SME lender appoints first WA/QLD BDM

Mr Pacella, who started his new role on 12 August, will bridge his time between Perth and Brisbane, servicing brokers in the two markets.

Speaking of the appointment, Capify’s senior manager business development (broker channel), Ahmed Khan, told The Adviser: “The east coast has always been a good catchment area for what we were doing, but there are some really great brokers in WA too, and it is about reinforcing the existing relationships we have established there. Being a WA man himself, Dino’s appointment made perfect sense for us.

“Dino will be covering both WA and Queensland, as he has personal commitments in both states and knows the broker market in these areas. He will be the key point of contact reinforcing that the brand is there and enhancing our support there.”

He added: “Our business has always been around the people, the right people, the right fit. And, with our current growth, especially in the broker channel, this appointment is the right move.” 

According to Mr Khan, the appointment comes after a period of rapid growth for the SME lender, which he attributes to the lender “doing the basics really well and not overpromising and underdelivering”.

“So, our team has grown quickly in response, too,” he said.

Speaking of his new role, Mr Pacella told The Adviser that he was attracted to Capify because of “the people in it, the culture and the opportunity”.

He explained: “I was attracted to Capify for several reasons, but the top one had to be the people in it. I was at that point in my career where I wanted to join a company where culture had to be the most important aspect of it and, after meeting Ahmed a year ago, it was clear that that was the case at Capify. Once I met the people there, that embedded it for me straight away. 

“Another attraction for me was the opportunity that we could take to market. I played in the residential space for five years, so going into the unsecured SME area – where brokers are doing about 20 per cent of the market share in comparison to 60 on the residential side – there is so much opportunity for not only Capify to grow, but the third-party channel market share.”

He continued: “I’m passionate about the broker channel, so having the combination of the right people, the right company and the right opportunity to make a big impact across a couple of large states were the main reasons of why I wanted to join.”

The former Suncorp BDM and founder of National Finance Brokers Day said that his first priority in his new role is “ensuring that brokers know what Capify offers”.

“While it is about getting the right type of brokers on board with us, we can fill a need that they have… it’s about showing brokers the products that we have that may suit their clients and filling that need for them, doing it well, and doing it quickly. 

“So, it’s not something that brokers need to spend a week educating themselves on; we can take a lot of the pain points away in doing this and make it as simple as possible for them.

“We can do 95 per cent of the work and keep the broker updated all the way while providing that speed and that transparency about how the deal is going,” he concluded.

Mr Pacella’s appointment follows on from the appointments of Chad Donaldson (business development manager VIC/SA) and Teresa Chiarello (business development manager NSW) earlier this year.

[Related: Lender trials merchant cash advance through brokers]