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Young brokerage on big recruitment drive

by James Mitchell11 minute read
Young brokerage on big recruitment drive

A Sydney-based brokerage is looking to double its number of loan writers in 2017 by hiring new-to-industry brokers and educating them across residential and commercial finance.

Finance Warehouse was set up in February 2013 by director Christopher Sales, a former ANZ commercial banker. The business started out in a small office in Caringbah before moving to Alexandria.

“We just recently moved again to a much bigger space in Waterloo,” Mr Sales told The Adviser. “We now have a team of five including three brokers,” he said.

“I want to try and get to 10 brokers by the end of 2017. We have hired a PR company and have all of our marketing material. I have allocated each broker a $200 marketing budget.”

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The ambitious 32-year-old also has plans to break into the Melbourne market, but admits that this could still be a few years away.

Armed with a decent trail book, Mr Sales is eager to grow his business by recruiting new-to-industry loan writers with no previous experience in finance.

One of his brokers, Jack Punch, has been named a finalist for the Rising Star award at the NSW Better Business Awards next month.

“Hiring new-to-industry brokers is the way to go,” Mr Sales said. “An experienced broker who is going to come and work for you will ultimately be working for themselves.

“We start our new brokers off in residential mortgages. When I get the big commercial deals in I start introducing new brokers to that market. But residential will be their bread and butter.”

Mr Sales says he sets his brokers realistic targets and the team catches up for weekly sales meetings.

In addition to growing his brokerage, Mr Sales speaks regularly at Finsure PD days about his experiences as a new broker and how he wins residential and commercial business in a highly competitive market.

“When I decided to take the punt three or four years ago and become a broker everyone said ‘don’t do it’,” he said.

“I do a lot of small business loans under $1 million with ANZ. I have a number of big construction loans underway with the big banks. The commercial stuff is a pretty big size of my book.”

Entering the broking industry after a career in banking is common. However, Mr Sales says he had to start from scratch when it came to building a client base.

“Every referral partner I have today is someone I never knew before I started my business,” he said.

[Related: The biggest challenge facing new brokers]

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James Mitchell

AUTHOR

James Mitchell has over eight years’ experience as a financial reporter and is the editor of Wealth and Wellness at Momentum Media.

He has a sound pedigree to cover the business of mortgages and the converging financial services sector having reported for leading finance titles InvestorDaily, InvestorWeekly, Accountants Daily, ifa, Mortgage Business, Residential Property Manager, Real Estate Business, SMSF Adviser, Smart Property Investment, and The Adviser.

He has also been published in The Daily Telegraph and contributed online to FST Media and Mergermarket, part of the Financial Times Group.

James holds a BA (Hons) in English Literature and an MA in Journalism.