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ISSUE 7.07 April 2010
Advantedge brokers to buy and sell at will
Steve Weston
New platform for
mortgage portfolios Advantedge has pledged to provide Choice, FAST and PLAN brokers a platform that would facilitate the buying and selling of mortgage portfolios by the end of the year. Clearly leveraging its experience with MLC, the
management team aims to have the buy/sell option to its brokers by the time full regulation comes into effect on 1 January. This would give those brokers deciding to leave the industry an easy way to sell their business. The buy/sell platform will be one of a number of features of Advantedge’s new Advantedge Financial Solutions service, which will also help brokers
increase the value of their businesses by expanding beyond mortgage products. “Ultimately, any broker or small business owner is looking to make money on the way through, and build an asset that is worth something at the end of that,” said Advantedge general manager of distribution Steve Weston. “What we’re now working on is a buy/sell service that will value your business and facilitate the buying and selling of broker portfolios.” Advantedge Financial Solutions GM Stephen Moore said that the service would be transparent and use an independent valuer to determine what a broker’s business was worth. The process would have an additional benefit, Moore said: revealing which elements added value to a broking business. That information could then be used to help Advantedge members get the most out of their businesses. Advantedge’s financial resources would allow it to purchase portfolios when there was a lack of liquidity in the market, but Moore stressed that it would not be used as an investment vehicle. Advantedge also hoped to be able to repackage portfolios so that Choice, FAST and PLAN brokers could build customer bases catering to their specific needs. Page 20 cont.
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Houses overvalued The Australian housing market has been heating up again with undersupply creating overvalued prices. We look at some of the property market drivers Page 22
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Off the cuff Group sales manager for Liberty Financial, John Mohnacheff, talks to AB about the importance of treating customers as your business’s success tool Page 26
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