Do brokers have enough of a voice in the mortgage industry?

Kylie Speer  00:00:08 

Hello and welcome to MPA TV. I'm Kylie Speer, and my guest today is Simon Bednar, Chief Executive Officer at Finsure. Simon is included in MPA's Mortgage Global 100 list for 2024 his third inclusion in the prestigious list after previous success in 2022 and 2023 Welcome to you, Simon. Huge congratulations on your three time global 100 success. And thank you so much for joining us today.  

Simon Bednar  00:00:38 

Thank you, Kylie, and thank you for having me. It's been it's great to be part of this. 

Kylie Speer  00:00:44 

Well, firstly, Simon, you've earned a well deserved spot on the mortgage global 100 list for 2024 but your career began by gaining a degree in engineering. Has that provided a unique perspective and enabled you to make an impact in the mortgage sector? 

Simon Bednar  00:01:03 

Yeah, look, it has undertook engineering because I was really only good at math and science, so I was limited. But what it's given me is a really good understanding for problem solving. I think that's what an engineering degree provides you with, and it's been sort of apply those learnings to the finance and mortgage industry.  

Kylie Speer  00:01:20 

Looking back over 2024 what were your biggest challenges, and how did you navigate them? 

Simon Bednar  00:01:27 

Look the business was acquired the year before by Ma financial investment bank, and certainly one of the challenges we had, which was a positive one, was integrating the business successfully, not losing our culture, but leveraging the broader ecosystem that that business brought to offer, which I think the team have done amazingly well with. We're obviously in the middle of a payroll tax dispute with the New South Wales payroll tax office. That was a challenge in 2024 and one that we hope we can put to bed in 2025 and then I think the final challenge is our growth has been economic astronomical rather this year, and it's ensuring that we maintain the ethos and the culture that makes Finch special without outgrowing that. 

Kylie Speer  00:02:08 

Over the course of the last 12 months, you've led calls for a reform of the broker clawback system. How has that unfolded? And do you plan to continue raising awareness of the issue?  

Simon Bednar  00:02:22 

Yeah, look, it's a really important point, and it's one that certainly needs the enthusiasm of aggregators to push an agenda for the brokers. I believe the brokers adversely affected by clawback. In 2024 we had some wins where the lenders have started to review the way they apply their clawback framework, and moving from an absolute number to a step down, that's really, really important for us to ensure that there is buy in from the industry. And then moving into 2025 there's a number of large lenders that are coming up for contract reviews, and we're quite excited by the opportunity to use that opportunity to push for a more favorable approach. 

Kylie Speer  00:02:59 

Finsure represents nearly 4000 brokers. As CEO, how do you create policies and strategies to cater for such a large and diverse group? 

Simon Bednar  00:03:10 

I have an amazing team that sits behind me. I get asked that question a lot, actually, and I couldn't do it without the team behind me. We've got a very diverse group of people who work at Finch. I'm very proud of them. They all bring a unique view on how we should deliver value to our network. And our broker network, as you've described, is extremely diverse. We bring on about 100 new brokers every month, so it's consistently growing. But the team around me, both here in New Zealand, just amazing, and so their ideas and their drive really helped me deliver that. 

Kylie Speer  00:03:41 

Simon, do you feel brokers are given enough of a voice across the industry, and if not, do you think that is a role you can take on? 

Simon Bednar  00:03:51 

Look, it's an interesting one. I think we've got a very strong platform, but I think we can do more. And I think individuals in positions like myself and my peer groups certainly need to step up and ensure that we have a very active voice for our broker community. We have a market penetration at the moment at over 74% which is extremely positive. I think we can actually step that up a little bit more. But certainly there are such a diverse group of brokers in our industry that all of them have an opportunity to be heard. And so certainly we need to ensure that people like myself in those roles as CEO and senior managers in the industry continue to really ensure that brokers are heard. We're driving innovation, we're providing value to our customers, and we're also working closely with our lenders. 

Kylie Speer  00:04:34 

You've talked about encouraging people within Finsure to take chances without fear of potentially losing their job or being chastised. Why do you think more mortgage firms don't embrace this type of proactive attitude? 

Simon Bednar  00:04:49 

I know from my perspective, I get the most out of my team when they're free to make decisions. A lot of them, a lot of the individuals in my team, really quite innovative in the way they think. And I don't want to stifle that so a platform where they can make those mistakes, and truth be told, maybe not the same mistake twice, but they can make those mistakes really goes a long way to driving the success that we see in Finsure. 

Kylie Speer  00:05:12 

Finsure is expanding internationally, starting in New Zealand. How successful has the expansion been? And what's the next territory for the firm? 

Simon Bednar  00:05:22 

Yeah, look, we moved into New Zealand in 2024 which is exciting. As Australians, we were warned not to make any assumptions about the New Zealand market while we think they're similar. There's certainly some nuances, and unfortunately, we probably made some mistakes on the way. Having said that, we're now in a really strong position to grow the business in 2025 and I'm very fortunate to have Jenny Campbell running that business for me, and we're looking forward to really being a player in the aggregation space in 2025 as we look into 2025 and beyond, we have got our eyes on the Canadian market. We believe strongly that that market is very similar to both the Australian and New Zealand markets for brokers, got a high percentage of broker participation, very similar regulatory framework. And I think that's our next stop. 

Kylie Speer  00:06:06 

And finally, Simon aside from expansion, what do you see as the key aims for Finsure in 2025? 

Simon Bednar  00:06:16 

As we move into 2025 we want to continue to grow an aggregation business like Finsure is really built on the size of the network that gives us a voice to really champion issues and concerns for our broker members. So we want to continue to grow, as we put on another 100 brokers per month, moving into 2025 we want to ensure that we do not lose what makes Finsure special. What's made Finch successful is that the ability for us to be innovative, have a family touch, and as we, as we grow, we want to make sure we don't lose that. 

Kylie Speer  00:06:46 

Well, congratulations once again. And thank you so much for your time today, Simon, it was brilliant speaking with you. 

Simon Bednar  00:06:53 

Thank you very much, and thank you for having me.  

Kylie Speer  00:06:56 

And thank you, of course, to our viewers for watching the latest episode of MPA TV, we look forward to seeing you again soon.