MY BUSINESS

Helping to create financial security

BY ERIC FRYKBERG

Ali Toumadj is director and manager of the Prosper Group, which handles mortgages, insurance, investments and KiwiSaver. He has been working in the financial sector in New Zealand since 1996. He is married with two daughters, aged 20 and 18, and lives in Auckland.

How did you get into this industry?

I studied law at university and met my New Zealand wife in the UK just after I graduated. So, I went with her to New Zealand for 12 months just to see what it was like, and I needed to get a job, so I ended up in banking and finance, with the BNZ and Sovereign.

Once I decided to stay in New Zealand, I realised I would need to do another year of study (to practise law) and the job at the bank was going really well. I had got a couple of promotions, so I thought I did not really want to go back to studying and take a massive pay cut, so I stayed in banking and finance.

You have now worked in the insurance and mortgage sectors for many years, what is the most satisfying thing about it?

It is the clients, it is meeting different people and being able to provide solutions for them. When you can help someone get into their first home and help them realise their dreams, nothing beats it. It doesn’t matter if it's just a small top-up to help clients do their renovations or fund them for a new property, it is very satisfying.

Can you explain how important is your role as adviser in this business?

If it wasn't for the banks, we would not have a job. When they drop the ball, or just provide a poor service, that is an opportunity for us. Over the past 12 or 24 months we have had a number of clients come to us and say “the bank has said no, can you help us?”. We don't do anything differently, we just sit down with them, work through the process and provide a solution.

Why does this happen when the bank ultimately provides the money anyway?

It is the fact that the staff are not consistent, anyone who is worth their salt either gets promoted or leaves to become a broker. The number of times the bank has offered a borrower x and we can give them y, or the banks have said they can't help them at all and we have managed to get them into a home is just so satisfying.

What is the worst thing about your business?

It is all the additional work that is required around compliance. It is probably taking us four times as long as it used to, to get a loan together. There are many reasons for this. The problem is the Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act (FSLAA), it is the CCCFA, it is the requirements that the banks have put on us, everything is really onerous. I have got two people to go through bank statements line by line to identify anything the banks might ask us about. There is no point in submitting an application to the bank without doing that because they will just send it straight back to us.

How do you feel about that?

It is just the way it is, you just have to get on with it. There is nothing we can do about it, we have just got to do the best work we can.

If you had your life all over again, would you do the same thing?

I think so, I think I would do the same thing. It is such a challenging but rewarding industry to be in. It is really down to how much time and effort you are willing to apply. The reality is that if you do a good job, you get repeat business, it is really that simple, do a good job and you get more business, you can’t beat that.

What is your working day like?

It is really phone calls, emails and client meetings and processing work, so yeah. It is worth it, helping others create financial security underpins everything that I do.

Do you have a favourite pastime?

When I am not in the office, I like to go fishing, in the Hauraki Gulf, or in Coromandel. It is the only time I really go to relax. We go out by boat and we try to get a good catch of snapper, which we take home and cook.

What is the biggest fish you have ever caught?

We have caught some monster fish, I once got a bass, which was I think about 30 kilos.

What is your favourite film and what sort of music do you like?

My favourite film of all time would be Scarface, with Al Pacino, and as for music, I am pretty relaxed, I listen to everything, every genre. ✚