The partnership will support new-to-industry brokers across the aggregation network.
Viking Money has appointed Mr Mentor as its “preferred mentoring partner”, a move the group said would provide new-to-industry brokers with practical guidance and experienced support.
As part of the agreement, which is already live, Viking brokers requiring external support will be able to access the training and mentoring provider’s Full Mentor Program, comprising a 15-week program with two years of personalised mentoring and support.
Brokers who provide mentoring within their own businesses will also be able to access Mr Mentor’s Partner Mentor Program, receiving technical skills training alongside business and relationship guidance from the in-house mentor.
Viking managing director Clive Kirkpatrick said the partnership would strengthen Viking’s commitment to helping brokers build successful and sustainable businesses.
“New brokers need more than an aggregation platform. They need quality training, practical guidance and experienced support,” he said.
“Partnering with Mr Mentor gives our brokers access to a proven mentoring framework while complementing the support we provide at Viking.”
Meanwhile, Mr Mentor CEO Brett Mansfield said he was delighted to partner with Viking.
“We share a strong belief that giving new brokers the right technical foundation, practical mentoring and business support from the outset creates better brokers and stronger businesses,” he said.
Focus on broker development
The agreement makes Viking the latest group to enter into a formal agreement with Mr Mentor, joining Specialist Finance Group (SFG), Australian Finance Group (AFG), National Lending Group (NLG), and Finweb, which also have agreements in place with the mentoring provider.
Speaking with The Adviser, Mansfield noted the increased costs of bringing a new broker into the industry, creating a need for structured mentoring.
“Aggregators invest time, resources and support upfront, and under a commission split model, it can take a long time to recover that investment if the broker isn’t writing business consistently,” he said.
Mansfield said aggregator approaches to mentoring have become more structured as the compliance and risk expectations across the industry have changed.
“We’re seeing a clear shift in the risk tolerance of both lenders and licensees. There is far less room for poor file quality, inconsistent processes or compliance issues to be picked up after the fact,” he said.
“That means mentoring can’t just be about helping a new broker write more business. It has to help them write good business.”
He also said it was pleasing to see more aggregators recognise the value of mentoring and adopt a more proactive approach to it.
“Rather than simply leaving new brokers to find their own mentor, we’re seeing aggregators do more work upfront to understand the quality of the mentoring services available and establish a clear panel of accepted mentors,” he said.
Mansfield also said this was important because not all mentoring is equal.
“We’re also seeing a similar approach from some lenders when they assess accreditation requests. They want greater confidence that a new broker has received the right level of training and support before they are given access to their products,” he said.
“The challenge is that while mentoring standards exist, they are not mandatory requirements. That creates a significant gap in the quality of training and support available across the market.
“For a new broker, that can be very difficult to navigate. If you’re new to the industry, you often don’t know what good mentoring should look like, so it can be hard to distinguish between a genuinely structured, professional program and something that simply ticks a box.”
[Related: Viking Aggregation officially launches]
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