Login
ISCOVER
Steven Cross
Brokers remain confident that boutique aggregator have a core role to play in the industry according to a recent The Adviser poll.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
The online poll found that 58 per cent of brokers believe boutique aggregation still play an important part in the third party distribution space.
Ballast general manager Frank Paratore said not only is boutique aggregation still incredibly viable but, in many instances, these smaller players are actually outperforming their major rivals.
“As a business for probably five or six years, our bottom line has continued to increase at a pretty healthy rate. We haven’t really done anything different apart from keeping to what we are, as a boutique,” he told The Adviser.
“I just don’t understand what some are saying. Why a smaller model is not viable?
“I’d like to turn around and say ‘alright, let’s compare bottom line profits and see how our business has grown over the past five years.
“Let’s compare it to yours and see who has more robust growth in their bottom line.”
But despite his passion for independent aggregation, Mr Paratore admits there are not too many smaller players left.
“We would encourage more and more boutiques open up. I believe we need more competition in the market, not less,” he said.
“A lot of the main aggregators have been swallowed by bank ownership, and no disrespect to that. It’s part of their strategy that I can see clearly what they’re looking to do.”
One boutique aggregator that was recently acquired is national Mortgage Brokers.
Bought by Aussie earlier this year, nMB’s Gerald Foley said the future is uncertain for Australia’s smaller players as the major aggregators are hungry for distribution.
“While you can survive as a boutique aggregator today, with the big players getting bigger, who knows what can happen in the coming years,” he said.
