My Business

The sky is the limit

Rising star Lauren Hunter has already achieved more than most in her short career as a mortgage adviser.

BY MATTHEW MARTIN

Lauren Hunter works for the Hamilton branch of Mike Pero Mortgages, where she has had to make more room for numerous awards.

In 2021 alone, these included the Financial Advice New Zealand Rising Star award, the Mike Pero Best Practice Award, and the New Zealand Mortgage Awards Young Gun of the Year. The year prior, she picked up the Mike Pero Mortgage and Insurance Rookie of the Year award.

Judges at the Financial Advice NZ awards said the 28-year-old had a passion for people and for helping them achieve their goals. "In her brief tenure in the industry, her client-first approach and diligence have seen her reputation grow quickly."

One referee believed she was a role model, describing her as “the benchmark for new advisers entering the industry". "We are truly excited to watch the development of this passionate lending adviser. The sky is the limit for this rising star."

What prompted you to get into the mortgage advice industry?

I decided I wanted to pursue a career in finance when I was in year 12 or 13 at school. At that time, it was about making a decision about what to do when we left school.

The problem-solving aspect, goal setting, and enjoyment of working with numbers is why I made this decision.

From there, I enrolled to study a Bachelor of Business Development, majoring in finance, at Waikato University – and while studying I secured a part-time job as a bank teller, meeting a great bunch of people. My favourite paper at uni was a financial planning paper. This prompted me to start thinking about future roles which would enable me to help others with financial literacy, planning and achieving goals.

After graduating, I worked at Heartland Bank, in the retail team, where I gained a lot of skills in presentation, people skills and promoting their products and business.

One of my colleagues from the bank had moved on to Mike Pero Mortgages as an assistant. When he became an adviser, I was contacted and asked to join the team.

I joined in an assistant role to the franchise owner, with a goal of becoming an adviser – and I did that within a couple of years.

Why are you passionate about financial advice?

Our finances are a really important part of our lives. I enjoy helping people with their goals and guiding them to achieve them.

The judges of the Financial Advice NZ Rising Star award commented on your communication skills and habitual processes. How do you approach the business differently from other advisers?

I am really focused on customer service – it’s the most important part of my job - and communication is a huge part of this.

I'm an organised and structured person, but I can also cope with being flexible.

I haven't focused a lot on marketing, rather on the people I am helping. This in turn has resulted in a word-of-mouth customer base.

You have received a lot of accolades in your short career so far. What lies behind your success?

The franchise owner in the Waikato has helped a lot along the way and has been a great mentor.

He has set up good systems for our team, such as templated emails, Trello and Formsite application forms.

We also lean on each other a lot with scenarios, and with working through complicated applications.

Building relationships with the BDMs [business development managers] and broker teams has been good too. It's great to be able to call someone to talk through scenarios.

In addition to this, probably my structured way of working and a humble, caring approach with my customers. And I have put a lot of hours in.

Who has inspired you in business and in life?

My parents. They are the hardest working people I know. Both are selfemployed and moved to New Zealand from South Africa to give my siblings and me the best life possible.

They started their lives over for us, and left their family behind. I am very grateful, and their work ethic has inspired me.

My partner is also a large part of my success. He is always encouraging and challenging me to be the best person I can be.

What is the best advice you have received? And the worst?

The best advice I've had so far is that no one deal is worth your accreditation.

As for the worst, I can't really remember any.

What does a typical working day look like for you?

I'll skim through my inbox first thing, update my jobs list, and prioritise my work for the day.

Next, I'll clean out my sent items: follow up on anything I am still waiting on and work through my jobs list and emails based on what is most urgent.

I always aim to reply to people on the same day. If I can't get back to them on the same day, I'll give them a timeframe.

I prepare meetings at least the day before where possible, so I am prepared and already a day ahead.

What challenges do you see for the industry moving forward - and how do you plan on tackling them?

Mainly technology constraints. I like to provide constructive feedback to technology providers. And there's always client expectations to live up to, so I'll have conversations about their concerns and discuss what options are available to them.

What are your long-term business goals?

Long term, I would like to continue to work with my existing clients and build up my client base.

I've recently decided to take on an assistant. She'll start early next year.

Do you have any words of wisdom for young advisers?

Focus on your customer's needs, work hard on your communication, and set up good systems. ✚