The exponential growth of commercial broking has injected new life into the industry, prompting thousands of mortgage brokers to upskill and diversify to create stronger businesses and improve client services.
MFAA’s latest figures showed that more than 6,100 mortgage brokers were actively involved in writing commercial loans by the start of 2023, which was a significant 16.1% year-on-year increase, with 31.8% mortgage brokers now engaged in commercial loan transactions.
“The traditional entry path into commercial broking was for ex-commercial bankers to leave their roles to start their own broking businesses from the ground up,” said Chris Thomas (pictured above), executive commercial broker and equipment finance sales at NAB.
“This is a valid approach, but more and more we’re seeing industry consolidation with new partnerships and acquisitions. It’s becoming increasingly compelling for ex-bankers to join larger brokerages to have a bigger support team and boost their capacity.”
Thomas said that in response to these evolving dynamics, NAB’s focus for the upcoming year is on broker education.
In 2023, NAB's face-to-face broker credit workshops transitioned into comprehensive training programs, piloted across several aggregators. Following a successful trial, these programs will be rolled out across aggregators in 2024, complemented by additional learning resources on digital platforms.
“What has worked well in the credit workshops is NAB’s ability to provide timely, real-life examples and role-play scenarios from our client base,” Thomas said.
Thomas said brokers gain financial risk and credit assessment skills that enable them to examine business cash flow statements and assess a borrower’s ability to meet obligations, discuss financial performance and cash-flow positions with clients, structure and present concise financial analysis commentary supporting NAB credit submissions, and ensure faster turnaround times.
“Specialist workshops will cover topics such as trade working capital (TWC), commercial real estate (CRE) and industry-specific credit policies, while other tools and resources help to further develop commercial lending and credit-writing capabilities,” Thomas said.
“In addition, we’ve enhanced our broker portal with deal structuring questionnaires relevant to specific industries. Brokers can also access our communications on operational and credit policy, as well as thought leadership content, NAB business surveys and economic webinars.
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