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News AMAs recognise industry’s best The mortgage industry turned out in style to recognise its best brokers, BDMs and service providers at the Australian Mortgage Awards on 24 September, with Mortgage Choice broker Wendy Higgins taking home the coveted Australian Broker of the Year award. Higgins –who came out on top of MPA’s Top 100 Brokers list this year – was called on to accept two awards at the AMAs, also taking home the gong in the Broker of the Year – Franchise category. Higgins was not alone in gaining two awards. Greg Wells of Wells Partners in Sydney received back-to-back awards on the night as Broker of the Year in the SME/ Debtor Finance category, as well backing up for the Commercial Real Estate award. Meanwhile, the market twice recognised the work of Westpac business development manager Debbie Neal, who was named Best Bank BDM, as well as being recognised as 2010’s premier BDM, after she was called on to accept the Australian BDM of the Year Award.
Club Financial Services in Norwood, South Australia, won Best Brokerage of the Year (less than five staff), while Smartmove Home Loans was the best brokerage over five staff. Australia’s Rookie of the Year was taken home on the night by Cameron Wiles, also of Smartmove. Now in their ninth year, the AMAs are the highlight of the mortgage industry calendar, and celebrate the achievements of the best individuals and businesses. Held at The Westin in Sydney this year, the evening featured a gourmet three-course meal, free-flowing drinks, prizes and giveaways – including flights to Las Vegas – and plenty of fun. Following a Viva Las Vegas theme, attendees were treated to live entertainment from ‘Elvis’ throughout the night, as well as the fancy dress efforts of their colleagues. The event was attended by over 700 brokers and industry leaders. Were you at the AMA’s? Maybe your face was caught on camera. See p32–33 to find out.
Australia’s best brokers Young Gun of the Year – Franchise
Terry Azzopardi, Smartline
Young Gun of the Year – Independent
Cameron Wiles, Smartmove
Broker of the Year – Insurance
Irene Cujko, Mortgage Choice
Broker of the Year – Short Term Lending
Justin Goodwin, A Loan 4 U
Broker of the Year – SME/Debtor Finance
Greg Wells, Wells Partners
Broker of the Year – Commercial Real Estate
Greg Wells, Wells Partners
Broker of the Year – Non-conforming
Paul Mitchell, Beat Home Loans
Broker of the Year – Franchise
Wendy Higgins, Mortgage Choice
Broker of the Year – Independent
Jeff Falconer, Park First Home Loans
Australian Rookie of the Year
Cameron Wiles, Smartmove
Australian Broker of the Year
Wendy Higgins, Mortgage Choice
Existing clients provide rich pickings
Current mortgagors are more likely to use a mortgage broker than non-mortgagors, a report from research firm Datamonitor suggests. Fifty per cent of current mortgagors that are expecting to keep their mortgage for three years or less would use a mortgage broker if they decided to take out or refinance their mortgage, Datamonitor’s 2010 Australian Financial Services survey found. This compared to 45% of all other current mortgagors, and consumers without a mortgage, of whom only 34% would seek consultation with a third party broker. The report also found that these existing clients – upgraders and refinancers – are taking centre stage among lenders, as they continue to play a more active role in the market. Datamonitor’s AFS survey said refinancers would be a “challenge” for their current providers, as they were more likely to shop around for better deals with other lenders. Currently, only 48% of mortgagors expect to keep their mortgage with their current provider for 10 years or more – a decrease on the 55% of respondents who had this intention in 2009. Activity by upgraders, meanwhile, is expected to favour their incumbent lenders, although mortgage satisfaction levels and recent brand image and realignments in the market may
play a role for these borrowers in choosing a different lender for their loan. The general outlook presented by the AFS survey was positive, with Australians having “strong property purchasing intentions despite rising interest rates” – 8% intend to purchase an investment property in the next 12 months, while 7% plan to purchase their first home. “Consumer confidence in the Australian property market has rebounded after the tremulous last year”, according to Datamonitor’s financial services analyst Petter Ingemarsson, who said that the surprising strength in first homebuyer intentions is being driven by property price confidence. “The residential property market weathered the storm of the financial crisis without a major price correction, contributing to the current strong consumer confidence,” he said. However, the research group cautioned that while only a small number of people are expecting house prices to fall over the next year, an “eventual correction of prices” is likely. “Given that house price growth has outstripped wage growth significantly over the last decades, this would have to entail either a significant fall in property prices or a sustained period of stagnant property prices,” the report said.