Non-bank boss urges brokers to ‘reinvent’ themselves

Mr Cannon says reinventing himself and his business has become critical, and urges brokers to do the same.

“There is a whole revolution going on in broking at the moment. Nothing ever stays the same. I’ve been in business for almost 40 years. To stay focused and continue enjoying what you do you almost have to reinvent yourself every seven years,” he said. “Otherwise you become stale.

“There is a reinvention going on in the industry at the moment and that is what a lot of people don’t understand.”

While his foray into the world of online mortgages has been viewed by some as a move away from the third-party channel, Mr Cannon told The Adviser he is confident brokers will be part of the future of mortgages in Australia.

“But in what capacity I don’t know,” he said. “If the banking industry decides it doesn’t want them, that doesn’t mean the non-banks don’t want them.”

Mr Cannon’s comments come after recent reports that CBA and Westpac are looking to reduce their third-party footprint and boost mortgage lending through their branch networks.

Meanwhile, Australia’s non-bank lenders have become increasingly popular among brokers as banks face ongoing macroprudential measures and issues around channel conflict.

Momentum Intelligence’s Third-Party Lending Report: Non-Bank Lenders 2017 found that brokers rated the non-bank lenders more favourably than the big four and non-major lenders across a number of metrics. Non-banks particularly outperformed the bigger banks on service.

Evan Dwyer, managing director of specialist non-bank lender RedZed, explained that in addition to offering choice to customers, brokers also provide a variable cost alternative to lenders.

“When you compare the cost of hiring bank staff in a branch as a fixed cost for a lender, that’s really expensive,” he said. “Mortgage broking is a compelling proposition both from a supplier and a customer perspective.”

[Related: Major banks change third-party strategy]