'A big part of what I do is building the MA Money brand in the broker community'
In this edition of MPA’s long-running BDM in the Spotlight series, Andrew Oey gives the low down on being a business development manager at non-bank lender MA Money.
Oey discusses how he fell into the banking world by chance before finding a passion for alternative lending.
The challenging, unpredictable nature of non-bank lending gets Oey out of bed in the morning – he just wishes there was more of a focus on financial literacy for younger Australians.
This series casts a light on the best BDMs and relationship managers in the mortgage finance sector.
Full name: Andrew Oey
Job title: Business development manager
Company: MA Money
Number of years in the industry: 12
Location: Melbourne
When and how did you join the finance industry?
I joined the finance industry by accident in 2013. At that time, I was a fresh graduate from a Psychology degree with a sizeable HECS/HELP debt and a limited desire to continue down that career path.
During a holiday after graduating, I bumped into a friend who was, at that time, the manager of a Bankwest branch. He asked me if I “wanted to stop being unemployed”, to which I said, “sure, why not?”, and thus began my journey into banking/finance.
The first eight to nine years of my career were spent across Bankwest and Bank of Melbourne in a variety of retail bank roles starting with personal banker and eventually to home lending, branch manager and small business banking. I made the switch to the non-bank space in MA Money because I wanted to broaden my experiences and learn about options consumers have when they can’t fit the box of the Big Four banks and their subsidiaries.
What does your current role involve?
My role as a BDM is to work with brokers to help them find solutions that can be executed quickly (48-hour quickly with MA Money to be specific).
A big part of what I do is building the MA Money brand in the broker community – making sure more brokers know who we are, how we can help their clients, and how we can help them achieve it. This can mean breaking down the non-bank space and showing brokers how it can open more opportunities to say yes where others may say no. It can also be about showing the market how to do non-bank the MA Money way.
Read more: MA Financial sets interim revenue record as Finsure surges, loan book blows up
Moreover, my role is about being practical, approachable, incredibly responsive, and adding value every time, while being an advocate for MA Money across the industry.
How do you assist brokers to grow their business?
I see every conversation with a broker as an opportunity to add value. My role is to go beyond product by being solution focused, identifying opportunities, and working together to navigate the grey areas that often come up in complex scenarios.
The eventual goal is to cut through that complexity towards a simple solution that the broker can pitch to the client. I help brokers uncover angles that not only strengthen their business case but also demonstrate how their client will benefit from the transaction now and in the future.
By reframing deals and scenarios through the lens of the client, I can think from the perspective of the broker and their business. I also encourage brokers to think differently – whether that is structuring something in a new way, steering their focus away from pricing, or highlighting market trends and niches that may be overlooked.
By doing this, I can support brokers to grow sustainably while delivering the best outcomes for their clients.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
Being in a role that is front-facing, the unpredictable nature of each day is something I have grown to enjoy. There is always a new challenge to solve, new opportunities to think outside the box, and stronger relationships to hone and develop.
For me, it’s not just about helping brokers get deals done – it’s about adding value, learning constantly, and being part of an industry where people are at the centre of everything.
What’s the most important advice you can offer to a new-to-industry broker?
Learning to sell based on the solutions you build around the client's life stage and overall circumstances will give you a better chance of building long-term relationships with them rather than selling on rates.
Further to this, building an understanding around how to use a diverse range of lenders (i.e., Big Four, non-bank, private funders etc.) can help you not only capture a wide range of business opportunities, but it may also help you increase your business revenue through providing short, medium, and long-term solutions from just the one client.
How important is broker feedback in ensuring you provide the best service?
Much like how BDMs and credit assessors give feedback to brokers around the quality of their scenarios and submissions, broker feedback is invaluable to ensure that we continue to deliver the right outcomes for their clients and business.
On a personal level, feedback that is provided to me is an opportunity for my partnership with that broker or broker group to be strengthened. If it’s positive feedback, it’s validation I’ve done it correctly, and to keep doing it. If it’s negative feedback, it’s an opportunity to acknowledge a potential shortcoming and an opportunity for improvement.
What makes a great BDM or state manager?
A great BDM is defined by strong relationships, consistency and responsiveness, and commercial acumen. They have a knowledge of not just their products and immediate competitors, but also the wider market landscape and how their products are positioned within it.
Success comes from utilising this knowledge to add value in every conversation they have, and in doing so, they become a trusted partner to the brokers and groups they work with.
Equally, a great state manager brings this to scale by leading by example, mentoring BDMs, and driving accountability while fostering a culture of trust and performance. Ultimately though, it’s about being consultative, adaptable, and relationship driven – creating an environment where all parties can grow together.
If there’s one thing you could change about the industry, what would it be?
I’d love to see more focus on financial literacy. Around one third of Australians are considered financially illiterate and are underprepared for how complex the financial system can be. Because of this, money is often treated as a taboo subject because people simply don’t know where to start.
I wasn’t taught this at school or at university – I learned through personal experience and the industry itself. For those who never learn, poor financial decisions can easily transform into cycles of debt.
A big step forward would be building financial literacy into education as early as possible – teaching kids about wants versus needs, decision making, budgeting and risk. Better financial literacy would mean better choices, stronger outcomes, and fewer clients falling through the cracks.
Describe your ideal weekend:
With so much time spent on the phone and on emails during the week, I make a conscious effort to switch off from technology on weekends to recharge. I use that time to hang out with family and friends.
Activities include enjoying standard millennial activities like paying top dollar for avocadoes and coffees at Melbourne’s many brunch eateries, going hiking, and in the spring/summer months, camping.
I’m also a self-confessed gym rat and believe that no weekend is ever complete without a solid lifting and sauna/cold plunge session.
