A new straw poll has found that the majority of mortgage brokers think the Finance Brokers Association of Australia's performance over the last 12 months has been 'very good'.
More than 650 of the 956 brokers (68.6 per cent) who have responded to The Adviser's straw poll so far have said the FBAA’s performance over the last year has been ‘very good’, while 13.9 per cent rated the association’s performance as ‘good’.
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However, a similar number of brokers (13.3 per cent) rated the FBAA’s performance as ‘very poor’ over the last year. Just over 2.5 per cent of brokers said the industry body performed poorly and 1.7 per cent said the FBAA’s performance has not changed in 2016.
The FBAA’s Peter White said that while the results are very positive, the association still has plenty of work to do and “must not become complacent”.
“Our numbers are still growing strongly and we now have almost 7,000 members. We still have lots of things that we need to achieve,” he said.
Mr White said 2016 has been a busy year for the association, particularly in light of the ongoing ASIC review into broker remuneration.
“We have regularly been engaging with government on issues specific to the third-party channel, but also on more general issues that impact our industry, such as discussions with the Small Business Minister,” he said. “Our interaction with ASIC this year has been enormous.”
The FBAA will soon submit a comprehensive report to the government on home loan commissions in third-party distribution, which will include insights on seven national markets, including Australia.
The association has grown significantly over the last 12 months and has added approximately 1,500 new members.
However, Mr White stressed that as the FBAA grows it must “never lose focus on who and what we are”.
“We get great reports on our staff as to how friendly and approachable they are, their industry knowledge and the assistance they give,” he said.
“We know where we want to go, we are focused on our mission and we keep driving for it.”
[Related: Brokers slam MFAA performance]