Mortgage Choice has announced the appointment of a new state manager for New South Wales.
Jason Mares started with the aggregator on 15 February, following the departure of David Ewens, who held the position until last December. Mares will report directly to David Zammit, general manager of distribution and wealth at Mortgage Choice.
In his new role, Mares will be responsible for the recruitment and development of franchise teams and the overall business growth in NSW.
Mares is an experience executive who has worked closely with C-suite management teams across a range of industries – including retail, mining, wholesale, manufacturing, and professional services – throughout his career.
Prior to joining Mortgage Choice, Mares served as head of operations at La Trobe Financial Services, where he led the business’ Sydney expansion. He also held the role of managing director of corporate banking in Australia at ANZ, where developed and executed a transformational strategy program.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jason to Mortgage Choice,” said Zammit. “He brings a wealth of experience to the role, having spent his career in financial services. He has a deep knowledge and genuine understanding of operating business, which will be invaluable to our broker network.”
For his part, Mares said that the opportunity to work closely and support the aggregator’s franchises was “both exciting and rewarding.”
“There are significant opportunities within the mortgage industry, and I look forward to building long-term relationships, which will endure the economic cycles to follow,” said Mares. “The COVID experience has provided us with a once in a lifetime event, which has changed the way we work, it changed some of our long-held habits and beliefs. Now is a great time for those entrepreneurs looking for a career change to consider broker franchising and come and meet with us.”
He also predicted the housing market to maintain a high level of activity this year, which will be a boon to the mortgage broking industry.
“The recent introduction of best interests duty combined with increased SLA's will provide challenges, however, Mortgage Choice is working closely with its franchisees and partners to ensure our brokers can take full advantage of the opportunities before them,” said Mares.
