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By: Jessica Darnbrough
With only a week to go until the re-launch of its newly acquired aggregator Loankit, Mortgage Choice is already eyeing other acquisition targets.
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Speaking to The Adviser, Mortgage Choice chief executive officer Michael Russell said the brokerage remained bullish about the mortgage industry and the importance of the third party space. He said it was keen to invest further in this area.
“We are currently in talks with a range of companies with strong assets,” Mr Russell said.
“As yet, nothing has come of those discussions, but our eyes are always peeled for possibilities.”
For the time being, however, Mr Russell said he is optimistic about the launch of Loankit. He believes the “new and improved” aggregator will shake up the industry when it is re-launched next Thursday.
“We invested in Loankit because we saw merit in its offering and believe it offers a model no other aggregator can compete with,” Mr Russell said.
While Loankit chief executive officer Kym Rampal refused to be drawn on the aggregator’s specifics, he did say the new model would appeal to those broker groups who wish to gain autonomy and control over their business earnings.
According to Mr Rampal, broker groups or sub-aggregators who functioned within large aggregator groups suffered reduced commission earnings due to metrics applied by lenders to the aggregator as a whole.
“These metrics include percentage of electronic deals to total deals submitted by the group and quality of submission. While the sub-aggregator may have a very high quality in itself this does not necessarily translate to higher earnings. Their earnings instead could be limited by the quality of submissions of the aggregator as a whole,” Mr Rampal told The Adviser.
Mr Rampal believes that Loankit can help such sub-aggregator groups to gain independence and autonomy over their own affairs without suffering from a loss of infrastructure currently offered by their aggregators.
The aggregator hopes to take on 50 brokerage groups in the first 12 months after launch.
