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Jessica Darnbrough
Aussie Home Loans’ executive chairman John Symond has told The Adviser that CBA’s 80 per cent stake in the brokerage will spell good news for the company’s brokers.
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“It will mean more services and more products,” Mr Symond said.
Yesterday, Aussie Home Loans announced CBA had bought a further 47 per cent stake in the brokerage for an undisclosed sum, taking the major's total share in the company to 80 per cent.
Mr Symond went on to say that CBA’s 80 per cent share will rise to 100 per cent within the next three to five years.
Despite CBA’s increasing its share in Aussie, Mr Symond was at pains to say everything would remain “business as usual” for the company’s 650-plus brokers.
“I have signed an employment contract which means I will remain as the head of the business for another four years at least,” he said.
“CBA understand the business and are happy to let us push forward independently. We will retain our own management team, meaning it will be business as usual for all Aussie staff. The only difference our brokers will see is access to better services and better products, which ultimately means a better proposition for them.”
Mr Symond’s comments were echoed by CBA’s executive general manager, third party and mobile banking, Kathy Cummings.
Ms Cummings told The Adviser that while the bank was pleased to be further associated with Aussie, CBA was not planning to make any sweeping changes to the brokerage.
“We expect to increase our stake in the business to 100 per cent over the next three to four years,” Ms Cummings said. “For Aussie it will be business as usual – Aussie will continue to run as a separate entity.
“The CBA group recognises the importance of the broking industry and considers Aussie as complementary to its existing operations.”
