Suncorp Bank’s new head of broker unveils his top priorities

Brick – who was most recently the head of strategic partnerships at ANZ Bank – took over the position from Shane Davis, who had been working in the role in an acting capacity following the promotion of Troy Fedder to executive general manager for home lending.

In his first media interview since taking on the position, Brick revealed what he has been working on over the past eight weeks, what he hopes to achieve for the channel moving forward, and how Suncorp Bank will differ from its parent company.

Speaking to The Adviser, Brick said: “I’m now two months in and one of my first priorities has been learning the business. While I bring deep broker industry experience, across both home lending and commercial lending, it’s about understanding how I apply that to the specific dynamics of Suncorp Bank broker partnerships. It’s really been an investigative experience in these first few weeks.”

The new head of broker partnerships acknowledged the legacy left by Fedder, who he said had “built an amazing business at Suncorp Bank in the last few years”.

He particularly said that Suncorp Bank’s Net Promoter Score was over +50, its “speed-to-yes” had been consistent for a long time (its current time to final decision is less than four days, according to Brick), and that the bank had an 85 per cent application-to-approval rate that he said was “extraordinary for the industry”.

“Coming from a major bank into a non-major bank, it is really pleasing to see how strong a non-major bank can be in the market,” he said.

“One of my key priorities is ensuring that Suncorp Bank’s strong position and strong fundamentals continue.”

The ANZ-Suncorp Bank relationship

While Suncorp Bank has only officially been part of ANZ Group since 1 August 2024, the major bank parent has already started tweaking how the lender operates.

For example, while releasing the group’s financial results for the financial year ending September 2024, CEO Shayne Elliott revealed that ANZ had opened up Suncorp Bank’s risk appetite for investor lending.

Speaking to shareholders earlier this month, Elliott said: “Suncorp Bank had put a cap, or a speed limit, on the proportion of home loans that they were willing to write in the investor space which was entirely reasonable for a bank with two and a half per cent market share and their capital and part of a bigger risk [profile]. So it was entirely reasonable in that context.

“[But] we said: ‘Well, you’re not in that context anymore. You are now in the context of a $1.3 trillion balance sheet, and we have a lot more diversification, and we think about that differently’.

“So we changed the cap; we didn’t remove it. We changed that cap that allowed Bruce [Rush, CEO of Suncorp Bank] and the team to be more assertive. They didn’t need to really change anything in terms of their proposition with customers, but they were able to welcome in more customers.”

However, Brick said that while Suncorp Bank may look to “leverage the new relationship [it has] with ANZ where synergies make sense”, its broker strategy and proposition remained separate.

He said: “We may look to adopt certain best practices from ANZ, and there may be some synergies around regulatory issues and governance and so on, but fundamentally, it’s business as usual.”

Moreover, Troy Fedder, the EGM for home lending, told The Adviser: “The opportunity for Suncorp Bank to focus on investors in our lower-risk SunLight segment will be one of our key priorities.

“In addition to that, we’re taking the time to carefully consider if there are any other areas within our risk profile where we may make considered changes.

“We continue to look at policy positions that we think are right for Suncorp Bank and right for brokers.”

Suncorp chasing prime loans

According to Suncorp Bank, its core market is the prime market, which makes up the bulk of its new flows.

Fedder said: “Many brokers are aware of the lanes that we want to drive in and one of those is our Suncorp Bank SunLight segment.

“Our SunLight loans are approved in 48 hours or less, with eligibility criteria including lower LVR, lower DTI and a good credit-risk rating. This high-quality business allows us to have really good speed-to-approval. A large percentage of our new-to bank lending falls into this category.

“We’re seeing a lot of growth across the entire country – particularly the eastern seaboard – and especially in broker-introduced business.

“The Queensland market is still buoyant relative to some of the other markets – with many young families moving there. It’s still a bright market for home lending and that places us really well, because that is a key state for our business.

“One of the exciting things about joining the ANZ Group is their desire to invest in Queensland, too.”

Looking forward to 2025, Fedder said: “I’m certainly excited about Paul’s appointment to lead the broker business. He brings great industry experience and the feedback I’ve received from aggregators and brokers has been overwhelmingly positive. They see that it’s a fantastic opportunity for someone who’s well known in the industry to take the baton on the work that Suncorp Bank has done the last three or four years, and continue the momentum forward.”

Speaking of his priorities for 2025, the head of broker partnerships said: “The Suncorp Bank broker partnerships proposition is really strong and one of my priorities for next year is making sure that more brokers are aware of what we offer the market and how we can best support brokers and their customers.”

[Related: ANZ unpacks why broking is a less profitable channel]