Strong growth for major aggregator

Staff Reporter Thursday, 10 Jul 2008 1 minute read

Despite depressed national home loan figures, Choice Aggregation Services (Choice) has reported an increase in volumes.

According to new chief executive Brendan O’Donnell, the aggregator saw a 15 per cent rise in settled loans in the 12 months to June this year, with a total value of over $10 billion.

Mr O’Donnell said this was a result of steady recruitment and as broker groups seeked to “align themselves to a large and proven mortgage aggregator that can maintain market competitiveness regardless of economic cycles”.

Mr O’Donnell said it was also due to members’ willingness to embrace diversification – particularly commercial lending and insurance.

“Year on year Choice has registered a 45 per cent increase in commercial settlements,” he said.

According to O’Donnell, for the month of May this year Choice members lodged 357 policies with Australian Life Insurance (ALI). Since becoming accredited with ALI, Choice members have put in place life insurance cover for their clients totalling $1.6 billion.

The fact that brokers are embracing commercial lending and other cross sell opportunities was a good sign that brokers are serious about adapting to changed market conditions, Mr O’Donnell said.

Published: 10-07-08