MA Financial loan book grows to $718m

The group has reported a “record first half result” as it continues to diversify its group and acquire new businesses.

Indeed, the group’s full acquisition of non-bank mortgage lender MKM and aggregation group Finsure last year has helped build its results and bolster its loan book substantially.

According to the financial results, the lending business saw its loan book grow 91 per cent between 1H21 and 1H22, taking it to $718 million.

The group said this was delivered both through the acquisitions, as well as “strong organic growth in principal and specialty finance activity”. 

For example, it highlighted that the aggregator had “exceeded expectations” in 1H22, after increasing its managed loans by 25 per cent in the half, taking them from $67 billion to $84 billion, and adding 282 new brokers to its membership. According to the group, Finsure now has 2,409 broker members. 

MA Financial said: “Finsure’s technology platform and unique broker revenue model are key to delivering growth.”

It added that a key focus for the lending business would be a continuation of “building a highly scalable platform to position the business for long-term growth”. 

MA Financial noted that it had “made a significant investment in its residential lending business across people, platform and technology” in the half, which had “[positioned] the business to take advantage of the significant opportunity for long-term growth in the residential mortgage market”.  

Moreover, the group revealed that 2H22 had already seen “a positive start”, with “significant business activity over the first seven weeks of the half”.

MA Financial noted that Finsure had achieved record monthly loan settlements of $3.7 billion in July, for example. 

Speaking of the figures, Finsure chief executive Simon Bednar commented: “Finsure are incredibly proud of the record results we have achieved across all key areas of the business. 

“Over the six months alone, Finsure increased its loan book by 26 per cent and its broker numbers by 13 per cent. 

“We have also achieved record settlements of $3.7 billion in July, which is very pleasing.” 

Mr Bednar told The Adviser: “We believe much of our growth is being driven by Finsure’s cutting edge Infynity CRM platform. Brokers are now making decisions on who they partner with based on technology. We believe our growth numbers are reflective of the innovative solutions the Infynity platform offers.  

“Finsure winning the Technology Platform of the Year at the Australian Broking Awards 2022 was fantastic recognition of how advanced our platform is and brokers are clearly voting with their feet when it comes to who is offering the most advanced solutions in the market.” 

Speaking of MA Financial Group’s 1H22 results overall, joint CEOs Julian Biggins and Chris Wyke said: “We are extremely pleased with how the business has performed during the period, highlighting the increasingly diversified nature of our business. 

“Asset management credit funds, our hospitality assets and our lending business have demonstrated strong growth in a rising interest rate environment. Corporate Advisory has continued to deliver on its strong transaction pipeline. 

“It is particularly pleasing that we were able to achieve this growth whilst continuing to invest in our platform and capability. 

“During the half we have made significant investments in people, new business premises and into our residential lending business that will help sustain future business growth.”

[Related: MA Financial acquires non-bank mortgage lender]