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A mortgage brokerage recruited more female brokers into its retail channel than males over the past year, for the first time in its 27 years in business.
During fiscal year 2019, 51% of new Aussie Home Loans' retail loan writers and franchisees were women.
According to GM of people and culture, Lynda Harris, Aussie has actively been working towards achieving gender balance in its business.
“Recruiting more women into the Aussie team is a trend we’re determined to continue,” she added.
“We’re proud to be bucking the trend in the industry, but we’re also well aware more needs to be done so we can not only continue to attract the right women to mortgage broking, but keep, support and enable them so they start, grow and lead successful businesses.”
The MFAA’s most recent survey of more than 400 brokers shed light on the damaging disconnect between the male and female perspective of the inclusivity of the mortgage broking industry.
While 60% of the male respondents said there were no barriers to female participation, just 35% of the women surveyed agreed. Further, 65% of women cited unconscious or conscious beliefs about gender roles as inhibiting their professional success in the space.
Of those surveyed, 30% of women indicated they feel the industry is not inclusive of females, while less than 10% of the male respondents indicated the same.
According to Harris, some of Aussie’s most successful members in both its mobile broker and franchisee channels are women.
Belinda Woodley, co-franchisee of a successful multi-store Aussie franchise, says mortgage broking is a fantastic business path for women looking for flexibility and a rewarding career.
“I really enjoy running a business, helping my customers and investing in building an exceptional team around me," she explained.
“I started with Aussie as a mobile broker over a decade ago, and I now co-own two Aussie stores. It’s incredible where this journey has taken me and what you can achieve with the backing of a great business partner.”
