12 minute read
Lead: Lessons from the next generation
We talk to some of the industry’s bright young stars about their success stories and hopes for the future.
BY DANIEL DUNKLEY
TMM has profiled some of the leading young advisers in the New Zealand market. We asked a selection of New Zealand’s most experienced advisers to nominate the brightest young talents in their group and the wider market.
Some of the sector’s up-and-coming stars talk to us about their journey into the industry, the positives and negatives of the profession, how they have coped during Covid, and whether advisers will thrive in the future.
What can experienced advisers learn from their younger counterparts?
Lauren Hunter
Lauren Hunter, 26, Mike Pero Mortgages, Waikato
Lauren Hunter, 26, is one of Mike Pero Mortgages’ very best advisers. The University of Waikato graduate has only been a mortgage broker for two years but has risen quickly up the ranks to become one of the busiest MPM advisers in New Zealand.
While studying finance in her native Waikato, Hunter worked for ASB and Heartland Bank. This journey would eventually lead her across the financial services sector to the broking industry.
Hunter joined Mike Pero in 2016, working under boss Jacob Annals as an assistant and relationship manager, and became an adviser after taking her qualifications two years ago.
“It was always my goal when I joined to learn the process and become familiar with all of the lenders’ policies,” Hunter says.
The apprenticeship proved to be a masterstroke for MPM, as Hunter earned the “Rookie of the Year” for 2020, an award given to top loan and insurance writers in the organisation.
Hunter wrote over $30 million in the year to July, comfortably in the top five brokers, based on volume. She has already written more than $14.5 million over the past three months.
Hunter puts her success at such an early age down to hard work.
“I work long hours ... on average about 50 a week,” she says. “About 60 on the higher end when I’m really busy. I enjoy the admin side of the role, and that certainly helps in the numbers I do. I’m quite organised and structured.”
The pandemic was a test for Hunter early in her career, but she says she got used to Zoom calls and working from home under lockdown.
Now the nation is out of lockdown and experiencing a post-Covid sugar rush, Hunter is busier than ever: “We’ve been really lucky,” she adds.
“I’ve been focusing on doing the best job possible for customers, and am getting a lot of personal referrals. I feel that’s coming through from the service I’m providing.”
And the best thing about being an adviser? Helping those who have struggled to get onto the property ladder.
“I enjoy helping people achieve homeownership who didn’t think it was possible and contacted us for help. The people who never expected it to happen.” Her advice to young people thinking about becoming an adviser? “Make goals. Ask for help. Listen to the people around you. And work hard.”
Mandy Jordan
Mandy Jordan, 33, The Mortgage Supply Company/ Astute Financial, Invercargill
For Mandy Jordan, 33, the journey into the mortgage advice profession was all about connections.
Having worked at SBS Bank in her native Invercargill for several years, she struck up a close relationship with The Mortgage Supply Company while processing loans.
After taking some time off to start a family, The Mortgage Supply Company’s David Windler got in touch to offer Jordan some work down in the deep south.
She began working for Mortgage Supply in an admin role, but couldn’t help advising some friends on their mortgages.
“I helped my brother’s friend get into a house. I told him not to tell anyone, but before I knew it, ten people had contacted me in a week,” she says.
Helping a family friend turned out to be an excellent decision for Jordan. She is now Mortgage Supply’s “Rookie of the Year”, owner of the MSC Southland business, and has written more than $60 million in loans in the close-knit Invercargill community.
As a working mother, Jordan says the flexibility offered by the advice sector is a great advantage.
“Aside from changing people’s lives, which is amazing, the ability to be there for my kids is a big achievement.”
Her favourite thing about being a mortgage broker is “meeting people who think they can’t [get a loan], and calling them up to tell them they can”.
“It’s pretty addictive, changing people’s lives, educating them, and helping them to reach their goals.”
As a young adviser, Jordan is keen to use social media, smartphones, and other technology to make the home loan process easier for clients.
“I’m on my phone a lot. We’re big on Facebook Messenger, having chats with the lawyer or real estate agents. We try and keep the language accessible to young people.”
“We know young people prefer WhatsApp and texts to phone calls, so we try to do that rather than email, and make it more user friendly.”
After two years as an adviser, Jordan, like many young brokers, was disrupted by the pandemic.
“But we’ve coped, and the biggest thing has been the open dialogue with head office. We know it’s been tough, but we’ve got the right people looking after us, so we can go out there and put our big-girl pants on and do what we do best.”
She says her business has been even busier since Covid, as banks struggle to service direct clients.
“We’ve been a lot busier due to the pandemic,” she says. “I put that down to a lack of availability of the banks. It’s a chance for us to shine, as we are more flexible. We can look after them over the phone or on Zoom chats.”
Jordan predicts a bright future for the industry – helped by the introduction of FSLAA legislation.
“It’s nothing but positive for good advisers,” she says. “It will make the sector more transparent, and Astute has given us a great grounding in compliance. I can’t see the industry slowing down.”
She offers the following advice to young people thinking of joining the profession: “Passion is key. If you have that you can achieve anything. Surround yourself with the right people, and the sky’s the limit.”
Logan Reardon
Logan Reardon, 33, Loan Market, Auckland
Not many advisers can say they have been in the police force or run a fitness business in their younger years. But Logan Reardon, an adviser at Loan Market in Auckland, has done precisely that.
Reardon ran a CrossFit business for 13 years, with sites across the city of sails. He also spent four years as a police officer and personal trainer for the NZ Police, before a change of career beckoned.
Through friends and contacts, Reardon was enticed to join the mortgage advice industry, settling in at Loan Market in July last year. Just a year into his role as a broker, Reardon has settled $30 million; spanning home loans, business loans, and investor mortgages.
“I had my own mortgage broker, and some people in the industry asked me if I [had] thought about coming across, with my background in business and owning homes. It was a perfect fit.”
Reardon serves the Auckland market primarily, but has clients across New Zealand, including Wellington.
He says the flexibility of the industry is one of the best things about being an adviser.
“It’s been great; I manage to drop my kids off at school most mornings and spend some time with them before work. When we go away, I can take my laptop away with me. In the summer we’ve been able to go camping up in the Karikari peninsula, and I’ve been able to work.”
Reardon was an early adopter of Zoom technology, enabling him to act quickly during Auckland’s recent lockdowns.
“I was using Zoom before Zoom was really a thing,” he says. “I was using that technology for the fact-finding process, so when we went into lockdown, it was business as usual,” he says. “I was pretty much ready to go straight away.”
He describes building a network as one of the biggest challenges for a young adviser new to the industry. But he has used social media to his advantage so far.
“Mainly Facebook. I like to show how I’m helping clients, rather than trying to sell them low interest rates. It’s more about telling stories about how I’m helping my clients. Someone might look at it and say, ‘yeah, that relates to my situation’.”
He has high hopes for the profession’s future, especially as the new robust regulatory regime kicks in in March.
“I think [mortgage advice] is going to be a busier space in the future, with the new regulations coming in. It’s all about giving support to the client, and it will build trust as well. I think the new regulation is great. For some of the advisers that have been around for a while, it might be a bit of a shock, but I started out in the industry with it, I don’t know any different.”
Ruan Chryssafis
Ruan Chryssafis, 36, Mortgage Lab, Manukau/Tauranga
Former ANZ banker Ruan Chryssafis has been an adviser for two years, and like many in the profession, the entrepreneurial, flexible nature of the sector was a big pull.
Chryssafis divides his time between Manukau and the Bay of Plenty for family reasons and says the ability to run his own business and work to his schedule is a big positive for young advisers.
Chryssafis, who has written more than $35 million in business since joining the profession, says there are “huge advantages” to being self-employed, something that resonates with other young advisers.
“It’s a step into the unknown,” says the Mortgage Lab adviser. “But I’m glad I stuck with it.”
The “exciting” nature of helping first home buyers is the biggest pull of the job, he says.
“This is not just a job. You need to wake up with a deep purpose about why you’re doing this, and why it’s such a fun and exciting profession.”
He says helping young families get on the housing ladder, securing homes for migrant families, and helping “homeowners on their investment journey” are rewarding elements of the job.
“It’s the key wealth generator for New Zealanders, so it’s exciting working with people, especially those scraping together to buy that first home.”
Chryssafis says helping clients “save thousands” and “getting people on that first step towards investment” gives him the most satisfaction.
Working through lockdown gave him even more confidence in the future of the sector: “Lockdown showed the rest of the nation how advisers work every day.”
He believes there’s a bright future for the profession, and says advisers should view the new regulation as a positive development to push the industry forward. He expects the new regime to be a good thing for strong advisers.
“The new regulation mandates a greater level of quality conversations and interactions with our clients,” he adds. “This should, in turn, create a more trustworthy industry, which is driven by higher standards for us brokers to adhere to.
“Clients can be more confident in our advice, and advisers are forced to adopt the new regime’s disclosure requirements – a safer operating environment for all.”
Elyce Peters
Elyce Peters, 34, The Mortgage Girls, Christchurch
Christchurch adviser and entrepreneur Elyce Peters made a bold decision to set up her own business as she entered the adviser industry.
After spending several years working for lender National Bank of New Zealand (now ANZ), Peters was approached for a job by several mortgage advisers. She eventually decided to go it alone and set up her own company with former colleague Holly Sullivan.
The business was created in 2015, “literally from scratch with no clients”, Peters says. The all-female company is now one of the most exciting adviser outfits in New Zealand, winning admirers for its fresh approach to financial advice. Peters hasn’t always been a fan of mortgage advisers, however.
“I hated them,” she says. “I didn’t like them while I was at the bank, I thought that they thought with their back pocket, rather than in the best interests of the client. That’s why I wanted to get into the industry, to put the client first.”
The group adjusted quickly to lockdown and Covid conditions this year, continuing to hire new staff and train them through Zoom. “Hats off to Holly who was able to train both new team members really well. We came out of lockdown so much closer and tighter as a group.”
Like many adviser businesses, The Mortgage Girls has seen an upsurge in activity since the Covid recovery, helping 30 new people into their homes in the month to early October.
The group, which aggregates under NZFSG, is set to take its own FAP licence under the new regulatory regime, and take control of its compliance and back office requirements.
Peters credits building the business, helping people into homes, and hiring new employees as her biggest achievement in the profession so far.
“Seeing my team achieve what they’re doing and growing, personally, and career-wise, is great, and seeing what we thought of in 2015 come to fruition.”
She has some advice for young advisers thinking of entering the profession.
“If you have a passion for people, then do it,” she says. “But make sure you have a good mentor to help you along the way, because it’s definitely a rollercoaster.”
“I had a few business mentors, my father being one of them, to push me to do things. It’s good to have someone to bounce ideas off that you can trust, that know you.” ✚
