Top industry performers were congratulated at the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia’s (MFAA) annual Excellence Awards held at the Westin Hotel, Sydney, on Friday night.

“This special occasion gives our members, their colleagues and peers the opportunity to celebrate those this year’s industry high achievers,” said Phil Naylor, CEO of the MFAA.

There were 16 award winners on the night, four which were awarded to outstanding individuals and 11 awarded to top performing companies. The most prestigious award, Operator of the Year, was awarded jointly for the first time ever to Horizon Financial and Mildura Finance Limited who were judged as the best from 13 of the categories.

The MFAA congratulates all finalists and winners of the Excellence Awards.
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The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) has today expelled Accredited Mortgage Consultant, Mr Anh-Tuan Pham and the company of which he is Director, Freedom Finance & Property Group Pty Ltd, Footscray VIC, for misconduct.

The MFAA’s Disciplinary Tribunal stated, “Mr Anh-Tuan Pham of Freedom Finance & Property Group Pty Ltd engaged in dishonest conduct by manufacturing, and then submitting to a lender, income supporting documentation from a company of which he was a Director, for two individuals who were not in his employ, to enable those individuals to obtain finance.”

This conduct was contrary to clause 42 of the MFAA Code of Practice which states, “A Member must not engage in any acts or omissions of a misleading, dishonest, deceptive or fraudulent nature.”
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LJ Hooker’s financial division supports industry organization, MFAA’s move toward encouraging its members to become fully qualified professional credit advisers.

MFAA’s proposed framework of tiered professional qualifications will see brokers qualify for a Certificate IV in Financial Services.

LJ Hooker Financial Services General Manager Peter Bromley says this level of qualification is already built into the division’s performance standards for its brokers.

“All our current brokers meet Certificate IV standards, which means they complete 30 hours of CPD a year, have a conversion ratio of 65 per cent, accreditation with a panel of at least 10 lenders and settle at least six loans per quarter.
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Today’s interest rate increase is a reminder to mortgage holders to shop around if they are looking to refinance their home loan, according to the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia.

“Changes to the official interest rate can present an opportunity to borrowers to get a better deal,” said Phil Naylor, Chief Executive of the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA).

“There are a whole range of factors above and beyond the interest rate which can determine whether a home loan suits your circumstances.

“Consumers should remember that what was the most suitable mortgage 12 months ago is not necessarily the most suitable mortgage now.
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The ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank and ING Direct have been named as finalists for the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia’s (MFAA) prestigious Lender of the Year Award, in the 2010 MFAA Excellence Awards.

The annual Award - to be announced at the MFAA Excellence Award’s night-of-nights on 12 March - is one of the industry’s most sought after honours.

To reflect the importance the MFAA places on monitoring lenders’ service performance in relation to the broker channel, MFAA accredited members were invited to vote online for the Lender of the Year in January 2010.

To ensure this is simply not a ‘popularity vote’, each lender was ranked against a set of seven criteria by all eligible voters. The top three scoring lenders became the finalists, and the overall top scoring Lender, the winner, will be announced at the Excellence Awards Dinner at the Westin in Sydney on Friday 12 March 2010.
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A survey has found the Global Financial Crisis is a distant memory for most Australians, who now believe the housing market is set to take off - again.

“A surprising 73% of respondents expect house prices to rise, which is the highest proportion for more than three years,” said Phil Naylor, CEO, Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA).

The MFAA/Bankwest Home Finance Index canvassed the opinion of 850 people on a range of issues relating to the economy and housing market.

“Confidence in the housing market is not only pre-GFC - it’s back where it was during the height of the housing boom,” Mr Naylor said.

“But there are still some clouds on the horizon, with recent interest rate increases negatively impacting households,” Mr Naylor said.
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By Jill Fraser for Lending Central

The FBA’s national president, Peter White says the AIPB is acting in “a cowboy fashion” and that its correspondence style is “flawed and unprofessional”.

The AIPB’s Maria Rigoni retorts with “I cannot accept responsibility for Peter White’s interpretation of the English language”.

The argument is centred around the AIPB’s invitation to the FBAA, the MFAA and the ABA to participate in an open industry discussion about bank ethics, which the AIPB claims is adversely impacting finance brokers.

White told Lending Central that the FBAA will not participate in the public forum that the AIPB is proposing because it sits on very shaky legal ground.

The basis of White’s response is based on the fact that the AIPB letter did not name the FBAA members that it is accusing of engaging in practices that are “unfair and have no ethical, moral or best business practice basis”.
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By Jill Fraser for Lending Central

The Australian Institute of Professional Brokers (AIPB) is relatively new on the scene but already it is demonstrating that it is willing to take on the big issues.

In an open letter dated 28 November and sent to the Chief Executive of the Australian Banking Association, David Bell, MFAA CEO Phil Naylor and the FBAA’s National President, Peter White the AIPB outlines broker grievances and seeks an open industry discussion.

The letter (see below) signed by AIPB co-founders Paul Flakus and Maria Rigoni is headed ‘Working Ethically with Finance Broker Professionals’.

Rigoni told Lending Central she believes that the only way to bring about positive change is by “bringing everything out into the open and if necessary having a tidal wave”.
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By Jill Fraser for Lending Central

The MFAA National Broker Committee is backing the push to do away with ‘quantity’ or ‘volume’ based accreditation.

The proposed new accreditation system being touted by the MFAA’s NBC and linked to the establishment of ‘professional credit advisers’, the prospective new name for MFAA broker members, is minus any volume clause.

The NBC hopes it can successfully “persuade” lenders to abort volume based accreditation criteria and utilise the criteria in its proposed ‘professional broker characteristics’ as the basis of accreditation programs.

While some lenders support this attempt to focus on quality and professionalism in the industry, it remains a contentious issue and at the moment overall lender support has yet to be mustered for the adoption of the proposal.
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Borrowers seeking to refinance their mortgage in light of recent interest rates increases have been urged to use Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) accredited mortgage brokers.

“Recent increases to interest rates may prompt consumers to shop around, but we’d encourage consumers to seek out MFAA accredited brokers,” said Phil Naylor, CEO, MFAA.

Mr Naylor said that mortgage brokers accredited through MFAA are best positioned to find the most competitive loan products for consumers from a range of lenders. They are also are held to high professional and ethical standards of conduct, experience and education which non-members are not.

“Our independent research shows that consumers are consistently more satisfied when using a broker than going directly to a lender, and borrowers with loans administered by a broker are less likely to struggle with repayments,” Mr Naylor said.
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The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) has elected its board and office bearers following its recent Annual General Meeting and board meeting.

“This is a strong team which draws on wide-ranging experience and expertise, providing a strong platform for future advocacy,” said Phil Naylor, CEO, MFAA.

The following board members and office bearers for 2009/10 were elected:
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Following approval of its own Australian Financial Services License (AFSL), Wealth Today launched it’s complete franchise model last week.

With this feather in it’s already well feathered cap, Wealth Today, a financial services company built specifically for brokers, by brokers, is now set to embark upon its greatest development in less than thirteen months since its formation in 2008.

On November 17th 2009, the company launched its complete franchise model, further revolutionising the broking industry as we know it in Australia.

The Wealth Today franchise is a financial services business model that bolts alongside a broker’s current aggregation set up. The model already has advocates of its success in brokers across Australia who have completed the Wealth Today Academy and taken advantage of the company’s second-to-none para planning services and business mentoring.
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The Board of the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) today ceased the membership of around 1,500 brokers who failed to become adequately qualified.

MFAA Chief Executive Phil Naylor said the members failed to abide by the Board’s requirement to successfully complete the Certificate IV in Financial Services (Finance and Mortgage Broking) in time.

“This MFAA wishes to raise — and recognise — the level of professionalism among its members, who provide valuable advice and services to their clients,” Mr Naylor said.
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Only a third of would-be homebuyers believe governments are doing enough to help new entrants into the housing market, a survey has found.

The finding flies in the face of significant incentives including a more generous but temporary first homebuyers’ grant from the federal government, stamp duty relief from state and territory governments and the lowest mortgage rates in 40 years.

The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia suggests the reason might lie with issues relating to housing supply, rather than financial assistance.

The latest Bankwest/MFAA Home Finance Index, released by the association on Thursday, found about one in eight respondents intended to wait until the federal government’s more generous grant had been wound back and prices moderated before taking the “housing plunge”.
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