2009 has certainly been a year of continual change in the business and financial world.

Early on in the year we saw the world plummeting after commencing a free-fall late 2008.  What transpired through 2009 is that the worst fears of many never really eventuated.  The recession we were certain to have became the recession we didn’t have at all as Australia, more than other countries, threw large sums of discretionary stimulus money to prop up consumer spending.

With these large, generous cash handouts and record low interest rates, consumers spent, business confidence picked up slowly and first home buyers jumped in to prop up the housing market.

Suddenly, the Reserve Bank started to focus on not how further lower rates might need to go, but rather when should they begin to rise.  With strong economic data coming out of the June quarter, lower than expected unemployment and surging confidence - rates started to be moved up in October, with  a 25 basis points increase.

Further 25 basis points increases followed in November and December, closing the Cash Rate at 3.75% at year’s end.  Remembering the Cash Rate started 2009 at 4.25% before bottoming at 3.0% in April it certainly had a roller coaster ride of its own.  With most lenders building margin back into their mortgage books – and copping plenty of flack in the process -  further rate rises early in 2010 should not be necessary.

Closer to the mortgage space we play in - in the dominance of the major banks and pending licensing have been the big issues of the year.  There is no quick fix to the lack of real competition but I do believe 2010 will start to see improvements in conditions for the issuers of mortgage backed securities and a slow return to the former market place which saw innovation and service at the forefront.

ASIC provided us with some light summer reading, issuing its Regulatory Guides 202 through 208 this week.  The shape of licensing is now taking shape and we will start to roll out more information as the detail becomes clearer.  (It has been interesting to read how some businesses plan to operate under the new licensing environment well before the required level of detail has even been made available!)

We will continue the regular discussions with our lawyers and commence workshops with them and other parties in January to make sure that all the necessary procedural changes are understood and documented well before brokers are required to register with ASIC after 1st April, and apply for a licence from 1st July.  A session will also be held at the conference in February on this topic.

I wish everyone associated with nMB and your families a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.  If you are having a well earned holiday travel safely and enjoy the break.

Until next year,

Gerald Foley - Managing Director

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Welcome to the final edition of nMB Intell for 2009.  We trust you have found the content informative and we look forward to delivering further value in 2010.

nMB Quality Performance
nMB Brokers continue to perform well in submission quality and conversion metrics.  The latest report from the CBA ranks nMB in the top 10, at position 8.  During October and November, nMB’s submission quality averaged 96.9%, nationally.  This is an outstanding result when considering the volume and we congratulate all brokers and staff for their commitment to high standards.

nMB Top5 Performing Regions
In the month of November, Victorian brokers settled 38.1% of total nMB sales.  This represents a slight increase when compared to the financial year to date (FYTD) result of 37.6%.  Ranked second, NSW brokers accounted for 26.2% of total sales in November, down 2.7% when compared against the state’s FYTD performance.  ACT sales were up by 0.5% to 15.8%.  WA brokers down in November by 1.3% whereas Qld brokers realised the biggest gain in November by 2.4%.

nMB Top5 Lenders
CBA ranked number one in November with a share of 25.7% of nMB’s total business – down 1.8% when compared to the 2010 FYTD result of 27.5%.  CBA’s share of nMB’s business has been trending in a downward fashion since the first month of the 2010 financial year, where they held 33% of total sales.  Westpac ranked second in November with 24.8% for the month, slightly up on their FYTD performance.  Both ANZ and St. George lost ground in November whereas BankWest experienced a significant gain of 2.2% - up to 7.5%. 

nMB Sales Meetings
It was a pleasure meeting with nMB brokers during our November sales meetings and end of year functions.  We appreciate your support and look forward to the 2010 Events Program, kicking-off with the national conference in February at the Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast.

Featured suppliers for the November sales meetings included two of our Events Sponsors, ING Direct and NAB Broker.

ING Direct discussed the results of the latest Nielson Financial Services Monitor, a survey conducted in June 2009 with a sample size of 22,000 people.  Ranking 5th in total market share, ING Direct’s survey results were extremely positive - ranking 1st in the following categories:

• Highest percentage of satisfied customers (76.4%);

• Highest number of customers who would recommend ING Direct (73.1%); &

• Highest Net Promoter Score (NPS) (10.0).

We congratulate ING Direct on their results…..results worthwhile mentioning during your next loan interview.

NAB Broker presented a holistic approach when dealing with customers’ financial needs.  The key message centred on client retention via diversification.  NAB Broker’s product mix now includes: lending; risk insurance; general insurance; & term deposits.  Depending on your desired involvement in the provision of non-core products, you may conduct further training and accreditation or simply refer for a fee.

We thank both ING Direct and NAB Broker for their continued support of the nMB Events Program and look forward to working with them in 2010.

If you were unable to attend the sales meetings and wish to learn more, please contact your nMB BDM.

I wish you all the best over the festive season and a successful 2010…..

Sal Cinque - Director, Sales and Marketing

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Lo Doc Loans
Still have a legitimate place in our market.

The low doc product was designed for self employed and small business people who have difficulty substantiating their income.  This may be because they do not have payslips or recent tax returns at the time of application.

Post GFC this scenario still exists, and one of the best ways to accommodate Clients in this position is with a Lo Doc loan.

One of the good things out of the GFC is that Lo Doc loans are no longer viewed by Lenders and Brokers as a fast and easy solution in setting a borrower up with a loan.  Policies have tightened, pricing is reflective of the greater risk and assessment is more stringent than ever.  The Lo Doc loan has so far survived the GFC, albeit in a different format to which the industry is used to.   Earlier this year most lenders only required a signed income declaration and 20% contribution to facilitate a Low Doc facility.  Now most lenders require 12 month BAS statements, ABN and GST registration and have limitations on cash out. 

New “responsible lending” rules coming into force next year will make it more difficult to make a case for Lo Doc loans.  This will have a substantial impact in reducing the types of predatory lending practices being described by the media in this segment, allowing Lo Doc loans to cater to the niche market they were originally designed for.

Sarah Zecevic - Lending Services Manager

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Hello everyone, and welcome to the last edition of nMB Intell for 2009. It’s fair to say we’ve all had a rollercoaster of a year, interest rate rises, bank acquisitions; a glimpse of the new licensing world next year, there has been a lot to take in.

With Christmas upon us and hopefully a few weeks of relaxation thereafter, it’s a good time to take a look at all those things we have been putting to one side during the year.

One of the most important weapons in your arsenal is your CRM data base.  Most of you would have recently used it to wish your Clients a Merry Christmas, or to advise of the recent rate rise the RBA saw fit to gift us just before the festive season.  Unfortunately, cleaning and maintaining your Client database is one of those things that gets put on the back burner.  Let’s face it, who wants to spend copious amounts of time sitting in front of a computer reviewing data?

Recent enhancements to CRM have made it easier for you to review your client information.  The ability to download to CSV has been enhanced and we’ve even included the ability to download a list of those Clients you have tagged never to market to.  Along with the ability to automatically search and consolidate duplicate Clients and the defrag function, keeping your database lean and mean is now a lot easier.

Just about now those of your reading this would be thinking, “This guy needs to get a life”. For the record I never said tidying up your data base would be fun, but with the functionality we’ve included, it should save time and be a little easier, leaving you more time to spend the holidays with the ones you love, and that’s got to be good for everyone.

Wishing you all the joys of the Christmas season.  

Kon Avramidis - Director, Operations

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Susan Fisk, nMB Broker, The Mortgage Gallery NSW

1. My all time favourite food is:

My Mum’s Christmas lunch

2. The last book I read was:

Russell the sheep!

3. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of:

INXS

4. My favourite saying is:

“Build a bridge and get over it.”

5. My Ideal Sunday involves:

A sleep in followed by a long, long lunch with my husband and our closest friends.

6. My biggest inspiration is:

WW1 & WW2 veterans.

7. If I didn’t live in Australia I would live in:

Paris – I love its history, art galleries, food and wine, fashion and the while feel of the place.

8. The most extravagant gift I have bought myself was:

A brand new car.

9. If I could have dinner with anyone (dead or alive) I would choose:

Dame Elizabeth Murdoch

10. Three things I would love to do in my lifetime are:

• Travel Europe on the Orient Express,

• Be around long enough to cuddle my grandchildren

• Own a Melbourne Cup winner.

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2010 nMB Annual Conference

The 2010 nMB Annual Conference will be held at the renowned Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, February 24-26.