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The crème de la crème of the broking industry in South Australia and the Northern Territory have been rewarded for their hard work at the 10th annual Better Business Awards.
Following the successful summits and awards in Brisbane and Perth, the glamorous Better Business Awards ceremony was held in Adelaide on Thursday evening (16 March).
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Run in partnership with NAB, the awards offer national recognition for brokers and brokerages, business development managers (BDM), aggregators, loan administrators, thought leaders, mentors, and innovators.
Setting the benchmark for excellence, the awards program champions brokers who not only write high volume but are dedicated to serving in the clients’ best interests and building a strong presence in their local areas.
Over 400 members of the broking industry from across South Australia and NT assembled in Adelaide to cheer the 91 finalists competing for 18 awards, including the sought-after Broker of the Year award.
After enthralling the audience in Brisbane, Australian stand-up comedian and television and radio presenter Claire Hooper returned as emcee in Adelaide and provided light and laughter throughout the evening.
Individual awards
Keylend finance specialist Gene Ge was crowned Broker of the Year, after being named Best Residential Broker for demonstrating energy, vision, strong year-on-year growth, and a clear understanding of the business of broking.
The recipient of the Editor’s Choice award was MoneyQuest Nairne broker Nick Bartel.
Editor of The Adviser, Annie Kane, said she was impressed with Mr Bartel’s dedication to helping clients in the Adelaide Hills access credit and make sense of the different loan options available to them.
Aggregator BDMs also shared the spotlight, with Aussie retail business consultant Peter Colman walking away with the Best Aggregator BDM award.
The Best Loan Administrator award went to Loan Market Clare Valley client services manager and mortgage broker Kristy Gillings for being an asset to her broker and implementing more efficient processes.
Shining a light on lender BDMs, customer service
Daniel Fry, director at finance broking firm Premium Capital Solutions, was awarded Best Finance Broker for recording impressive growth and highlighting his key attributes and successes in his submission.
Representing regional Australia, Hamptons Advisory (Littlehampton) finance broker Sharyn Gommers won the Best Regional Broker award for connecting with other professional advisory services, which benefited clients and provided a point of difference.
Lender BDMs were rewarded for their experience, efficiency, and commitment to educating brokers.
While the Best Lender BDM (Non-Bank) award went to Resimac BDM Jo Oliver, Macquarie Group BDM Maria-Ceres Parreno won the Best Lender BDM (Bank) award.
Senior mortgage broker at Port Lincoln Home Loans Steven Toome was named New Broker of the Year for achieving extraordinary results in a challenging environment.
The final individual award — the Best Customer Service (Individual) award — went to Mortgage Choice St Peters personal mortgage adviser Smita Vira for driving growth through her dedication to client satisfaction.
Group awards
The Adviser lifted its hat to offices that continued to serve their clients with dedication in a challenging economic environment.
While Aussie Prospect in South Australia was named Best Franchise Office, Crown Money Management’s Adelaide office (headed by founder and chief executive Scott Parry) won Best Boutique Independent Office for reducing average mortgages by $40,000.
South Australia-based Financia (helmed by managing director Leon Spadavecchia) picked up the Best Finance Brokerage (Office) trophy for achieving strong growth in its finance arm in the past year, while JP Mortgages (headed by director and finance broker James Paterson) won the Best New Office award for an exceptional beginning for a new brokerage.
The Best Regional Office award was presented to Preferred Finance (Mount Barker) — headed by owner and director Aaron Vogt — for its marketing initiatives and for the vast experience of its team members across multiple finance disciplines.
The final group winner, Rise High Financial Solutions (led by managing director Marissa Schulze) had two reasons to celebrate after it added both the Best Large Independent Office and Best Customer Service (Office) awards to its mantle.
The brokerage was commended for steering a mature business and for its education programs.
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!
Click here to see the full list of winners.
Better Business Summit & Awards head east
The Adviser will take the Better Business Summit and Awards east to Sydney and Melbourne, in what promises to be a day of learning, networking, and celebrating.
The 2023 Better Business Summit agenda has been designed to focus on four primary pillars of content to assist brokers with re-engineering their businesses. These include:
- Lead generation
- Operations
- Technology
- Sales
The Better Business Summit and Awards 2023 will be held in the following locations:
- Sydney, 23 March 2023 at The Star
- Melbourne, 30 March 2023 at Pullman Albert Hotel
Click here to buy tickets to the summit and don’t miss out!
Did you know The Adviser Premium members go for free? Become a Premium member here.
For more information about the 2023 Better Business Summit including speakers and agenda, click here.
[Related: Winners of Better Business Awards 2023 revealed in WA]
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