Citibank head of mortgages Vibha Coburn has told Australian Broker the mortgage broking industry must consider salaries or revenue sharing to draw new talent, to help new brokers make ends meet while they build their book.
“I know some people are putting new entrants on a salary. They’re saying, ‘Come in and we’ll put you on a salary and come to some agreement later’, so what you earn in the first two years is maybe paid back with some kind of revenue sharing,” Coburn said.
Coburn said the growing professionalism of the industry should be drawing talented individuals. But, Coburn suggested, for students leaving university, perhaps with a finance or business degree, mortgage broking can be a tough sell.
“You spend three years, you’re paying HECS fees and for the first year you don’t earn anything.”
In the past, Coburn said, many people found their way into the industry from careers in banking.
“People just fell into it. They did banking for 20, maybe 25 years, and then they went into mortgage broking. That was the genesis of it,” Coburn said. “I think if you sat most brokers down and said, ‘When you started out, is this where you thought you’d be in 10 years?’ most would say that it just happened.”
But it’s not enough anymore, Coburn suggested, to expect people to “fall into” mortgage broking, or for career progression to “just happen”. With barriers to entry higher than ever falling licensing and heightened education requirements, Coburn said the industry needs to find new ways to lure talent.
“That’s the challenge, is how do we build it up and make it into an industry that people don’t just fall into, but want to be a part of?”
