Comments on: Mortgage Brokers Remain Loyal But Demand Diversification

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:40:01 +0000

Hey Guys…..fight fire with fire…..the drop in loan commissions forced me to do something I’d always wanted to do…..I partnered with some Financial Planners and brought Finance AND Financial Planning under the one roof. Whilst the reduced loan commissions certainly hurt me, the Banks now get less than 10% of my clients Financial Planning business, so I basically see it that they really bit their nose off to spite their face. Here’s what now happens in my office…….Client walks in looking for a home loan…..walks out with a loan, Life Insurance, Income Protection, Trauma, Superannuation under our management, etc, etc……look outside the square.

By: Observation

Observation — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:25:29 +0000

Even if it was a documented majority or an estimated “reckon”, doesn’t mean it is so. Stay positive and prosper rather than just negatively blame without taking steps to rectify - otherwise we’ll end up with “see, told ya it would happen and the banks are idiots”.

By: KeyMan

KeyMan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:06:04 +0000

Observation unfortunately 1/3 believe pure mortgage brokering isn’t viable. Maybe 1/3 believe it is and I reckon at least another 1/3 have their heads in the sand and just hope the whole problem will go away once the economy picks up.

By: Observation

Observation — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:57:03 +0000

No Steve, that’s NOT what they have said. Read it - only a minority think the pure model is no longer viable. You have misconstrued the statistics, then used that for a rant on your own agenda, calling the ACCC stupid & useless, the banks idiots etc. That might make you feel better, but it isn’t constructive debate and by your own admission you have nothing to offer as a solution. I’ve made my submission, raised my matters of extreme concern, but actually look forward to a healthy future for brokers. But you are welcome to jump off at any time if the going gets too hard.

By: KeyMan

KeyMan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:57:00 +0000

And John I am interested in who do you hold responsible for what has happened in the Financial Planners and who has benefited most.

As for broker loyalty to their groups - what a stupid question when most groups will retain a brokers loan book when he leaves.

By: A

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:47:11 +0000

I would be interested to know exactly how many brokers took part in this survey. I wasn’t approached…..perhaps our aggregators answered for us????

By: John

John — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:45:54 +0000

Hate to say it but as a Financial Planner you brokers are in for a shock if you think financial planning is the way to go. Our Commissions have been dropped, Margin Calls have wiped out the clients without good liquidity and we are just about to become fee for service as they are going to outlaw commissions including the upfront and the trail.

Insurance will not put food on the table until you have been going hard at it for a year as your clients existing policies are not going to expire the week after you see them for a home loan so when you do go back to see them in 6 months to do the paperwork your upfront should almost cover the fuel and McDonalds on the way back from the appointment.

Good Luck

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:36:38 +0000

Soooo based on your story…the broker as we now know it is kaput, finished, ceased to exist, extinct, Rigor mortis has set in? The problem I see with this is that a mortgage broker specializes in mortgages, not insurance or family planning or what ever they would like us to now do in order to keep our incomes up, financial planners tried to do mortgages as well (and some still do)but found it to hard to complete the necessary compliance to maintain their licenses and still earn a living. I’m not sure what the answer is to this conundrum, but I do know this will cause exactly what the banks have been trying to achieve for the past 10 years (backed & pushed by Kathy Cummings CBA & well documented) & that is to regain control of the mortgage market. In this whole debacle, the ACCC have been next to useless, stupid and without a clue, their comments regarding the minimum deals proposed by CBA & NAB shows without a doubt they do not have a clue or understand the mortgage industry, so sad these are the idiots we have to turn to.