Amidst the continued departure of female brokers from the industry, one aggregator is equipping its women members to service the “niche market” ideally suited for their guidance.
Andrea McNaughton, executive director of growth at Loan Market and head of its Leading Ladies program, pointed out that consumers are most comfortable “dealing with people like themselves.”
“Borrowers need someone that they can trust and speak to about their situation openly, and know that they’re being led to the right outcome,” she explained.
An MFAA report shows that female participants in the broking industry has “consistently declined” from the 28.3% evidenced in April 2016, down to 27.1% as of the last reported date.
However, McNaughton explained that female brokers are more able to deliver best outcomes to women in need of financial support, such as those going through a divorce, those without their own bank account, or those without super.
“There’s a lot of trust in a broker. It’s more and more become about taking it to the next level around ‘We helped you get into a loan, but we’re also going to educate you on how to get that loan paid off, and how to get yourself into a stronger position,’” explained McNaughton.
The third annual Leading Ladies of Loan Market summit was held over 27-28 May in Byron Bay to help equip female business owners and their teams to lean into this area so ripe for growth.
According to McNaughton, a driving question was, “How do I make my business worth more than just my books?”
The sessions covered topics such as building asset value, managing cashflow and investments, introducing more services to more clients, and recruiting quality staff members.
The networking also enabled the women to ask fellow industry members, ‘what’s been working for you?’ and collaborate to generate new strategies.
“We call it a movement. We set the agenda, we set the tone, and we deliver the outcomes. We want to do that for all the females in our communities too,” concluded McNaughton.
