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Australia’s leading aggregator is preparing to welcome a new lender onto its panel in a move that reflects brokers’ growing interest in diversifying from mortgage lending.
Connective director Mark Haron told Australian Broker that ThinkTank is set to join the aggregator’s panel of lenders later this month.
The independent commercial property lender provides a range of borrowing options and services to SME businesses and commercial property investors.
According to Haron, “They have some very good measures to aid a number of specialist asset finance and cashflow funders, and can help brokers through that process as well.”
Connective is also looking to remain agile and position itself within the changing market on a larger scale through “bolstering its white label program.”
“We’re talking to a number of different funders. We’re bringing on a [bank backed] white label product, as well as a Pepper white label product,” said Haron.
Haron also spoke to some of the hot button topics currently dominating the industry space.
In regards to proposed remuneration changes, Haron said, “Trail is an accountability structure. Brokers aren’t guaranteed all the trail; if the loan goes into arrears, the payment stops. If the loan gets refinanced because it wasn’t the right product, the trail payments stop. The brokers don’t burn off all the value of the commission that they might’ve done if it had been an all-upfront payment.”
However, while Haron is vocal and active in ensuring that brokers continue to be compensated fairly, he has reservations with industry members calling for a pay raise.
He explained that while it’s true that brokers are putting in more time and shouldering more responsibilities than in the past, banks are as well. Rather than mobilise for an increase in compensation, Haron believes that the push should be for better communication and delegation between banks and brokers.
“We’ve got a very inefficient process at the moment, where brokers are doing it and the banks are doing it. We need to get to the point where one does certain things and the other does other things and we’re not duplicating.
“Then, there’d be more value which could be shared. Brokers would have less expenses in terms of time and what they have to do with loans, so they could potentially write more business.
“We have got to get rid of these redundancies,” Haron concluded.
