TALKBACK -- Industry comment on www.theadviser.com.au

Everyone has an opinion, and some people feel compelled to speak out. Here are just a few comments prompted by daily news broken on www.theadviser.com.au over the last month.

ON THE MFAA’S NEW ‘ADVISER’ FRAMEWORK

How does being a member of the MFAA give a broker a ‘competitive edge’ if all brokers are members of the MFAA? Trevor Jones

Operating as a broker outside a major city it has always been difficult [for me] to collect the required 25 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points [required by the MFAA] as now none of the banks’ BDMs visit us for training. For us to ‘visit them’ costs me $200 in fuel plus overnight accommodation of $130. The only other alternative [is to] complete a number of MFAA courses paying $250 each; plus there is the inconvenience to my clients of being away from the office for two days. To achieve 30 CPD points will prove impossible. Are we now heading into an era where only the big will survive [with no] room for independent brokers? Brian Taylor

ON ANZ RAMPING UP MORTGAGE LENDING

ANZ could... sharpen its process if it got rid of processing in India. I know from personal experience – and from talking to the processing guys left in Perth – that this is where all the issues are stemming from. I have been trying to settle a loan with ANZ since early November last year; it only settled last week and still there are issues with it. The really sad thing is that this is not an isolated issue with ANZ; every deal that I have sent them in the last six to eight months have all had similar issues, and processing the deals has dragged out beyond anything that I have experienced. Andrew Aickin

This is welcome news regardless of their processing problems; ANZ still provides by far the best service of any major. Recently I had an application fully approved within twelve and a half working hours [of the deal being placed] in the ANZ system. David Butcher

ON SLUMPING HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

One other contributing factor that adds to buyers’ hesitance is the uncertainty around their eligibility for finance. With the constant policy changes and credit tightening being made by the various lending institutions, it is daunting to a buyer to be confident to proceed to [an] offering. A pre-approval obtained three months ago... may not be an easy proposition as rates have risen and lender policies have tightened further [during that time]. So the un-affordability quotient has been contributed to by not only rising interest rates but also the continuing tightening of financing policies. The borrowers of today need to be much more financially aware of their options. Ian Franklin