MY BUSINESS

From London to Raglan

Loan Market Raglan's Brett Wood talks about his journey from the London tourism sector to life in laid-back Raglan.

BY MATTHEW MARTIN

What was your motivation to get into the mortgage broking/lending business?

I did a business degree then worked in tourism for five years but wanted a career change to put my degree to good use. I landed in London on my OE in October 2001, a month after the Sept 11 twin tower attacks. There was zero tourism so that fast-tracked the initial move into the industry. Years later, back in NZ, the GFC fast-tracked my move to starting my advice business. After two redundancies in a row I had ended up in a finance role that I hated, so decided to take control of my life and start as a mortgage adviser – in the middle of the GFC with a new baby!

How long have you been in the business and where did you learn your trade?

I’ve been in the mortgage industry 20 years – with 12 years as a mortgage adviser. My first mortgage industry role was in London as a BDM for a "mortgage packager". I knew nothing about mortgages and my role was to visit mortgage advisers, convince them to use our services and find lenders for their clients – I had to learn a lot quickly. Then I came back to NZ and worked as a BDM for Bluestone for three years. This role showed me how the good advisers did things … and the not so good advisers showed me how not to do it.

Why did you decide to base yourself in Raglan and what have been the challenges/advantages in setting up your business there?

After living in Sydney and London, I was desperate to live by the beach. I knew once kids arrived the surfing would suffer so Auckland wasn’t an option. Peter Wood and Ali Toumadj at Bluestone supported the move and so my wife Megan and I gave Raglan a try for six months. We’re still here 16 years later. Raglan was a challenging place to start a mortgage advice business for sure and particularly so in the GFC conditions. The population is about 3,000 and back then nothing was selling. I had to look further afield and did a lot of driving in the first five years. What that’s led to is a diverse range of referrers and clients around the country.

Finding experienced support staff in Raglan is impossible. I’ve always had to train staff up from the ground, which initially is hard work. But it means when looking at candidates it’s more about the right attitude and ability and willingness to learn which has worked out well.

You’ve won a few awards recently, what do you think are the reason/s behind your recent successes? What makes you stand out among the many people in your trade?

A few of the awards are purely volume based but the latest is more on how the business operates. We have to settle a lot of loans to compete with city based advisers as the average loan size is about half of what a central Auckland adviser would have. With settling a high level of loans comes exposure to a lot of scenarios so when a client calls the chances are we’ve recently dealt with that scenario or close to it which I think helps. I keep in close contact with some of NZ’s highest performing mortgage advisers to get ideas on improving our workflow and workshop applications – that’s super important at the moment. Being a Raglan based financial adviser I probably have a more casual approach than most but that’s not at the cost of professionalism – I think clients like that.

How do you reach out to new clients? Is this via social media, advertising?

Near 100% of our business comes from existing clients and referrals. I do have a poor excuse of a business Facebook page but it’s more to add to my online presence as most referrals Google search me before calling these days.

How did you cope during the Covid-19 lockdown and has this hurt your business, or made it stronger?

The first three weeks of the March 2020 lockdown were intense with hundreds of phone calls from stressed borrowers, existing and new. That was difficult with two kids at home and with Megan working and studying. I spoke with about 500 of our clients in those first three weeks and was constantly emailing useful information to our entire client base. A lot of deferments and interestonly were arranged but we also moved people who arranged deferments directly with their banks once we’d talked with them and explained the consequences.

Ultimately I’d say Covid has strengthened my business as our clients and referrers experienced that we’re here with quality advice and information when it really matters. I’m picking that in such a turbulent environment more people are seeking advice so they can make better informed decisions which is great to see.

What is a typical working day for you?

I get to the office at 8:30am, do a pipeline meeting with the team, receive a phone call every eight minutes, try sneak a surf in if the waves are pumping, reply to as many emails as I can, leave the office at 5:30pm with 50 more emails than when I got in. I’ve given it a good nudge in those hours so I don’t work after 5:30pm or on the weekends.

What was the best piece of advice anyone has given you? And the worst?

The best advice was “don’t complain about the market until you have 100% market share”. As a newbie in an incredibly tough market that helped me stay positive and prosper while I was seeing experienced competitors shut up shop. The worst was a “friend” who told me I was an idiot and I’d lose everything. There’s a high chance he could’ve turned out right of course but I didn’t listen.

What are your long-term business goals?

I want to increase settlements by 60% within the next few years by expanding the team and improving the workflow. Introduce AI and other tech to free up time. I want the business to be an ingrained part of the Raglan community and for it to support local clubs, charities and schools. I’m looking at succession and planning with my accountant now for how best to position for that in the future.

How have you adapted to the new financial adviser regulations? Has this been an easy process for you?

Loan Market and NZFSG have made the transition fairly painless. The new systems are smooth and flow well and there’s now the tech to support the advice we’ve been giving, be compliant and have a more professional presentation. ✚

• From

Born in Sydney to a Kiwi mum, moved to New Plymouth as a oneyear-old. Kerikeri for high school. Raglan for 16 years.

• Family

Wife Megan, kids Ava (12) and Emmett (9).

• Out of work interests

Surfing, music.

• Film/TV show

The Mighty Boosh.

• Favourite book

Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life.

• Favourite music

Varied, nothing you'll find in the top 40.

• Motto

Experience yields insights.