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A major bank has announced it will welcome a new head of broker distribution next month, as the incumbent moves into a new role.
Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) has announced that Sarah Willsallen – its current state general manager, mortgage broker distribution in NSW/ACT – has been appointed as head of broker distribution.
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Willsallen will move into the role on 11 February 2025, when the current head of broker distribution – Warren Shaw – moves into the new role of national general manager, home lending distribution, supporting the proprietary channel.
Willsallen has worked at Westpac for the past nine years and has been the state GM for mortgage broker distribution in NSW/ACT since April 2017. As well as supporting brokers more generally, she also created an industry-wide women in broking event to celebrate the achievements of female business owners and to enable connection and knowledge sharing between them.
She has more than 15 years of experience across the corporate space in both Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, including at major companies such as retailer Kmart, electronics company Fuji Xerox, and software company Wolters Kluwer.
Speaking of the changes, Westpac’s managing director, mortgages, Damien MacRae, said: “We want to be the bank of choice for brokers and customers, and are continuing to invest in delivering market-leading service, competitive products, and new digital innovations to make it simpler and faster to do business.
“Sarah’s appointment to the role of head of broker distribution, recognises her eight years leading mortgage broker distribution for Westpac in NSW and the ACT.
“She has also played a significant role advocating for female representation in broking and financial services, as recognised in 2023 with her winning of the Westpac Carla Zampatti Woman of Influence Award.
“I also want to recognise the immense contribution Warren has made to our third-party proposition, and the broker industry more broadly during his nine years in the head of third-party distribution role.
“This experience sees him strongly positioned to support more of our customers into home ownership, in a new role supporting our first-party focus.”
Westpac broker flows continue to grow
The major bank has been quickly growing its loan book via the broker channel, with recent figures from the prudential regulator showing that the major bank’s total mortgage book grew to $479.60 billion in November 2024 - comprising $318.29 billion in owner-occupier loans and $161.31 billion in investment loans.
In its financial results for the financial year ending 30 September 2024 (FY24), the bank noted that almost two-thirds (63.6 per cent) of its new Australian mortgages in 2H24 were written by brokers, equating to $35.1 billion of the $55.2 billion settled by the bank over that half.
As such, the proprietary channel’s share of new loan originations continued to dwindle, dropping down to 36.4 per cent.
Broker flows have risen sharply at the major banking group recently, having increased in the six months to September from 61.4 per cent in the first half.
Indeed, broker-lodged loans increased by 29 per cent over the year to September (having accounted for less than half – 49.2 per cent – of new mortgage business in 2H23).
You can find out more about Westpac’s incoming head of broker distribution in the Women in Finance Podcast with Sarah Willsallen, here.
Tune in to hear about:
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The importance of “showing up”.
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Why we need more women in broking.
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Networking tips for those who aren’t natural networkers.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION