Loan Market Group overhauls Choice, FAST, PLAN leadership

Choice Aggregation chief executive Stephen Moore will lead the three formerly NAB-owned aggregator businesses from today, having been named managing director; PLAN, Choice and FAST.

The new management structure for the three businesses will also include the addition of localised teams, led by state directors, who will be accountable for broker support, events and content.

Loan Market Group’s retail division will be led by recently promoted managing director Andrea McNaughton.

Loan Market Group executive chair Sam White told The Adviser COVID-19 had shown how important local leadership was, with varying conditions across each state.

However, implementing state-based leaders drove the need for a single management structure to overlook all of the brands, in the interests of simplicity.

“We wanted to have a state based structure. At the moment we’ve got regional managers who look after multiple states in the wholesale side,” Mr White explained.

“So we wanted to have a leader in Queensland, a leader in Victoria, a leader in [Western] Australia and South Australia, a leader in New South Wales – and to do that, we knew we needed to have the ability for these leaders to run multiple brands.”

The management change is also expected to allow brokers to switch between brands and business models more easily, if they choose.

The group is also branching out to form a commercial and asset finance broking arm, with a team of specialists and partnership managers, as well as area-specific technology solutions and increased lender support to be made available to all of its brokers.

Brendan Wright, FAST CEO, will oversee the creation of the division in the weeks leading to Christmas, with Loan Market Group stating that it will build upon FAST’s profile in the commercial and asset market.

Mr Wright will depart the group early next year after he establishes the commercial and asset unit, with plans to seek new opportunities after nine years of leading FAST.

Meanwhile, Anja Panneck, former PLAN Australia CEO, will take on a newly created role with the company: group executive, lending solutions and strategy.

Loan Market Group has flagged plans to work with digital lenders, with Ms Pannek’s experience in product development expected to come in handy.

“We are keen to make sure that mortgage brokers are part of the revolution of digital mortgages and we know we need to be working with those lenders to make sure that the broker is a part of that landscape,” Mr White told The Adviser.

The changes have taken place seven months after Loan Market completed its acquisition of Choice, PLAN and FAST.

[Related: YBR Home Loans flags digital pivot, broker expansion]