Female advisers are encouraged to 'fly the flag' in a profession that's still male-dominated
The industry needs more women brokers, suggests mortgage adviser Anne-Marie Blackler (pictured), who urges her female colleagues to join her in flying the flag in what remains a male-dominated profession. She describes attending industry events and being assumed to be a mortgage administrator rather than a broker, simply because she is a woman.
“It's surprising that there really aren't that as many female brokers as there really should be,” she told Mortgage Introducer. “I'm a strong, confident woman and I'm thinking about the next generation of female brokers. It's about education and being more visible because we all see there are lots of male brokers out there talking about mortgages, how to be a broker, and how to get a mortgage. But there aren't as many women, who are visible or being promoted by their companies. Women should fly the flag too.”
To what extent is the industry still dominated by men, in her view? “It's hugely male dominated,” she said. “All of the events that I go to, they're male heavy. People assume if you're a woman in this field… they'll sometimes say, ‘Oh, are you admin?’, and you reply, ‘Well, no, I'm not admin, I'm actually a broker.’ There are just so many male brokers - not that there's anything wrong with that, but it would be nice if there were more female brokers in this field. Being a woman in the world of finance is obviously a really big conversation. I do think that there could be a bit more education around it, and also at schools about mortgages and about finances.”
Anne-Marie Blacker has been in the property industry for over 14 years, specialising in luxury real estate in prime central London, firstly as an agent for Foxtons, and currently as a self-employed mortgage broker at Prestige Private Finance, giving her – she believes – a deep market understanding, that enables her to provide a truly holistic service to her clients. Her career could have taken a very different direction. “I thought I wanted to go into law,” she said. “I thought I wanted to be a singer, at one point, and a TV presenter. But that was when I was younger and things changed.
“I'm part-French, part-Indian and English - I'm a real mix, so I love languages. I studied French and business management, and then I went into banking - that was the career to be in, and other friends of mine had gone into it. I worked for Bank of New York, and Lloyds. My best friend, Helen, said to me, ‘I can really imagine you showing people around penthouses, in this glamorous estate agency role’, like you'd see today on TV, in Selling Sunset. I wanted a people-based role and applied for a job with Foxtons and got it. I've always loved beautiful properties, I love architecture. I started in Sloane Square, then I went to Pimlico, where I met my now husband, James Blackler, who is also a mortgage broker, and then I moved to South Kensington, where my career took off. I was the number one selling agent in Foxtons for about four years - their highest banking negotiator for quite some time.”
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Swapping roles in the property business
The switch to a broker role came when returning to work after maternity leave. She recalled: “A mortgage broker, who knew my track record, said ‘Why don't you come work for me?’ He said I'd have a bit of flexibility and see a different side of the property market - it's a still is a transferable skill, and a sales-based role. The challenge was learning the job when I first started. There are so many moving parts to a mortgage and so many different scenarios and criteria. When you do your CeMAP training, you learn everything about the economy and hypothetical situations, you don't actually learn anything about mortgage broking. It's only when you start doing it, in practice, that you actually start to learn. I always want to be the best at whatever I do, so I give myself personal challenges that maybe other people don't. So, I'm very hard on myself in whatever I do. I'm not happy unless I'm very busy.”
Today, Anne-Marie Blackler has a wide breadth of clients, from first-time buyers, to those seeking buy-to-let finance, remortgages and specialist lending. “It only really takes a couple of strong introducers for you to be busy,” she said. “It's about building a good rapport with the agents who are referring clients to you. A lot of my leads come from estate agents and that's because I have really strong relationships with them. I also get a lot of word-of-mouth business through my clients, who've been happy and pass me on to their friends and their families. They can rely on me - if somebody comes to me for a mortgage, nine times out of ten, I get them one. So, I think it’s about being reliable, being responsive, and being able to do your job well.” She added: “My best business lesson is to always be responsive. If you don't have time to fit someone into your diary today, they'll find someone tomorrow - and next week will be too late.”
