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The Coalition’s surprise victory may have reinstalled certainty over broker remuneration, but change is “constant”, a broking industry veteran has said, encouraging brokers to manage potential headwinds by remaining focused on their clients.
Speaking to The Adviser, founder and CEO of Empower Wealth Ben Kingsley said that he’s pleased that the current remuneration model will remain in place, with the Coalition government returning to office.
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However, Mr Kingsley urged brokers not to be complacent, but to instead prepare for future headwinds.
“There’s one constant in business and that is change,” he said.
“We’re going to see it in regard to technology and the digital age. There’s going to be increased competition in terms of how consumers ultimately choose to source lending.”
Mr Kingsley said that the best way to prepare for change is to remain focused on delivering positive outcomes for clients.
“If you delight your customer and give them the best strategy and structuring advice you can around their mortgage, then you’ve really got nothing to worry about,” he added.
He continued: “If your purpose is clear in terms of the work you want to do for your customer, [and] your systems and processes support that, you’re going to have a great business and you will win market share in good times as well as bad times.
“Focus on the things you can control, keep doing the best things that you can do, and your business will prosper.”
Mr Kingsley echoed remarks made by the CEO of the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA), Mike Felton, following the Coalition government’s re-election.
In a note to MFAA members, Mr Felton said that “now is not the time to rest on our laurels”.
Mr Felton added: “If we’re going to continue to be an industry with outstanding data on customer satisfaction and growing market share, we must continue to reform and evolve.”
Managing director of the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) Peter White also noted that there’s still much work to be done.
“We don’t have to worry about the remuneration side of things,” Mr White said.
“But now we have to work on the best interests duty, clawbacks, responsible lending guidelines (which will have an impact on responsible lending obligations), together with enforceable codes, etc.
“We have to work on all those things. So the work isn’t over, but certainly, I know from my point of view, what I was looking down the barrel of for the rest of this year is now a significantly more pleasant journey than I was expecting.”
[Related: ‘Now is not the time to rest on our laurels’, say association heads]
