Welcome to 2010! I hope everyone found at least some time to stop and take a break before getting back into another big year in mortgage broking.
We finished off the second half of last year in a really strong way, recording our second best settlement month ever. A great result!
I am very optimistic about the year ahead. Early signs are that consumer optimism is growing, and will continue to do so as employment, property and stock markets keep showing improvement; a few lenders are awakening and licensing will see a greater focus and understanding of the role quality mortgage brokers undertake for their clients.
There have been some early surprises though. RAMS exiting the broker space, Westpac cutting LVR’s, talk of Macquarie making a comeback and the biggest surprise – to me at least - Heritage Building Society withdrawing its arrangements with all but a handful of aggregators. Now whilst Heritage wasn’t a huge player on our lender panel, the brokers that did use them were very loyal and now feel somewhat let down by this course of action.
The licensing picture is taking shape. We have engaged MacGillivrays Lawyers to assist us through the process. Richard Williams will be presenting at the conference a high level picture of the new landscape. We will then start more specific briefings regarding what brokers need to do to both apply for registration (between 1 April and 30 June), obtain an Australian Credit Licence (ACL) and the new practices to adopt to ensure compliance. MacGillivrays will also be available to assist brokers with obtaining their own ACL if they wish to do so. Much more to follow around licensing in the next few months.
The conference plans are now in top gear and everyone is looking forward to a few days to get away with some great speakers, entertainment and a chance to catch up with the nMB group early in the year.
Until next time, stay well, and I look forward to meeting up at the conference late in February on the Gold Coast.
Gerald Foley - Managing Director
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Welcome to the first edition of nMB Intell for 2010. We hope you enjoyed a safe festive season with your families. With the holidays behind us, we look forward to a productive and successful 2010.
nMB Top5 Regions
nMB brokers realised a PB for the 09/10 FY and the highest value of settlements since
a record high in April ’08. This is an outstanding result and a great way to close off the calendar year.
During the month of December, NSW brokers claimed 1st spot from Victoria with a 34% share of total nMB sales. This represents a 4.1% increase when measured against the FYTD (financial year to date) results. Victorian brokers ranked second in December with 32.2% of total nMB sales - a slip of 4.4% when compared to FYTD performance. Ranked third, ACT brokers accounted for 15.7% of total sales in December - up 0.3% on FYTD performance. WA sales were up by 0.4% on FYTD sales to 11.8%. Qld brokers realised a slight blip in December - down 0.8% when measured against FYTD sales.
nMB Professional Development Plan for 2010
The first PD event for 2010 will be the annual conference at The Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast. This event will provide an excellent opportunity to learn, network and relax with peers, suppliers and staff. Listed below is a snapshot of the guest speakers:
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Chris Caton, Chief Economist for BT Financial Group. Chris will present an insightful economic update and predictions for 2010;
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Ross Hunter, CEO of Harveys Real Estate NZ. Ross will discuss his early days in WA as a real estate agent and how he established one of New Zealand’s leading real estate groups. Ross will also discuss the synergistic connection of real estate and mortgage broking;
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Richard Williams, Partner of MacGillivrays. Richard will present an update on the pending national regulation and how brokers may be better prepared;
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Barry Urquhart, Managing Director of Marketing Focus. Barry will discuss changes, challenges and new opportunities facing mortgage brokers;
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Laurie Lawrence, former Olympic coach and successful businessman. Laurie will provide an enlightening and entertaining keynote address.
Sponsors and exhibitors will include: Adelaide Bank, ALI, AMP, ANZ, BankWest, CBA, Cherry Solutions, Homeloans, ING, La Trobe Financial, NAB, RockSure & Westpac.
Click here for additional information.
Software Training
The 2010 schedule includes frequent software training sessions to be hosted in Canberra, Perth, Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne. The software training schedule includes two streams, Basics & Advanced. From a scheduling perspective, we will alternate the streams for each training date, commencing with Software Basics.
The Software Basics session includes: a tour of each application contained within the MBS | how to create and manage client records | how to action standard tasks and associated templates | standard use of calculators | introduction to Affiliate Marketing.
The Software Advanced session includes: direct marketing | how to create custom marketing letters | how to create custom task lists and templates | advanced use of calculators | how to action your Affiliate Marketing strategy.
The expected duration of each stream is around 3 hours. At the end of each session we will facilitate an open forum where brokers may provide feedback regarding future enhancements. Dates will be published via regular communication.
Quarterly PD Events
Due to popular opinion, we have switched the monthly sales meeting program to quarterly PD events. The format will include:
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A presentation of quarterly awards;
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An nMB update;
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A presentation from a guest speaker such as an economist, solicitor, real estate representative, etc.
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Supplier Speed-Pres. 5 suppliers will each present for 20 minutes. Where the size of the group allows, all suppliers will present at the same time to groups of 8-10 brokers in a cabaret format, switching every 20 minutes; &
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At the end of each quarterly PD event, time will be allocated for networking purposes, where you may meet with peers, suppliers and guest speakers.
In the past our sales meetings were reserved for sponsors of the nMB Annual Events program. The new format for 2010 will open the door for all suppliers, as sponsorship is limited to specific events only. We hope to see a range of new supporters, presenting at our 2010 professional development events.
Wishing you a productive and successful 2010…..
Sal Cinque - Director, Sales and Marketing
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Hi everyone and thank you for welcoming me aboard at nMB. I am very excited to be joining the team here for what will no doubt be a fantastic year for nMB and our industry.
After spending early years in sales and marketing, I took a career leap five years ago into the world of finance, firstly as a Mortgage Analyst with Balmain Commercial and more recently as a BDM with Homeloans Ltd.
I am available to assist you with scenario enquires and general information relating to products, credit policy, and any follow up with lenders.
The Christmas Hangover
With whispers of impending rate rises, now may be the ideal time to get in and offer a ‘finance health check’. Credit Cards may have been abused during the silly season, or taking the family on a break may have put some strain on the bank balance so why not make contact with your clients with a consolidation proposal to get them back on track as we embark on a new year.
Most variable rate loans offer a top up option, however be mindful of changing LVR limits, especially in the current environment, as well as top up procedures.
I look forward to the opportunity of meeting you all at the conference next month. See you then!
Jodie Hainey - Lending Services Manager
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The hot topic of discussion in recent times has been lender accreditation policies. One can understand the confusion Brokers have trying to keep tabs on which lender they need to submit “x” number of loans to retain their accreditation. Throw in a ranking system which restricts the type of loan, and even the level of service a Broker can expect from a processing perspective, you can easily understand how some are throwing their hands in the air. We will shortly release a table to simplify the various lenders’ requirements to assist our brokers
nMB brokers work diligently to identify the subtle differences amongst hundreds of loan products before making a final recommendation that best suits each individual client. Understandably, brokers have expressed their concerns with lender based sales quotas, as they clearly contradict the professional and impartial service we stand for. Our message is simple, “never compromise the integrity of your service”.
Fortunately, not all lenders have adopted these policies, and it remains to be seen how this landscape evolves over time. From our perspective, which also happens to be the popular view, we would like to see the end of individual volume based accreditations. We always encourage Brokers to attend nMB sales meetings where there is a focus on lenders and their products; and agree with the concept of refresher courses. This places the focus on quality which is a fair approach, however even this domain requires a common sense approach which takes into account the quality performance of both parties.
Kon Avramidis - Director, Operations
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1. My all time favourite food is:
Chocolate, if you can call that food, otherwise, potatoes
2. The last book I read was:
I, Mick Gatto (autobiography), it was very interesting
4. My favourite saying is:
I have a few… but I use this the most - “Patience is a virtue”
5. My Ideal Sunday involves:
A sleep in (which never happens) and a day with no housework, and a day full of good food… I can only dream
6. My biggest inspiration is:
If you ask Brett (partner) he would like me to say him but I guess my daughter as everything I do revolves around her
7. If I didn’t live in Australia I would live in:
Canada… Bring on the cold weather, or maybe Portugal for something different
8. The most extravagant gift I have bought myself was:
Purchasing my first apartment - does that count?
9. If I could have dinner with anyone (dead or alive) I would choose:
Kimi Raikkonen, I think it would be a very interesting dinner
10. Three things I would love to do in my lifetime are:
- Bungy Jumping (over water not land)
- Travel to Canada and see an ice hockey match
- Experience a white Christmas
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2010 nMB Annual Conference
The 2010 nMB Annual Conference is just weeks away and will be held at the renowned Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, February 24-26.
