From coding banking software to advocating for self-employed borrowers
Rajat Aggarwall built his early career writing banking software before becoming a mortgage adviser – and it's that background, he says, that shapes how he handles the clients main banks turn away.
From application engineer to adviser
Aggarwall moved to New Zealand in 2014 and spent his early years as an application engineer at Fiserv, working across banking and financial services technology. All Seasons Mortgage opened its doors on 1 July 2024, two years after Aggarwall first began studying for his adviser qualification in February 2022, which he completed by December that year. The business has since grown into a full-service advisory hub with a team of 11 across mortgage, insurance, and KiwiSaver advice.
When automated servicing metrics get it wrong
Aggarwall points to policy friction as the industry's biggest current challenge – particularly restrictive serviceability test rates and shifting credit criteria that create unnecessary anxiety for buyers, especially first-home buyers and self-employed applicants.
One case sticks with him. A self-employed client had been declined by their main bank "due to rigid, automated servicing metrics that didn't accurately capture their actual business cash flow and financial health," Aggarwall said.
Rather than accept the decline, his team went through the client's financials in detail, restructured their existing short-term liabilities, and built a comprehensive credit memo laying out the business's true profitability. They took the file to a lender who understood self-employed lending structures and secured full approval within four days.
"That experience reinforced for me that an adviser's true value isn't just submitting paperwork—we are financial advocates and translators between real-world human scenarios and institutional credit criteria," Aggarwall said.
Advice for those entering the industry
That hands-on approach is also what Aggarwall wants newer advisers to prioritise.
"Mortgage broking is about understanding people just as much as it is about understanding lending policy," he said.
Aggarwall also urges newcomers to build strong systems and compliance habits early, seek out mentors, and broaden into insurance and KiwiSaver advice so they can look after clients' full financial wellbeing – rather than waiting until they're overwhelmed with files to get organised.
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