SPECIAL REPORT
HOT LIST 2017 JOHN MOHNACHEFF
MIKE FELTON
Group sales manager
MFAA
Liberty
Liberty is a lender on the rise and John Mohnacheff has the results to prove it. Liberty saw a staggering 48% increase in new loan originations to create total assets of $7.5bn. Within AFG’s Competition Index, Liberty is now regularly appearing in the top-10 lenders, forcing out non-major banks. And if that wasn’t enough, Liberty acquired National Mortgage Brokers, a 400-strong aggregators with a loan book worth $14bn. Property investors have played a major role in Liberty’s rise, as they have been driven away from banks bound by APRA regulation. Yet rapid turnaround times, excellent BDMs and commission structures have meant that brokers that try Liberty first for investor clients are coming back time and again.
CEO
When Mike Felton arrived in December 2016, the MFAA was in serious trouble. For many, the MFAA simply wasn’t vocal enough in defending brokers. This would be bad enough in a normal year; with ASIC’s Review of Mortgage Broker Remuneration just months away, it was disastrous. Felton stepped up to the challenge. The MFAA’s response to ASIC was rapid, specific and public, harshly critical in key areas, such as LVR-based commission, while pragmatically conceding ground in other areas, such as volume-based incentives. Felton’s willingness to work with lenders and regulators played a key role in setting up the Combined Industry Forum to develop a new approach to commissions. If this approach satisfies both brokers and the Government, Felton can take much of the credit.
ERIN TURNER
AARON MILBURN
CORY BANNISTER
Acting director, campaigns and communications
Director sales and distribution
Vice president and chief lending officer
CHOICE
Pepper Money
La Trobe Financial
You don’t need to be liked as an organisation to be influential, as CHOICE proved this year.When the Combined Industry Forum was formed, CHOICE was vocal in condemning the lack of direct consumer representation. This paid off, with consumer groups’ views now represented within the forum. Whether CHOICE’s controversial views on commissions will have any effect on the forum’s recommendations is doubtful, however, particularly given the limited data – in comparison with ASIC’s on which CHOICE have based their views.
Joining Pepper earlier this year, Aaron Milburn is a familiar face to the third party channel, having headed broker distribution at Citi, Westpac in NSW and ACT, as well as working abroad for nine years at British bank HBOS. Milburn therefore provides Pepper with experience and expertise from across almost the entire spectrum of lending. This will be particularly important as Pepper attempts to cater to all borrowers, not only to the self-employed and specialist segments they’ve traditionally catered to.
Non-banks are having their biggest year since the GFC, and La Trobe Financial are leading the pack, according to brokers. Under Cory Bannister’s leadership, La Trobe was voted Non-Bank of the Year in our Brokers on Non-Banks report, being applauded for its offering in the foreign non-resident and commercial lending sectors. Combined with innovative products such as parental assistance loans for FHB and aged care finance, La Trobe is fulfilling the promise of the non-bank sector by taking a genuinely different approach.
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