The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) is launching a series of commercial finance and commercial lending workshops in October.
The workshops have been designed to give mortgage brokers the foundation knowledge and skills they need to expand their businesses into the growing sector.
The one-day MFAA New Commercial Broker workshop is being held across the country and will be presented by two experienced financial brokers - David McCleery, (pictured above left) from MCP Financial Services and Todd O’Neill, (pictured above right) from Xenium Finance.
MFAA CEO Anja Pannek said diversification into commercial lending could benefit mortgage broking businesses in many ways.
“It supports customer retention through providing additional touchpoint opportunities, can provide additional referral opportunities and help to strengthen relationships. It also provides mortgage broking businesses with protection should the home loan market experience change,” Pannek said.
“Many mortgage brokers already have business customers, particularly small business owners, as customers giving them an existing base to start from if they choose to expand into commercial lending.”
McCleery said the listening and relationship building skills residential mortgage brokers brought to their conversations with clients could be leveraged to branch into commercial lending.
“In commercial lending, this ability to listen and ask questions is crucial as there is typically more depth to the story required to identify the right solution for the client and submit a compelling application to a lender,” McCleery said.
“The workshop will highlight how these skills mortgage brokers have translate to commercial lending, as well as give attendees an overall view of the commercial landscape and how brokers fit into it.”
McCleery said the workshop would also delve into how to read businesses’ financial statements, understanding business performance and commission structures for commercial loans.
“There are a growing number of products and lenders in commercial lending, whether it be finance for vehicles, equipment, machinery, property, inventory or other business needs,” he said. “The workshop will explore this marketplace giving brokers the opportunity to consider which areas might fit best with their business.”
O’Neill said starting small with one type of commercial lending, such as asset finance, was a great way for mortgage brokers to learn and build their offering.
“You don’t have to do it all at once. Mortgage brokers could look at their existing client base and identify what their commercial finance needs are – many mortgage brokers will have clients who are also business owners and use that as a starting point,” O’Neill said.
“A lender expo will be a feature at the workshop as well as giving attendees direct access to commercial lenders to find out about their products and ask questions. Attendees also receive a comprehensive resource guide titled ‘Business finance strategies – A guide to commercial lending’ that covers the day’s content and more.”
The MFAA New Commercial Broker workshop costs $45 for MFAA members and $90 per person for non MFAA-members.
