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The man judged Australia’s best broker has said there is “far greater value than just offering rates” and only has about one rate conversation per week.
Australian Lending & Investment Centre director Mark Davis was named Broker of the Year at the Australian Broking Awards, while his firm was named Best Office – Non-Franchise.
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Mr Davis said the Melbourne firm has always focused on long-term plans rather than short-term product information since it was founded in 2009.
“Clients love having a conversation about the future – around lending strategy and around loan structure,” he told The Adviser.
“They value that far greater than a conversation about how much we can lend, what kind of interest rate we’re talking about and what product we can offer.”
Mr Davis said that most of the firm’s work comes via referrals and repeat business, so that clients generally know in advance how Australian Lending & Investment Centre operates.
“I’ll have probably one rate conversation with a client a week and that’s probably a client that’s not that suited to our business model,” he said.
“I’ve been in the lending game for 15 years now, and I’ve never believed that getting an extra 0.1 per cent off your rate is a reason for a client to move or to work with you. I believe there needs to be a far greater value out there than just offering rates.”
Mr Davis said that he designed the Australian Lending & Investment Centre model eight years ago while working at ANZ.
“Our whole focus when we left there nearly five years ago was to continue along the same lines and deal with the higher net worth and less risk-averse client base that do want to borrow and have the appetite to leverage and improve their position,” he said.
About 97 per cent of the firm’s clients are investors, with an average client owing about $1.1 million on a loan bundle of $1.8 million, he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Davis told The Adviser that the firm wrote $520 million of loans in 2013/2014 and was still targeting $1 billion by 2017.
“It’s going to be a tough target to meet, but we believe if we do everything correctly and employ the right people and train them correctly, then we have a chance of meeting it,” he said.
