Elite Broker Q&A: Adam Buckley, Next Lending Solutions, Caringbah

After spending the past 20 years in the finance industry, holding roles as a loan assessor, portfolio manager, and bank branch manager, Adam Buckley didn’t enter the broker space up until five years ago.

Find out below how he broke into the industry, how he’s establishing his own brand, and his top tips for new brokers.

How did you become a broker?

I started at the Commonwealth Bank as a teller and I got into lending there. After that, I started working at non-bank lenders before going back to the banks, I didn’t really have the confidence to go and put myself out there just yet.

Then when the last guy I worked for, Tony Cain, decided he wanted out of the industry, I thought I’d give this a shot so, after 22 years of being in the industry, I went out on my own to see what I could do.

What kind of loans are you writing?

I mainly do residential lending, but we’ll go further with partners. I’ve got a few partners: there are accountants so I do go into the commercial space and the asset finance space as well.

And that’s something I want to push more in my business, commercial lending, this year and get a high percentage of commercial and asset finance and structuring my clients a little better as well.

But mainly, it’s residential. I guess that’s my bread and butter and I know what to do and how to get it done.

How are you advising clients in the rising rate environment?

The rates are a part of a conversation that I think a lot of brokers have. For me, it’s something I don’t really speak to my clients about until I know what exactly are their wants and needs and what they’re trying to achieve.

I think brokers are there for a solution base and that’s how I base my business. Once I know then it’s the conversation about what they’re actually after: do they need stability? Do they need a fixed rate? Or are they looking for a simple product where they’re paying weekly, fortnightly, or monthly?

That’s when I start talking about the bells and whistles of what they need in there, if they want offsets, and so on. But I think sometimes when we go straight to talking about rates, we’re diverting the client in a situation that’s not going to be a solution base for them.

How do you go about establishing your own brand?

I think something I still struggle with is putting my name out there, to be honest. In the last 12 months, I’ve set up a marketing agency to help me with my social media presence on Instagram and Facebook. They help with posting regular content; I’m not a big social media user myself.

I think where I step in is putting my brand and my experience out there. I’ve had a number of jobs in the industry, but my name is consistent. Although my title has changed, I think my service throughout the 20 years hasn’t.

Do you have any top tips for new brokers out there or anything you’d like to see changed?

Personally, there are a couple: one being that I think brokers having access to PEXA would be beneficial because we don’t really have visible access to refinances.

We waste a lot of admin time calling up because one bank hasn’t received a discharge or they’re saying we’ve got it. So having visible access to see the information we need would reduce those types of calls and reduce a lot of cost and time for brokers. This goes especially for new brokers coming into the industry.

I think another thing would be to change up professional development dates. It’s banks telling us about their products and niches that is great, but I think having different development days for the different stages brokers are in would help actually build the business instead of having a one-stop shop.

You can find out more about Adam Buckley and Next Lending Solutions in The Adviser’s Elite Broker episode The importance of goal setting in broking below: 

Written by Adrian Suljanovic

Last Updated: 25 January 2023

Published: 23 January 2023