5 minute read
Brokerage insight
Simplifying finance with smooth processes
A solid background in third party banking has paved the way for Fabio De Castro to create a growing and highly successful brokerage that prides itself on customer choice and smart solutions
SIMPLIFY FINANCE director Fabio De Castro has more than 13 years’ experience in the finance industry, working in both broking and banking roles.
Inspired to open his own brokerage by learning the value of the broker’s role in his earlier career as a banker, he started Simplify Finance in January 2016 and a month later partnered with Oxygen Home Loans to expand his business footprint and referral network.
Before taking the leap into broking, De Castro worked in banking for eight years, lender policies, products and risk appetites.
“This makes for a very efficient, smooth process and experience for my clients, with very little rework and minimal declines.”
At Simplify Finance, which is based on Sydney’s North Shore, De Castro works with a team of eight staff spanning roles ranging from application processing through to customer retention.
The brokerage provides services across both residential and commercial lending, including home loans, investment loans, asset finance, commercial lending, specialist lending
primarily as a business development manager in third party distribution.
“Third party banking gave me exposure to the role of a mortgage broker and their business operations,” he says.
“I was attracted to a broker’s responsibility of giving customers choice and working through a solution best suited to their individual needs. This built my foundation in broking and inspired me to start my own business.”
Having worked in banking, De Castro says he has good relationships with aggregators and others throughout the industry, as well as intimate knowledge of multiple and self-managed super fund lending.
“We’re extremely process oriented, and over the years we have built a team that allows me to focus on building relationships with our customers and referral partners,” De Castro says. “This gives me the confidence that the day-to-day operations are running smoothly in the background.
“Our client base is quite diverse, from first home owners to professional investors. We like to take on a variety of customers as everyone can benefit from our services, from starting your journey to homeownership to building a property portfolio.
“Some of our business comes from word of
BOOM TIME FOR MORTGAGE BROKERS
The MFAA and comparator’s latest Industry Intelligence Service report shows that, in the December 2021 quarter, mortgage brokers:
• facilitated 66.5% of all new residential home loans, compared to 59.4% in the
Dec 2020 quarter • settled mortgages totalling $95.65bn in value, a record for all quarters and a 49.2% year-on-year increase
In the six months from April to September 2021, brokers:
• settled $165.96bn in residential home loans, the highest value in any six-month period and up 54.4% year-on-year • lodged 410,000 home loan applications, surpassing the 400,000 mark for the first time
Source: MFAA and comparator Industry Intelligence Service, 13th Edition
mouth, but referral partners are an integral part of our business as we have a great relationship with McGrath Real Estate via the Oxygen partnership.”
A consortium led by experienced, customerfocused fintech experts acquired majority ownership in the Oxygen Home Loan business in 2021, says De Castro.
“We’re very excited by the tools Oxygen has now created to source mortgage referrals, and also the value-add their technology is providing real estate agents, with new listing opportunities as well as signifi cant data insights.”
In each of the fi ve years since inception, Simplify Finance has experienced year-onyear growth of 25–30%.
“Like most brokers, our business saw substantial growth over the last 12 months. I’m proud to share that in the last 12 months we have lodged just over $374m in applications, De Castro says. “No wonder I’m always tired!”
He adds that a signifi cant investment has been made in the business. This includes setting up the brokerage’s fi rst o ce, hiring two additional sta members, as well as developing and implementing good internal processes that support Simplify Finance and that are also scalable in the longer term.
“These will grow as the business continues to grow. The signifi cance of this is twofold. This was only our fi fth fi nancial year of operation. We also managed the implementation of a series of robust systems and processes, and trained people to use them quickly and e ectively. This is an achievement considering the complexities of the industry.”
Asked what he loves about being a mortgage broker and what motivates him every day, De Castro says being a broker has enabled him to provide clients with choice.
“We want to ensure we’re placing them into a facility that fi ts all their needs and objectives,” he says.
“We take signifi cant pride in having those fi rst few conversations with the client and providing them with the comfort and confi dence to secure their fi nancial goals. This is even more rewarding when we have assisted customers who did not believe this was feasible, or we’re simply helping them prepare for fi nance even if it is months or years away.
“Our business growth year-on-year keeps me motivated to expand our footprint in the industry and evolve our business to keep delivering successful outcomes.”
The team at Simplify Finance look forward to continuing to grow the business, says De Castro, especially its partnership with Oxygen Home Loans.
“Oxygen has unique lead generation technology and will be launching their own ‘15-minute to pre-approval’ digital home loan product later in 2022.”
SIMPLIFY FINANCE AT A GLANCE
Franchise owner: Fabio De Castro
Location: St Leonards, Sydney
Year founded: 2016
Services off ered: Residential and commercial lending, including: • home loans • investment loans • asset fi nance • commercial lending • SMSF lending • specialist lending
Number of employees: 9
