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The major brokerage has rebranded to Yellow Brick Road Home Loans as it pivots to position itself as a non-bank lender and mortgage service provider.
Broking franchise and aggregation group Yellow Brick Road has rebranded to become Yellow Brick Road Home Loans.
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The group, which has historically been well known as a broking franchise brand (and currently has approximately 77 branches open across Australia), has been increasingly positioning itself as a non-bank lender following the commencement of its mortgage securitisation program.
According to its new branding, Yellow Brick Road Home Loans (YBR) is “a leading non-bank lender” that “also offers mortgage broking services” through its two business models; the YBR franchise brand and its independent aggregator offering, Vow Financial.
The long-held aspiration of YBR executive chairman Mark Bouris to become a lender was realised last year after the group partnered with international alternative asset manager Magnetar Capital to launch a joint venture mortgage-backed securities securitisation business, Resi Wholesale Funding (RWF).
The asset manager assumed 50 per cent ownership of RWF, which secured a $120 million warehouse facility in 2019. This limit rose to $250 million in January of this year, and the availability period extended to 21 February 2022, which YBR Mr Mark Bouris said was “great news for YBR and its partner Magnetar, and will put [its] distribution networks in a better position to compete in this market”.
Yellow Brick Road Home Loans has also announced that it will discontinue the use of its earlier branding of Yellow Brick Road Wealth Management. The group sold off the head office operational and business functions of YBR Wealth to InterPrac Financial Planning for $2.5 million last year.
Mr Bouris commented: “We, as an organisation, are excited about this strategic rebrand effort. We are confident that this move will herald a new phase of massive growth for us.”
The head of distribution, Travis Hall, added: “This is a significant and strategic move for the entire organisation and results from months of round-the-clock planning and diligence.
“We firmly believe this exercise will boost brand recall, simplify our service offering to our existing and prospective customers and ultimately generate more business.”
The new brand will be rolled out across the branches in due course and is being supported with a website refresh and TV and digital media campaign.
[Related: Securitisation: Levelling the playing field?]
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