Broker profile: Peter Gomer, Mortgage Direct

Well, we were looking for more alignment with what we do. We’re a mortgage manager and so we looked at PLAN, FAST and Choice as our logical alternative. FAST was the one which was more aligned to commercial lending, business lending and seemed to be the aggregation model that suited our particular business model.

What sort of support does your new aggregator provide?

We’ve been in the business for 20 years and therefore we don’t really need a lot of hands-on support. What we do need is just more of a window into the marketplace so that we have an idea as to what the changes are in the lending community, what we can use to benefit our clients and to get some support with the BDMs of the various lending institutions.

What sealed the deal?

The fact that FAST has a quality team and they’ve got accessibility through Podium which we were looking for. That helped us in our day-to-day proposition back to our client.

Does this group attract a certain type of broker?

I would think the FAST group attracts a more experienced broker. Their team is good in that role.

What is the number one thing you look for in an aggregator?

I’ve been very happy with Patrick Clarkson who’s been our nominated BDM from FAST. He’s been exceptionally supportive and we’ve really enjoyed that relationship so I think the number one thing would be a good relationship and a good manager of relationships.

That’s what we look for – for ourselves and our clients as well – to try and develop relationships.

Most of our business is handled through our mortgage management channel but where we don’t have a solution, we obviously move to the FAST model and look at the alternatives there.

That gives us the best of both worlds, which will, of course, be an advantageous outcome for our clients.