Mutual mania

The customer-owned lending landscape has been on a radical transformation journey the past few years and to find out how and why the mutuals have been changing, we were thrilled to welcome six senior leaders to The Adviser’s Mutual Bank Roundtable lunch in September.

Our cover story this month, Mutual Mania (page 18) explores some of the key themes emerging from the roundtable – with a particular focus on the ongoing wave of mergers in the mutual sector. What’s fuelling this consolidation, and how are mutuals positioning themselves for future success? Check it all out in our cover story!

Don’t forget to turn to page 24 to find out what the mutual bank heads think the exciting opportunities are in lending for brokers. This insight will empower you to navigate the shifting landscape and seize new avenues for growth.

Speaking of growth opportunities, our commercial content writer Ben Squires delves into SMSF lending on page 34 for our sector report on SMSF loans, partnered by Thinktank. Flick over to the feature to understand what’s driving the rising popularity of SMSF loans. As more Australians seek control over their financial futures, it’s clear this trend is essential for brokers to understand.

And, if you missed all the drama about broker remuneration recently, you can read my overview of the big topic that has tempers flaring on page 42. Much was said by the industry after the CEOs from Westpac and CBA suggested the Senate should look at capping broker commissions if banker commissions are capped. Many senior leaders hit out at the attack – see page 4 for what some of the aggregator heads think about it all! I’d encourage you to read the full feature to find out exactly what the two CEOs said if you haven’t already.

To cap it all off, we’re reliving some of the fun and lessons from two of The Adviser’s recent events. We celebrate excellence in our Australian Broking Awards 2024 feature on page 28, showcasing the outstanding achievements recognised at this year’s glittering ceremony, partnered by NAB - while over on page 38, we recap key learnings from the SME Bootcamp roadshow, run in partnership with Dynamoney.

I hope you enjoy this edition of The Adviser, and do reach out if there’s anything you’d like to see included in future editions: [email protected]