Broker surpasses $1-billion settlement milestone

Mr Bartlett, a personal trainer turned broker, first started his Victorian brokerage in 2011 and frequently ranks highly in The Adviser’s Elite Business Writers ranking.

He reportedly achieved the billion-dollar milestone in December 2019.

Writing in a post on LinkedIn in December, Mr Bartlett said: “When I started the business back in 2011 – chasing the old ‘first-year leads’ between Cheltenham and Cranbourne – I never thought I’d deliver $1 billion in settlements for clients. 

“A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into my first year, when I settled $52 million for clients (less than a third of what I settled last financial year). But around my third year, I started to appreciate that what I offered clients really resonated with them. Customers don’t want an interest rate – I ban talk of interest rates in the first meeting – they want a better life.

“That’s how I came up with my ‘Mortgage Program’. Instead of dishing out the burpees in the gymnasium, I’m doling out the tough love around savings and structuring their loans for the best long-term outcome.”

The broker revealed that he originally hadn’t expected to reach the milestone before 2020, given the “way the market was tracking at Christmas [2018]” but after things changed “dramatically” in the second half of 2019 following the federal election, changes to serviceability standards and record-low interest rates, there was a “surge in activity”.

He continued: “I couldn’t have accommodated the surge in activity – or, indeed, the volume of client files we’ve processed – without my incredible team.

“Tanya, Jess and Irena ensure our clients receive the very best customer service during their finance journey. Our team has been together for a number of years now and I count myself the luckiest business owner in broking every time I walk in the door or dial in to the office from the road. The office runs tighter than clockwork.”

Mr Bartlett recently spoke to The Adviser’s Elite Broker podcast about reaching the milestone and how he works with his team to achieve excellent customer service.

You can listen to this week’s episode of Elite Broker, featuring Josh Bartlett, here.

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[Related: How this broker joined the billion-dollar club]