‘We're not getting into business to be small’
Can Compass Aggregation stake its claim in a market dominated by just a handful of major players?
Less than three years since launching, the asset and equipment (A&E) finance aggregator remains a humble operation, but recent developments suggest an expansionary phase is on the agenda.
The Sydney-based group has brought on Danny Tuttlebee (pictured), the commercial finance expert who successfully sold Sonder Equipment Finance to Resimac in 2022, as its new general manager.
After exiting Sonder, Tuttlebee worked as Resimac Asset Finance’s head of sales before spending two years as an A&E broker under Compass.
Tuttlebee has now been given the keys to Compass to steer the start-up aggregator in a new – hopefully northwards – direction.
Mentorship matters
Discussing his vision for Compass with MPA, it’s clear that Tuttlebee has some strong thoughts on what makes a good aggregator – and what makes a bad one.
Tuttlebee sees mentoring as fundamental to rebuilding broking as a genuine profession rather than a volume‑driven lead‑generation game.
He’s critical of how easy it is to enter the industry (“you do your four-week Cert IV and become a broker”) without understanding the “nuances and the dangers” of complex commercial deals.
Tuttlebee’s comments echo a broader debate within the broking profession that is growing increasingly noisy.
With scrutiny over brokers intensifying amid ongoing mortgage fraud investigations, many in the industry are calling for better education and guidance for new-to-industry brokers.
For Tuttlebee, mentoring is the missing bridge between basic accreditation and the kind of deep competence needed to be a long‑term trusted adviser to a business, on par with an accountant or lawyer.
He argues that parts of the industry now focus on “who can acquire the opportunity and then just jam it in and get it done”, instead of caring for the client and the long‑term relationship. That’s where he believes structured guidance, guardrails and ongoing education really matter – especially for younger or previously mis‑steered brokers.
Compass’ vision for mentorship includes taking on some brokers who may have stumbled early in their careers. “We think you’re a good young kid and you didn’t understand the dangers of getting it wrong… we believe we can train you and teach you,” Tuttlebee says. The goal is to “raise them up” with the right frameworks, support and education.
Scaling sustainably
In contrast to the residential mortgage world, where there is a clearer mentorship pathway and time‑based requirements to professional development, mentoring can be relatively absent in the commercial and asset finance space.
As Tuttlebee says, when brokers “attach their trailer to something much bigger, you do become a number… a small fish in a big pond”. It is this gap that Compass is trying to fill.
It helps that right now, Compass is very much a boutique aggregator with around 25 brokers under its wing. That makes it a bit player in the A&E space, which is dominated by the likes of COG Financial Services, Viking Aggregation and Connective.
But Compass’ small size allows the team to commit to its “built by brokers, for brokers” vision of how an aggregator should operate.
The lender panel is around 50 lenders, with a strong focus on specialised commercial finance.
While members still write standard car and truck deals – the bread and butter is in more complex, structured transactions: debtor finance, trade finance, private lending, and dealing with scenarios involving tax debt, directors, liquidations, and other complicated business events.
“We see ourselves as a very specialist aggregation panel with a very specialist education process,” Tuttlebee says.
That’s all well and good, but the real test for Compass will be how it scales from here while staying true to its philosophy. After all, "we're not getting into business to be small. We definitely do want to grow”, says Tuttlebee.
At the same time, Tuttlebee wants to “support brokers just to be brokers – put the right bookkeepers, tech and marketing around them so they’ve got the support behind them and can focus on their clients”.
But having a high-touch service proposition will inevitably be more difficult to maintain as Compass brings more brokers under its wing. This strategy will be put to test as the group positions itself for growth in the months and years ahead.
