Ex-banker becomes broker to provide ‘better solutions’

“[After] four years of working for one particular bank, [you’re] not actually providing a solution to a client,” Mr Desmond said.

“You’re actually a salesperson, you’re pushing a product, and that was something that I was starting to see that, you know, this is not actually the best thing for the client.”

The Loan Market broker added that broking has allowed him to provide clients with product alternatives, which are better suited to their needs.

“There are better things, there are better products, and there are better solutions that the client can actually get, and broking actually has enabled me to give those choices to my clients. So, that was a big reason why I became a broker,” Mr Desmond said.

The former banker also noted that in the last few years of his career in the banking industry, he observed that borrowers were beginning to feel the brunt of credit tightening measures imposed by lenders.

The broker said: “[The] challenge that I was starting to face in banking within four years of being in the industry in Australia was things were starting to get tighter, and it was getting harder and harder for me to say no to clients.”

In his first six months as a Loan Market broker, Mr Desmond wrote $20 million in loans, and he hopes to more than double his volume by June 2018.

“My goal is to do $50 million in the first year, so that’s from 1st of July [2017] to the 30th of June [2018],” the broker said.

“I’m halfway there. I’m tracking well on target, so that would be my first goal, to hit the settlement mark.”

Find out more about Bernard Desmond’s journey from banker to broker in the Elite Broker podcast.

 [Related: How Bernard Desmond wrote $20m in his first six months]