Non-bank lender looks to grow its third party network

At Sintex “we’re definitely not suits”, says the non-bank lender’s general manager, Cathy Dimarchos.

Minutes after we meet, she proves it: she hands me a small bag containing two of her handmade soaps, a side gig she started to fund her volunteer projects in Tanzania.

Dimarchos is a former ‘suit’, otherwise known as a banker, as are the company’s founders and directors, James Christie and Peter James. She left corporate banking 20 years ago, discouraged by where it seemed to be heading, and now assists the two directors in overseeing a family-friendly atmosphere at Sintex.

“I like to actually feel that our business is about people and families, and we treat our customers in kind. It’s really hard to do that with the banks: everybody is on KPIs; it has become a very different business,” Dimarchos says.

Sintex’s name may be unfamiliar to some brokers. Established as a wholesale commercial funder in 2004 to complement the founders’ retail business, Resi Mortgage Corporation, it only branched out into residential lending about five years ago. It now boasts a suite of commercial and residential products covering the FHB, SMSF and full- and low-doc spaces. Resi Mortgage was sold to YBR in 2014.

Since Sintex doesn’t sit on any major aggregator panels, it has traditionally relied heavily on mortgage managers for distribution, and it has often been used by them as a white-label product. While that is still a very important source of business, over the last five years Sintex has been gradually granting accreditation to brokers with an ACL to work with them directly. It now has 145 brokers on board.

The relationship between brokers and Sintex is mutually beneficial, Christie says.

“The broker network offers a solution for both the customer and for us, in that they can deliver the client’s information that will facilitate the customer’s needs in a suitable loan from Sintex. If anyone is looking for growth in their business, it will inevitably need to include the broker network.”

“If anyone is looking for growth in their business, it will inevitably need to include the broker network” - James Christie, director

What brokers can expect from the non-bank lender is innovation, an array of product choices, a competitive price and return, and stellar service and speed of reply, James says. Its turnaround time for all loan applications is within 48 hours.

Sintex was one of the first lenders to offer long-term solutions to borrowers for its commercial loans, and it controls its own IT software and CRM through its affiliated company, Loanworks Technologies.

“The broker channel’s expansion is a reflection of the banks tightening their lending parameters. Growth is our main goal, as with growth we are able to present new products to market. We are also working to make the process as automated as possible without deleting the most important one-to-one contact in the process,” James says.

While the accreditation process is quite rigorous, Dimarchos says those who are serious in the business will already have what they need, including the necessary references, qualifications (ACL, Cert IV) and a police check.

Once completed, brokers will gain direct access to credit. Dimarchos knows brokers have heard this line before, but she says Sintex takes that commitment seriously.

The credit team crunches the numbers, but the back office and customer service staff are trained to help and support them in that process to prevent a backlog and make sure it’s a smooth experience for brokers and mortgage managers.

“Credit will sit there and take the time to run through a deal with [brokers]. They will even sit there and do a capacity calculator for them and say, ‘No, this is where you’ve overlooked something in financials or tax returns’, so it is genuine direct access to credit,” Dimarchos says.

As Sintex bolsters its BDM team this year, those employees will also be trained in credit before hitting the road.

“Whilst our BDMs are salespeople, they actually need to understand credit and what will make a deal a deal,” she says.

If a deal doesn’t make it across the line, it goes back to Dimarchos for review. She tries to figure out what stopped it and whether there’s any solution, then provides feedback to the broker.

“I think people are quite surprised by that. It’s time that we put in. We could just let a deal walk out the door, but it’s not about that,” she says.

Russell Henshaw, state sales manager at mortgage manager Australian Financial, has been working with Sintex for the last 12 years. His firm has written both commercial and residential loans with Sintex, including for first home buyers with little to no genuine savings, investors looking for a high LVR, commercial purchases and refinances, and commercial SMSF loans.

“We have built up a very good relationship with the credit and settlement staff. They are very quick in answering any questions or scenarios we have. This enables us to reply to our broker network in a timely fashion. They also try their best to assist if at all possible, whether it is a loan application or a settlement issue,” he says.

As brokers seek out alternative ways to satisfy their clients’ increasingly diverse and complex needs, their interest in Sintex and what it offers is growing. Sintex is already seeing that come to fruition and is moving to a larger office space a few floors down in its Sydney building to accommodate its burgeoning team.

“For us it’s not about volume; it’s actually about the longevity of a relationship. That’s what we’ve always been in the business for – long-term relationships,” Dimarchos says.

Survival of the fittest
As much as Dimarchos distances herself from the rigid corporate suit stereotype, she admits that coming from an old-school banking background has given her a different way of looking at lending. Instead of relying on a matrix, as contemporary bankers do, Sintex looks at a whole spectrum of criteria to get a holistic view of the borrower’s profile now and for the future.

“When staff come in here to do credit, they’re trained the old traditional way. It’s about a commercial proposition. It’s not about fitting a matrix. It’s about how does this deal actually really work; how can we make it work?” she says.

One thing Sintex doesn’t do is cross-collateralise. “We don’t revalue securities and we don’t have annual reviews; as long as the clients’ loans are being maintained and repayments are being met, the customers have peace of mind that their loan will be available for the ‘life of the loan’,” Christie says.

The GFC hit Australia four years after the company was founded, and yet Sintex was one of the non-bank lenders that survived.

“The broker channel’s expansion is a reflection of the banks tightening their lending parameters. Growth is our main goal, as with growth we are able to present new products to market” - Peter James, director

Sintex is now one of the cohorts defining the accelerating non-bank space. Dimarchos thinks non-banks will claw back a bit of their pre-GFC market share, and as a result will provide consumers with a more even playing field.

What the GFC did prove is that, no matter what the challenges are, the mortgage industry is resilient and will move forward and adapt as necessary.

For brokers looking to plan for the future, Dimarchos suggests looking at the big picture.

“For me, it’s about having the broker take one step back and having a holistic view of what they’re doing for that customer sitting in front of you. I think when you do that, these challenges are actually not challenges; it’s actually crystallising now what you should be discussing with your customer.”