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Aussie’s general manager of strategy and product, David Smith, explains how the broking group will continue to grow its loan volumes in the specialist space.
Where do you see opportunities in specialist lending?
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We believe that growth opportunities remain in the traditional segment of credit-impaired borrowers and specialist security that may allow Aussie to grow this segment to five per cent of overall volume, with such growth being additional to system growth among mainstream lenders.
This will come from a combination of continued focus on broker education and targeted product solutions, perhaps in high-LVR lending – particularly for first home buyers.
How have you educated your brokers about the specialist lending proposition?
Aussie has engaged with our specialist lenders to provide targeted education sessions for our brokers about the opportunities available to increase overall lead-to-settlement conversion through an understanding of specialist lending niches, with a focus on ensuring that the broker is able to provide a solution to a customer’s needs in the widest range of circumstances.
We have also actively encouraged our specialist lenders to engage with brokers on declined deals and look to ways in which the use of a specialist product and lender may allow an appropriate solution to be found for the customer, and for them to be able to obtain a loan to allow them to meet their financial objectives.
How much has your business grown through specialist lending?
Specialist lending has accounted for between 2.5 per cent and 4 per cent of Aussie’s total lodgements over the past 12 months, and this figure has been slowly growing in response to the tightening of credit policy among mainstream lenders over the past six months.
Has specialist lending lifted your conversion rates over the past 12 months?
It’s too difficult to tell specifically the level of improvement that would be attributable to specialist lending, but it certainly stands to reason that if more brokers were familiar with specialist lending, then they would be able to improve their conversion of customer enquiries.
Aussie is focused on ensuring this is the case for all brokers and franchisees.
Would you say specialist lending gives Aussie a competitive advantage?
At the cornerstone of Aussie’s philosophy is providing a superior customer experience.
The presence of specialist lenders on our panel increases the probability of our brokers being able to provide a real solution to a customer’s needs in more circumstances, which is, after all, why the customer is engaging with the broker.
