Michael Hart (pictured above), managing director at Charter Capital Finance, has transformed his career from a commercial banker to a leader in the finance industry, exemplifying the power of professionalism, proactive engagement, and a commitment to excellence in achieving long-term success in the finance industry.
Hart has a rich history in the financial sector.
“I was a commercial banker for NAB and purchased an ex-client’s financial planning practice in 2001,” he says. “The obvious next step in terms of holistic advice was to also provide our clients debt advice as part of our service offering. We spun that out as a standalone business in 2006.”
Hart is a strong advocate for professionalism in the finance industry.
“Raising the bar professionally with credit licensing, annual professional development hours, compliance audits, and reducing poor behaviour by doing away with ‘free holidays’ for writing volume with a funder are steps towards becoming a profession and earning the reputational respect we deserve,” he says.
The financial industry is evolving, and Hart sees a future where larger, more corporatised business models will dominate.
“Brokers will need to be super-niche or have a business of scale to be profitable; there will be marginal profitability otherwise,” he says. “A one broker business offering a broad range of lending solutions to a broad client base will increasingly struggle for viability.”
Hart is driven by achieving positive outcomes for his clients, particularly in commercial broking.
“I have been fortunate to be referred in some complex lending by accounting firms, including mediating between a bank and a client,” he says.
“Working with an agri client, we managed to save them a significant amount of money by negotiating a much lower rate and also recommend strategies to reduce other costs and to increase their prices.”
This resulted in the client selling their business for several million more than the prior valuation and enjoying a dream retirement in France.
“Being part of that outcome drives me every day – adding value far in excess of what your services costs and seeing the material positive impact it can have on people’s lives,” Hart says.
Success in the finance industry requires proactive engagement, according to Hart.
“Activity creates results – you may be the best technician/loan writer, but the phone won’t ring unless you interact with referral sources,” he says. “If they give you a hard deal first up, it’s because they are testing you – so treat it like gold as the easy ones come by building trust.”
Hart attributes much of his success to the work ethic and behaviours he adopted early in his career.
“Early in my banking career, being young and enthusiastic, I had certain behaviours which may seem a bit old-school now, but if you want to succeed, I think they still hold true – get to work before your boss, ask for more work if you run out, do more than the minimum, dress well, and ask your superiors to mentor you,” he says.
This philosophy helped him buy a financial planning business at age 31 and grow it into a successful enterprise with 13 advisers and a team of 35.
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