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The “ultra-competitive mortgage market” is helping drive an ongoing increase in BDM numbers.
A range of lenders have announced BDM appointments over the past two months, including Adelaide Bank, Suncorp Bank, Bluestone, Australian First Mortgage, Homeloans and Bluebay Home Loans.
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Adelaide Bank’s senior manager of broker distribution, Fons Caminiti, said there was a definite trend at play and that it was likely to continue for at least another three to six months.
“It’s been driven by the expanding broker sector, the ultra-competitive mortgage market and the push for asset growth in a low-margin environment,” he told The Adviser.
Mr Caminiti said three of the four BDMs he had recruited in the past 12 months had been ex-brokers.
He added that although former loan writers should find it easier to succeed in the role, brokers will respond poorly to any BDM that demonstrates a lack of contact, commitment and integrity.
Origin Finance co-owner Ben Dudley said that one of the keys to being a good BDM is to deliver outcomes – for example identifying a problem in processing and then fixing it.
Mr Dudley welcomed the increase in BDM numbers, because he said it was vital for brokers to be able to get contact a relationship manager in times of need.
“They’re generally spread very thin, they’ve generally got to manage competing demands for many, many different brokers,” he said.
“Some BDMs can take a while to get back to you. That can be difficult, because often when you need to speak to them to try to fix something, you want to speak to them straightaway.”
Westgate Financial Services general manager Hugh Miller said he could empathise with both parties having previously worked as a BDM for a big four bank and a non-bank lender.
“My history of being a BDM was doing as many appointments during the day as possible and then being on email until all hours of the night to reply to scenarios and gripes about turnaround times,” he said.
“If there’s more to share that load in the banks, it’s going to make for a better experience for brokers.”
Mr Miller told The Adviser that in his experience BDMs who work for major banks are likely to be less effective than their counterparts at non-majors.
Big bank BDMs can find it hard to navigate the bureaucracy, while those at smaller lenders find it easier to talk directly to the relevant credit manager, he said.
[Related: Brokers plead for better BDM service]
