Opportunity knocks amid tightening risk appetite among traditional banks
ASX-listed non-bank lender Pepper Money has ramped up its broker-support team in anticipation of a knock-out year for the alternative lending market.
The eastern states have welcomed a bevy of new recruits, including Queensland-based business development manager (BDM) Nikita Borg, New South Wales-based senior BDM Iva Young and Victoria-based BDM Georgia Constantinidis.
Pepper Money has also revamped its state leadership structure, with Tony Wakim and Vladimir Murphy‑Mulcahy taking on state lead roles for NSW and QLD respectively.
“Our expanded teams bring together seasoned industry professionals who understand the nuances of complex scenarios and know how to navigate them with confidence – ensuring brokers can move with speed in a market that’s moving faster than ever,” said Pepper Money chief executive, mortgages and commercial lending, Barry Saoud (pictured, right).
The non-bank lender has also grown its commercial and self-managed super fund (SMSF) credit teams, and has established new hubs of residential credit assessors across the eastern states.
“From the first conversation to final approval, brokers now have access to deeper credit expertise, more specialised guidance, and strengthened national coverage,” said Saoud. “For brokers, the message is simple: when you bring a deal to Pepper Money, you’re backed by the right people with the right skills to get it done. We’re growing so our brokers can grow – and we’re committed to being the partner they rely on.”
Alternative lenders step up
Pepper Money’s hiring spree underscores the mounting optimism in the alternative lending space amid tighter lending conditions and lower risk appetite among the traditional lenders.
Recent moves by Commonwealth Bank and Macquarie Bank to limit lending to trusts and companies, for instance, have coincided with incoming restrictions on high debt-to-income (DTI) home lending imposed by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
Under the restrictions, which go live on 1 February, banks and other authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) will only be able to lend up to 20% of new mortgages at a debt-to-to-income (DTI) ratio of six times or more.
While some brokers reckon these changes will only have an impact at the fringes, the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) worries that it could create an uneven playing field for borrowers.
“This has the very real potential to throttle the capability of the ordinary family borrower to buy a property and realise the benefits of home ownership,” said FBAA regulatory compliance specialist David Carson. “It is usually the case that those most heavily affected by these actions are the ones closest to the thresholds. In this case, aspiring homeowners with lower household income and smaller deposits.
These and similar developments have widened the window of opportunity for non-bank lenders like Pepper Money to help borrowers who might elsewise be locked out of the mortgage market.
Siobhan Williams (pictured, left), head of mortgages, retail broker, highlighted Pepper Money’s flexibility in income verification and its “outside-the-box approach to past credit history” in recent discussions with MPA.
Pepper Money chief executive Mario Rehayem (pictured, centre), meanwhile, said that while the challenges posed by rising interest rates and high inflation cannot be understated, “they also signal an opportunity for growth and renewal”.
“More customers want solutions that help them move on from the challenges of the past few years and get back on track financially. Non-bank lenders are meeting the demand for flexible mortgage loan options,” said Rehayem.
