2025 NZ Mortgage Awards guide honours NZ's best mortgage professionals
The New Zealand Mortgage Awards 2025 lit up the Auckland War Memorial Museum with a night of recognition, celebration, and industry pride – and now you can reflect on it all with a commemorative guide.
Organised by NZ Adviser, the event brought together top-performing brokers, BDMs, aggregators, and lenders from across the country - from Auckland to Christchurch and Dunedin - to honour the standout achievements shaping the home lending landscape.
The event showcased the very best across the mortgage sector, with individuals and organisations recognised for innovation, service excellence, and long-term impact.
Championing advisers through changing times
Mark Nolan, business development manager at sponsor Avanti Finance, acknowledged the often unseen challenges mortgage advisers face.
“Advisers have a tough job, and they’re often working with customers that have challenging circumstances and situations,” Nolan said. “Events like this showcase the best operators and the top people in the industry, and we’re really pleased to be able to take part.”
Small businesses, big recognition
Kiwi Adviser Network’s Warwick Slow, winner of the Bizcap Best Aggregator BDM award, highlighted the importance of celebrating the many small adviser businesses across the country.
“Most businesses in this industry are small; something like 80% of us have one to five advisers,” Slow said. “Having these types of awards is important for us to get recognition and showcase the talent that we have, and I’m really proud of the work that advisers do every day.”
Celebrating customer-centric service
Craig Rolls, Basecorp Finance head of lending, said customer service remains key to adviser success.
“Customer service forms a key part of both an adviser’s proposition and our own,” Rolls said. “We’re thrilled to highlight advisers who have demonstrated consistently high levels of customer service in support of their clients’ property ownership aspirations.”
The role of BDMs and aggregators
Camilla Tumai, general manager at Bizcap NZ, echoed the value of behind-the-scenes support.
“The Best Aggregator BDM category highlights the vital role BDMs play in supporting advisers and driving industry excellence,” Tumai said.
Link Financial Group CEO Josh Bronkhorst emphasised how BDMs help brokers adapt in fast-changing markets.
“BDMs provide crucial support. Their expertise helps advisers stay informed and navigate complexities so they can focus on great outcomes for Kiwi homeowners,” Bronkhorst said.
FAMNZ’s Leigh Hodgetts added that aggregator support plays a key role in broker success.
“Aggregators are a really important part of the whole process in creating good customer outcomes,” Hodgetts said. “Events like this bring a lot of people together who may not be able to do so that often.”
Lending leaders and long-term impact
Finbase managing director Pernell Callaghan said it was important to spotlight lending excellence.
“The Lender of the Year award highlights the industry’s top performer. We’re proud to help celebrate their achievements,” Callaghan said.
Finsure NZ’s Jenny Campbell noted the momentum across the room and the industry as a whole.
“It’s such a vibrant and wonderful industry, and these guys are all at the top of their game,” Campbell said. “We want to uplift everybody, and we want to show New Zealand the importance of working with a good adviser.”
Supporting the next generation
Emerging talent also took centre stage, with First Mortgage Trust CEO Paul Bendall sponsoring the New Adviser of the Year award.
“Celebrating exceptional emerging talent is vital for the industry’s future,” Bendall said.
Liberty NZ General Manager Igor Stychinsky reinforced the importance of advisers in the long term.
“Advisers are at the heart of the NZ mortgage industry and have been central to Liberty since day one,” Stychinsky said. “We’re proud to sponsor the Adviser of the Year award and acknowledge those contributing to the bright future of this industry.”
A word from the event partner
As official event partner, Liberty praised the resilience and dedication of advisers throughout the past year.
“Advisers are at the heart of this industry and have been central to our success at Liberty since day one,” it said. “We congratulate all nominees and winners on this well-earned recognition and celebrate their outstanding achievements.”
Methodology: How the winners were chosen
The 2025 awards followed a clear, multi-stage process. Nominations were submitted online, open to both self and peer entries across unlimited categories, with a focus on achievements over the past 12 months.
The NZ Mortgage Awards team conducted research to validate submissions before announcing Excellence Awardees on January 27. An independent judging panel of industry leaders then scored the finalists, with the highest scorer in each category named the winner at the April 10 event.
The 2025 judging panel featured industry leaders including: Jen Baird (CEO, REINZ), Nick Hakes (CEO, Financial Advice NZ), Ian Boyce (GM Property, Avanti Finance), Katrina Shanks (industry expert), Carmen Vicelich (founder and Global CEO, Valocity), Aaron Skilton (CEO, Liberty), and Pushpa Wood (director, Massey University FERC).
Meet the 2025 award winners and excellence awardees
The night also celebrated the achievements of standout professionals and businesses including:
- Sarah Hood
- Khushpreet Sidhu
- EverBright Finance
- Sandeep Khanna
- Alex Wang Consulting Limited
- The Mortgage Girls Ltd
- First Mortgage Trust
- Satyan Mehra
For a full list of winners, visit NZ Mortgage Awards 2025.
