Brokers need to properly understand MFAA: Steve Kane

“That’s not the role of the MFAA,” Mr Kane said. “The MFAA is a peak industry body representing its constituents which are mortgage and finance brokers; however, it also has partners in the business called banks, lenders, insurers, data and technology.”

He said there was a commonly-held belief among brokers that the MFAA’s role was to ‘fly the flag’ for loan writers in the face of lenders.

However, the misunderstanding was as much the MFAA’s fault for failing to communicate its message to the broking channel, he added.

“The MFAA has to articulate its value proposition properly,” Mr Kane said.

“It has to articulate what it has achieved, and one thing it needs to improve on is how it expresses the value it has created for mortgage brokers through its connectivity with legislation, through its connectivity with politicians, through its ability to provide industry best advice in a number of areas – and I think the articulation in those areas hasn’t been as strong as it perhaps could be.”

Meanwhile, Mr Kane said he was open-minded on whether the MFAA should recruit an industry figure or an outsider to replace outgoing chief executive Phil Naylor.

“It’s not that the person should come from here or from there, rather it’s more about aligning the skills, aligning the aspirations of the MFAA with the skills of the CEO of the future,” he said.

“I think with the replacement of any CEO, you need to understand what the strategy the MFAA is going to adopt over the next one, two, five years, and you need to be looking for a CEO that can strongly deliver on that strategy.”

[Related: MFAA wants strong lobbyist to replace Naylor]