lists to forward plan and keep track of your ideas and goals. Create several list categories such as phone calls, prospects, gifts, shopping, actions items and goals. Your lists are living documents that require regularly updating, set aside time each week to revise action items.

Tip 3: Learn to type Learn to type. You will get things done faster and with less effort.

Tip 4: Buy tickets in bulk Purchase public transportation travel in multiples or bulk, eliminating the problem of not having the correct change.

Tip 5: Use gps systems Use mapping software to pre-plan your activities. Print the directions or pre-program your GPS with your daily sales calls. Add repeated items to your checklist. Mapping programs will also provide estimate travel times to your destinations to assist with your daily planning.

Tip 6: keep a supply of loose change Keep a good supply of coins safely stashed in you car for parking meters and ticket machines.

Tip 7: before you walk out the door…

Leave any important items required the next day by the front door to ensure that you do not forget anything.

Tip 8: buy plenty of shirts Have a minimum of one week’s supply of business shirts; if you travel, keep a two-week supply.

Tip 9: have your shirts pressed Send your shirts to be cleaned and pressed. This will cost just a few dollars a week and will guarantee that you always have a pressed shirt handy.

Tip 10: small things add up Separately, each of these items represents small segments of time that when incorporated into your day will dramatically increase your effectiveness. This will allow you to get more things done with less effort.

What are your Top Ten Tips?

What is your area of expertise? Do you have some top tips you’d like to share with our readers? Send your ‘Top Ten Tips’ on any topic which you feel may be useful to your fellow brokers to brokernews@keymedia.com.au. Please include a brief biographical note and a hi-res photo of yourself.

How do I get more traffic to my website and generate more leads without outlaying hundreds of dollars on search engine optimisation?

(Bob, Revesby NSW) Sam: One of the most overlooked ways to generate website traffic is through the use of your existing database and clients. As the internet is all about information, people will spend a lot of time on a website if it contains useful information on the topic they are researching or interested in. So if you combine these two concepts by creating an informative website and direct your clients and prospects to it, you set yourself up for online success.

There are many ways in which you can create an informative site and have the opportunity to capture more leads. Ensure the content is professionally written and presented. There is nothing more damaging to your business than information which may be inaccurate, incomplete or poorly presented. If you don’t have the necessary skills to do this, there are many organisations that can do it for you. Here are some suggestions: E-Booklets – include a professionally written booklet on a topic which is relevant to your site visitors. This could be a guide for first homebuyers, a Loan Process Guide etc.

Ensure the E-Booklet is attractive and not a chore to read.

It could be available in PDF format for instant download after the prospect enters their e-mail address for instance, or as a flash presentation.

E-Learning courses – sending out a series of e-mails automatically to a site visitor after they enter their e-mail address into a form is a great lead capturing option.

Plus you are providing useful information to the client or prospect which if constructed correctly they are able to forward on to a friend or relative.

Frequently Asked Questions – providing a list of the most common questions your clients may have is both useful to the client and consequently to your business.

The clients benefit by getting their queries answered, and you do not have to answer the same questions over and over again.

Checklists – you can include downloadable checklists on any topic that comes up frequently with your clients. The aim of this is to provide information to the client which is useful and thus valuable to them.

Articles – write an article on a topic you are an expert on and include it on your website. Articles with a high density of keywords on your chosen topic should rank well.

Free Reports – some brokers have subscribed to products offered by the likes of RPData or Residex and are able to provide their clients with property reports.

This is high value information which the client will clearly benefit from. Offering the free reports to your site visitors will naturally increase traffic and lead capturing.

Building a site rich with information and ideas is part of the process. The other part is to get the word out to as many people as possible. Using a newsletter or simply e-mailing your database to advise them of the availability of the information is vital to generating the web traffic.

Ask them to forward the link to your site on to anyone they know who could be interested in the information.

Do they know any first home buyers who would benefit from the new E-Course you have available? Do they know anyone in the market for a new loan who would like to read the new E-Booklet on property investing? This is only limited by your imagination.

Creating a website that is an information portal is the easiest way to create interest. People will return to your site to revisit the information available, and will also refer the site to their network of friends and relatives which in turn will generate traffic for your website.

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News off the cuff

cont. from cover

>>

Gus Mendez Title: Loan Service Australia’s director and CEO

Gerald Foley

What was the last book you read?

Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.

If you did not live in Australia, where would you like to live?

It’s between southern France (for culture, lifestyle and mountains) and New York (for just being in the middle of it all).

If you could sit down to lunch with anyone you like, who would it be?

Since I’m a huge sports fan: Lance Armstrong, Diego Maradona and Pele. I would ask Lance to stir up an argument between the other two.

What was the first job you ever had?

Before uni, I unloaded containers full of toilet paper.

Being head high in it, I learnt the benefit of having a good process when my co-worker – in his 60s – loaded pallets a lot faster than me.

What do you do to unwind?

I don’t. But I need to. It’s pretty hard with the business, four kids and sports.

What’s the most extravagant gift you ever bought yourself?

My mountain bike.

Which CD is currently playing in your car stereo?

The Police and James Morrison.

If you could give anyone starting out in business one piece of advice, what would it be?

Stay focused and filter the noise around you.

If I was not working in the mortgage industry, I would like to be…?

A professional adventure racer.

Where was the last place you went on holiday?

Great Ocean Road with the family.

What is the one thing most people would not know about you?

I love endurance sports; mountain biking, adventure racing and running. But I’ve stopped turning up to the office in Lycra after some staff threatened to resign!

aggregator. Through media and other communications there have been some mixed messages which may have caused a level of confusion which hopefully a broker’s aggregator can sort through.”

He added that once the details were known, briefings would be held and then assistance given to nMB brokers in applying for a licence and understanding the new requirements Overall, the survey found that nearly all brokers (97%) intend to register for an Australian Credit Licence (ACL) and equally high number (91%) believe it will be easy to comply with the general conduct obligations at the heart of the new legislation.

Only one in ten brokers said complying with the new licensing regime would be quite a challenge, with the biggest concerns being about meeting adequate resources requirements in IT, systems and HR, as proposed by ASIC. The biggest concerns remain the administrative burden and the cost of licensing. Two out of five brokers said their biggest worry was the administrative burden, and nearly a third of brokers (31%) listed fees as their chief concern.

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Insider

Got any juicy gossip, or a funny story that you’d like to share with Insider, drop us a line at insider@ausbroker.com

Try typing this into Internet Explorer

I

nsider finds it’s strange that the MFAA appears unfazed that its old URL (www.miaa.com.au) now directs users to a website called ‘The Real Estate Search Engine’ (www.rese.com.au).

The MFAA says it no longer owns the URL, which looks like it has been bought by ‘Electronic Communities’, the business developing the automated property search tool.

According to the homepage, RESE is looking for volunteers to beta test its new software and it surely must be no coincidence – given the nature of the search engine – that it has chosen the former URL of Australia’s peak mortgage and finance association.

Call Insider sentimental and an old fool, but would it not make better sense for the MFAA to

keep its old URL and re-direct to those searching for information about the MIAA to its ‘new’ brand identity?

You’d think so given how often the mainstream media still refers to it by its old name.

The master…and his apprentices

W

ith word-of-mouth spreading about the soon to be aired Aussie version of The Apprentice, it will be interesting to see what impact the show has on Mark Bouris’s latest business venture, the holistic advice business Yellow Brick Road.

Bouris is a master at using the media to his advantage (anyone who saw the ABC’s Australian Story profile of him a few years back will attest to this) and with

due to them not completing their Cert IV within the prescribed time frame.

That’s the impression you got if you read the Mortgage Choice press release supporting the intervention, which referred to the member clean-out as a “cull”– a term more commonly used to refer to the systematic slaughter of unwanted animals using guns and other machinery.

Pretty harsh – though at least it made sense in the context of the MFAA actions.

The same could not be said for the ‘Broker Success’ newsletter sent a day after the MFAA announcement by the Oasis aggregation group, who ran with the headline “MFAA express 1,500 brokers” which gave the impression that the industry body had either employed the services of Australia Post or was trying to get rid of a few pimples. the prize on offer being none other than a gig at Yellow Brick Road, Insider feels there’s only likely to be one real winner when the first season has run its course…

‘Culling’ and ‘expressing’ brokers

O

nce again on the subject of the MFAA, you’d be forgiven for thinking blood had actually been spilled when it decided to ‘axe’ 1,500 brokers from its member ranks

Who is the ‘Black Prince’?

L

ike just about everyone else, Insider has been hooked on the intrigue surrounding the slaying of property developer and shady money lender Michael McGurk.

The crime has all the makings of a pulp fiction pot-boiler, drawing in people from government, sport and finance… and now mortgage broking.

Indeed a mortgage broker, known only as the “Black Prince” may be a key figure to unravelling the mystery of who killed McGurk.

According to an article in The Daily Telegraph, McGurk told a friend, Richard Vereker, on the day of his death that he was due to have a meeting with the two associates at The Republic Hotel in the Sydney CBD– one of whom is believed to be the mysterious broker.

The plot thickens…

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Services

Australian Mortgage Awards 2009, 25th September, The Westin Sydney. Secure your table at www.australianmortgageawards.com.au

AGGREGATOR / WHOLESALE BROKER AMB Origination 1300 55 1118 www.ambo.com.au page 13 PLAN Australia 1300 78 78 14 www.planaustralia.com.au mail@planaustralia.com.au page 5 Banks St. George Bank 1300 137 532 page 3 COMMERCIAL Banksia Financial Group 1800 333 114 www.banksiagroup.com.au page 21 DEBTOR finance Real Factor www.realfactor.com.au info@realfactor.com.au page 4 Scottish Pacific Benchmark 1300 332 867 www.spbgroup.com.au enquires@spbgroup.com.au page 10 LENDER Citibank Mortgages 1300 651 059 www.mortgagebroker.citibank.com.au page 9

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Eurofinance 02 9252 8311 www.eurofinance.com.au page 15 Homeloans Ltd 1300 787 866 www.homeloans.com.au page 31 MKM Capital 1300 762 151 www.mkmcapital.com.au page 8 MORTGAGE MANAGER / NON-BANK Better Mortgage Management 1300 662 661 www.bettermm.com.au info@bettermm.com.au page 32 Mango Media 02 9555 7073 www.mangomedia.com.au page 1 NON-CONFORMING Liberty Financial 13 11 80 www.liberty.com.au page 7 Pepper Homeloans 1800 737 737 www.pepperhomeloans.com.au page 14 OTHER SERVICES Residential Mortgage Fund 1300 632 737 www.residentialmortgagefund.com.au page 11

www.residex.com.au The House Price Information People

Residex 1300 139 775 www.residex.com.au page 30 RP Data www.rpdata.com page 25 Trailerhomes 0417 392 132 page 28 SHORT TERM LENDER Crown & Gleeson 1800 735 626 www.crownandgleeson.com.au page 2 Interim Finance 02 9971 6650 www.interimfinance.com.au page 6 NCF Financial Services Pty Ltd 1300 550 707 www.ncf1.com.au page 19 WHOLESALE Resimac 1300 764 447 www.resimac.com.au newbusiness@resimac.com.au page 17

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