Welcome to July Intell.

It has already been an interesting start to this new financial year.  A new prime minister settling in, a federal election called for 21st August (with the result getting harder to pick every day), banks talking about increased funding pressures and the implementation of the NCCP well under way. 

At nMB, we finished off the 2009/10 year just ahead of the previous year. This is not a bad result in many ways, but as is the case in any sales environment, we’re never really satisfied with what we’ve done and always looking to do more business.  Settlements fell just short of the $2bn mark we were chasing, with our loan book passing $7bn for the first time in June.

The 2010/11 year will be another interesting one.  There is no doubt it will be one filled with more changes and challenges in our market place – macro and micro -  but I still see solid, sustainable growth in broker numbers and loans.  The external focus on a licensed (and presumably more professional) broker market and many existing businesses needing to now refer out their clients’ finance needs, rather than fulfil themselves, will provide opportunities for progressive brokers to capitalise on.

The economy seems to be stabilising well, with June CPI coming in at a number that should see interest rates held at their current level, most likely until at least November (after the September quarter inflation numbers are released), and possibly for the remainder of 2010.  The RBA’s July board meeting minutes seem to lean towards a rate rise in August only if the underlying inflation number came in at the higher end of their desired level.  Thankfully it came in below.

As Sal details further within this nMB Intell, you can see the spread of lenders in the past year is still uncomfortably slanted towards the 4 majors, particularly when their subsidiaries loans are included. 

I hope that the second tier banks and mortgage managers, particularly those independent of the major banks and major bank funding, really fight back throughout the next year, and are supported more by brokers.  It is also important that individual brokers do not fall into the trap of using predominantly one lender.  That is not a good business or customer strategy.

nMB seems little different from all aggregators in our share of business going towards the majors, so it is no surprise to see many are pushing further with developing their own badged loan products.  LJ Hooker being the latest to announce a move in this direction.  This is essential for the strength and growth of the broker market.  I don’t believe any broker group should, or will develop their own product to be their main offering, but it is important to have the capability to have a badged loan as part of the total package.

In regard to our own nMB Direct product, I spent some time with The Rock Building Society recently and we will soon see the release of 2 new products into the nMB Direct suite – the first a basic loan product and the second a high LVR investment loan.  Other changes are being considered around removing some of the LMI rules currently in place on the existing products.  The added bonus was getting away from Melbourne’s winter and playing some golf in warmer conditions!

Until next time, stay well!

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Welcome to the first edition of nMB Intell for the 2011 financial year.  2010 has proven to be another successful year for nMB on a number of key measures.

Sales
Sales have remained strong during the 2010 financial year and early signs of a balanced level of distribution amongst lenders are becoming visible.  Although nMB’s Top5 lenders remain static, the total share of nMB sales have shifted.

CBA retained pole position for the 2010 financial year with 26.6% of sales but down by 3.1% when compared to 2009 results.  Westpac and ANZ maintained their nMB rankings but both down year-on-year by 0.7% and 1.2% respectively.

The gainers in 2010 were St. George and HomeSide at P4 and P5.  Both lenders increased their share of nMB sales by 2.9% and 1.5% when compared to the previous financial year. 

On a smaller scale, non-bank lenders such as nMB Direct are also gaining momentum as brokers reward lenders with competitive products and a strong commitment to the broker channel.

Recruitment
nMB is positioned as a quality, full service aggregator and continues to appeal to a broad range of mortgage brokers.  In an environment clouded by fear and doubt around the impact of licensing and major bank ownership of aggregation businesses, brokers have been holding-on to one constant.....their aggregator partner.   During this time of uncertainty nMB’s commitment to providing a quality business model has been rewarded with the induction of 40 new writers to the sales force.

nMB Numero Uno with WBC
nMB Brokers continue to perform well in submission quality and conversion metrics.  The latest report from Westpac ranks nMB number 1 of all Tier1 aggregators in Australia.  This is an outstanding result and we congratulate all nMB brokers and staff for their commitment to high standards.

nMB PD Events
The next round of professional development events are upon us.  The content will include:

• a demonstration of how the NCCP processes and forms have been built into the nMB CRM;

• an insight into the respective rights and obligations of a mortgage document and some interesting facts about property contracts; and

• a presentation by 5 of our lenders, covering their products, area of specialisation, competitive advantage, turnaround times and accreditation requirements. The lenders are Adelaide Bank Commercial | AMP | ING Direct | nMB Direct | CBA.

Invitations have already been delivered and please contact your nMB BDM should you require further details.

Sal Cinque - Director, Sales and Marketing

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Would you like to generate free publicity for your mortgage broking business?

If you’re looking for an effective and affordable means to improve your business’ brand awareness, reputation and ultimately to generate more leads, free publicity might be the solution you have been looking for.

Publicity, a popular form of promotion, can prove just as effective as advertising but generally speaking, doesn't require the same level of monetary investment. Publicity may take a number of forms, for example; speaking at a seminar or sponsoring a local event (both covered in previous editions of nMB Intell). Another great way to generate publicity is via writing press releases and disseminating these to local media.

So what exactly is a press release? A press release (also referred to as a news or media release) is a communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having ‘news value’.  Press releases often focus on a new product launch, an upcoming company event or valuable industry information, and are used by journalists to form the basis for their news articles. You may have noticed that news stories appearing in different publications are often almost identical in content. This is usually the result of several publications receiving the same press release and publishing it verbatim to save time.

Why write a press release?

1. It's Free - The only investment required is the time it takes to write the release and ‘sell it in’ to the local media.

2. Increases brand awareness - Journalists may quote your name within their article as an expert source. e.g. ‘Bill Smith from Smart Mortgages has seen an increasing number of clients inquiring about property investment as a means of growing their wealth’. Journalists may even use your contact details at the bottom of an editorial article, to assist readers who may be seeking further expert information, thus helping to build your profile in the local community.

3. Builds credibility – Writing a newsworthy press release help build your credibility in the local community. The beauty of PR is that readers tend to trust independent authorities such as reviewers, columnists, reporters or broadcasters, more so than companies. Given this, press releases are often more effective than advertising, which individuals sometimes fail to trust knowing full well that the ad' was created by the company in question.

4. Opportunity to become the ‘go to’ mortgage expert – Valuable press releases can helps promote your financial expertise and may lead to you becoming journalists’ ‘go to’ person for mortgage related information in the future. Journalists love to quote credible sources in their articles and by building rapport with your local media representatives, there is nothing stopping you from becoming one of their regular sources. Who knows, someone in the news office may be in the market for a new home loan!

What should I write a press release about?
There are a lot of great opportunities for mortgage brokers to piggy back off the news to garner free publicity for their business. Consider writing a press release in response to changes to interest rate, or government homeowner grants and their likely impact on homeowners/ buyers.

Think outside the box and come up with your own news stories. As long as they are accurate, timely and are likely to provide value to the publication’s target audience, there is no reason why journalists will not consider using your story as a basis for their own.

Examples may include:

• Hints and tips for a healthy mortgage.

• How to build wealth via property investment.

• How to pay a loan off sooner.

• How first home owners can save for a deposit.

How do I write a press release?
The art of writing a press release might take some practice, however, as they tend to follow a set formula, once you have written a few they will become a lot easier.

For those who lack confidence in their writing ability, it’s worth noting that an alternative to writing a press release is to simply call your local news media office and introduce yourself as a finance or mortgage expert for your area. Inform them that you would be more than happy to provide information about finance or mortgages for any current or future mortgage related articles they may wish to publish. Try and communicate with this contact on a regular basis to keep yourself top of mind.

If you would like to have a go at writing your own press release here are some important elements to include in your release:

1. Date - Ensure the release is dated at the top with today’s date. There’s nothing worse than a press release that was written two weeks prior to when it was sent. Journalists are looking for current news stories.

2. Headline - Use a succinct and attention grabbing headline to entice journalists to read on. The headline is best written after the article is complete and should briefly summarise the news. Eg. Government’s Increase to First Home Buyers Grant Set to Improve Property Market.

3. Introduction - The first paragraph in a press release should gives basic answers to the questions of who, what, when, where and why.

4. Body - Expand further upon the introduction. Provide quotes, statistics, background, or other details relevant to the story.

5. Close - After you have concluded your press release, place the word "-ENDS-" at the bottom.

6. Your contact information — Include your company name, the contact person, phone number, email and mailing address so you can be contacted if necessary.

Click here for an example of a past nMB press release.

How can I get my press release published?
So you have written a press release, but how do you maximise the chance of your press release actually being published?

Here are some steps you may like to follow:

1. Call your local media and ask to speak to someone at the newsdesk or in the Real Estate section.

2. Inform this contact that you are a local broker and have a press release that they might be interested in. Explain a bit about what the press release covers.

3. Determine whether they feel this is a story that they would be interested in publishing and obtain a contact email.

4. Email the press release using the headline of the press release as the email subject eg. PRESS RELEASE Government’s Increase to First Home Buyers Grant Set to Improve Property Market’.

5. Mention that you contacted the newspaper earlier and reiterate why you believe the story has local news value.

6. Follow up via telephone later that day to ensure that your contact received you press release and ask whether they would like any additional information about the story.

7. Determine whether they plan to use the story and if so, ask them which edition it will appear in and request a copy of the finished article.

PR Dos and Don’ts

Do

• Keep your ear to the ground for any newsworthy topics that you can potentially capitalise on.

• Build relationships with the local media and sell yourself as the local mortgage expert.

• Write press releases relating to topics that have news value to the publication’s target audience.

• Check the accuracy of your facts.

• Include quotes and their sources to add creditability to your article.

• Limit your press release to one page if possible.

• Ask at least one other person to proof read your press release before sending it.

Don’t

• Write a press release about a topic to which you are ill-informed .

• Leave it too late. A press release must be written in a timely manner. No one wants to read old news.

• Write a press release if you do not feel confident about your writing ability. Stick to verbal contact with local media representatives if this is the case.

• Write a press release about highly contentious issues.

• Overtly sell your business throughout the press release. Journalists will be more interested in the relevant financial or mortgage information you communicate and how it ties in with topical news stories than in the services your business provides. Subtly sell your business as part of a press release that offers value to the reader.

Remember, even if the media don’t pick up your first story, hopefully you will have made a valuable contact and have improved your chances for the next time!

If you would like any more information on how to generate free publicity for your business feel free to contact your nMB BDM.

Kate Jeremiah - Marketing Coordinator

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More reasons to consider nMB Direct!

Thanks for your support in making the launch of the nMB Direct a successful one.  We’ve had some great feedback and to keep the momentum going we have a fantastic offer for clients suited to the nMB Direct products.

Currently, new nMB Direct applicants can take advantage of a NIL APPLICATION FEE or FIRST YEARS PACKAGE FEE WAIVED.  There are also very competitive FIXED RATE DISCOUNTS on offer for a limited time.  Here’s a reminder of the products available:

nMB Direct SVR Loan:

• 95% LVR

• Non-Genuine Savings (Genworth policy applies)

• 100% offset available*

• No application fee# (saving of $600)!

nMB Direct Packaged Loan:

• 90% LVR

• 3 Year Fixed Rate (special) of 7.19%# for loans >$250k

• 5 Year Fixed Rate (special) of 7.59%# for loans >$250k

• Up to 0.85% discount off the SVR for the life of the loan

• Unlimited additional repayments on variable AND fixed**

• 2 free 100% offset accounts even while fixed

• Free ATM transactions (when using Westpac, St George/BankSA and The Rock ATM’s)

• First year’s package fee waived# (saving of $350)!

nMB Direct Fixed Rate Loan:

• 95% LVR

• 3 Year Fixed Rate (special) of 7.19%#

• 5 Year Fixed Rate (special) of 7.59%#

• Unlimited additional repayments**

• 100% offset available*

• No application fee# (saving of $600)!

*$12 monthly fee applies to each offset account.
##Offer available for a limited time only and subject to change without notice.  Rates correct as at 21st July 2010.
**With the exception of full repayment within the first 4 years.

Jodie Hainey - Lending Services Manager

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NCCP Going forward

We’ve all by now had an opportunity to digest and adopt the new NCCP process into our businesses.

Judging by your feedback, the process we have instructed you to adopt from July 1st has not been too dissimilar to the way you have been conducting business.   With this in mind, I have provided some additional detail below to further assist making the transition.

The term “Responsible Lending” is one that permeates through this piece of legislation and whilst we have an understanding of what it refers to and represents, it is the practical application day to day in your business that is critical.

The following process must be applied to the credit assessment of a client:

Enquiry
You are required to make reasonable enquiries about the client’s financial situation, including their requirements and objectives.  What does the client believe their need to be?  Is it as routine as purchasing a home to live in, or something more complex?  Even if is as simple as an owner occupied purchase, there may be other factors that could influence your recommendation.

Verification
You are also required to take reasonable steps to verify their financial position having a good understanding of the source and the level of income.  How long have they been earning this income and how reliable is it?  How do any existing debts or savings relate to the transaction and do they make sense in relation to what the stated income is?

To this end you have the use of the Enquiry Assessment and Needs Analysis Form to assist you in gathering this information.  Care however, must be taken to ensure that this document isn’t merely used as a tick & flick process and that the information gathered in the above steps is documented in the areas provided on the form.

Preliminary Credit Assessment
A Preliminary Credit Assessment is only completed once the information you have gathered has been analysed and a recommendation has been made and accepted with respect to the lender and the loan product. 

Not Unsuitable
The question of product suitability or, as the act describes, “not unsuitable”, relates to the product or credit contract being not unsuitable to the client. 

An unsuitable product is one that:

The thing to note here is that the act has avoided the potentially more subjective requirement of ensuring a product is suitable, leaving us to satisfy that the loan is only not unsuitable.

I am sure that these processes are not foreign to Mortgage Brokers, however what is different now is the requirement to document them in much more detail than may have been the practice prior to NCCP.  The discipline to complete this process along with ability to look objectively at each transaction and apply a common sense approach will minimise any risks to your business and also provide your clients with best possible service.

Kon Avramidis - Director, Operations

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Cindy Lay - nMB Administrative Assistant

1. What do you like about working for nMB?

Definitely have to say the team at nMB and working with our friendly brokers.

2. My all time favourite food is:

Pancakes with fresh strawberries & ice cream at 2am from Stokers Coffee Lounge.

3. The last book I read was:  

The Memory Keeper'sDaughter by Kim Edwards.

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

A DJ friend's Club Mix with all the new club sounds.

5. My favourite saying is:

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swaps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it's yours." - Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged.

6. My Ideal Sunday involves:

Sleeping in and doing art activities with my son Breydan. I think he might be the next Picasso!

7. My biggest inspiration is:

I have 3 people in my life who are inspiring me to become a better person and to enjoy the little things that really do count. My mum, my husband and my son Breydan.

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

I really couldn't think of myself living anywhere else but if I had to choose it would be somewhere in Europe.

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

The dress I wore for my son's 1st Birthday.

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

My late Grandmother, so I can once again hear the stories of her childhood adventures and learn more about the county I am from.

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

• Save enough to spend a month on New Caledonia

• Have more children

• Eventually become a Kindergarten Teacher

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nMB Personal Development Days

Please see below for upcoming nMB PD Days:

Brisbane - 29 July

Sydney - 3 August

Melbourne - 5 August

Gippsland - 6 August

ACT - 10 August

Perth - 12 August

Please register your interest to your nMB BDM.