![New commercial loans portal launches](/images/News_stories/skyscraper.jpg)
A new commercial loans portal, Marketplace.finance, has launched, which enables accredited referrers such as brokers to find commercial finance solutions for their clients.
Co-founded by boutique brokerage and property advisory business Simplicity Loans & Advisory managing directors Jean-Pierre Gortan and Matthew Johnson, and run by Simplicity staff, Marketplace.finance is a new online system and company that aims to help mortgage brokers find and write commercial finance deals for their clients.
The white-labelled platform is currently available direct as well as through the commercial and asset finance broker aggregator FAST.
It enables accredited referrer brokers to submit an online request to Marketplace.finance, after which the portal captures a snapshot of customer requirements that the Marketplace.finance team reviews before providing feedback and offering indicative loan terms.
According to the founders, Marketplace.finance aims to help support mortgage brokers looking to offer more commercial solutions to their clients while providing “quick, efficient and systematic access to commercial loan facilities”.
Mr Gortan said the company hopes to educate and enable professional referrers to write and manage complex commercial loans regardless of previous experience.
“Various industry groups are pushing sector players like mortgage brokers to overcome a range of market hurdles in order to remain relevant.
“We are the first to recognise the need to act and provide brokers, and others (advisers, lawyers and accountants, for example) with a simple solution to address the fundamental change in finance lending dynamics head on,” Mr Gortan said.
“Our system is a sophisticated commercial funding platform to help accredited referrers manage the entire loan life cycle from initial inquiry, loan submission to lender relationship.
“This means enabling the referrer to focus on deepening existing client engagements whilst diversifying their business base to maintain profitability and relevance to new markets,” he added.
Mr Johnson, co-founder and managing director at Marketplace.finance, added that the solution not only enables referrers to capitalise and grow within the commercial lending value chain but requires the referrer to wholly own the client.
“We do not wish to disrupt the important nexus between professional referrer and the client. That relationship is sacrosanct and untouched by us,” Mr Johnson said.
“We can see that upskilling of the traditional broking community is essential to extend the diversification and relevance of those referrer partners. That’s primarily why we created this simple solution, with goals of long-term partnerships.
“That vision enables us to impart proven knowledge and experience, and help referrer partners to capitalise by plugging revenue gaps and creating a new service proposition in a growth market,” Mr Johnson concluded.
[Related: Fewer mortgage brokers writing commercial loans]