Technology biggest driver in broker exodus

According to The Adviser’s inaugural Switching Aggregators Survey, 24.6 per cent of brokers said poor technology would encourage them to switch aggregators.

In addition, when asked how important technology was in their decision to choose a particular aggregator, more than 70 per cent said “very important”.

And, with more than 44 per cent of the 400-plus respondents admitting they will “review” their aggregator contracts within the next 12 months, Australia’s aggregation groups would want to ensure their IT platform is second to none.

Speaking to The Adviser, Connective principal Mark Haron said the statistics were not surprising as he hears a lot of brokers complain about their current software platform.

“Brokers want a platform that is easy to use and will keep them NCCP-compliant,” he said.

“That is why we moved to the cloud-based system so early on in the piece. We wanted to make our brokers’ lives easier and we wanted to make it easy for them to comply with the legislation – which is exactly what we have done.”

But Connective isn’t the only aggregator to enhance its software systems over the last 12 months.

All of Australia’s aggregators have worked on improving their IT platform in one way or another.

Earlier this month, Liberty Network Services launched a new broker software platform that aims to provide brokers with the first mobile end-to-end broking solution.

The iPad application, Spark, is not only NCCP-compliant, but allows brokers to engage with customers anywhere, anytime.

In addition, the iPad app includes lead management, product searches and recommendation, loan application and submission, and document and customer relationship management.