A word from Liberty
Brokers prove their value each day by helping Australians achieve their goals with care and expertise. In a market where flexibility is critical, you have shown what it means to go beyond the expected and deliver solutions that truly make a difference.
Liberty partners with The Adviser’s Top 25 Brokerages because recognising excellence matters. Strong brokerages set the standard for customer outcomes and innovation, and that’s what drives this industry forward. We stand beside you, providing tools, technology, and support because when you succeed, customers succeed.
Congratulations to all recognised this year. We are honoured to be part of your journey.
Mortgage and finance brokers remain the dominant channel of choice for Australian home buyers, with broker usage continuing to climb as borrowers seek expert guidance in an increasingly competitive lending environment.
Over the last financial year, for example, borrowers were out in their droves as the cash rate began falling for the first time since the pandemic settings of 2020. The central bank began its easing cycle in February 2025 and reduced the cash rate again in May 2025, taking it down to 3.85 per cent by the end of the financial year.
As such, record volumes of loans were being written – and the vast majority by the third-party channel. According to figures from the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA), brokers settled more than $439 billion in FY25, with a record $121.58 billion settled in the three months to June 2025 alone (which was beaten again in the first quarter of FY26).
Nearly a quarter of all loans written by brokers came through just a handful of brokerages. Indeed, according to The Adviser’s annual Top 25 Brokerages ranking, the top brokerages were responsible for settling more than $104.0 billion across 183,411 residential and commercial loans in FY25. This was nearly $13 billion more than in FY24, underscoring the heat in the lending market last financial year.
The brokerages themselves have been anything but idle as competition heats up – and not just because they’ve been writing huge volumes of loans for borrowers. Over FY25, many of the country’s largest and fastest-growing brokerages were busy transforming their businesses, rolling out new technology, acquiring competitors, and repositioning brands – a trend that shows no sign of slowing as the industry heads into 2026.
One of the most significant moves came from Lendi Group, which continued its strategic brand consolidation by shifting the majority of its brokers across to the Aussie brand after naming it its primary consumer-facing identity. The brokerage group also launched its Find. Buy. Own. strategy (see page 21 for more), as it broadens out its services into the property and conveyancing space.
Elsewhere, inorganic growth played a key role in expansion strategies. Inovayt strengthened its Queensland footprint with the acquisition of Brisbane-based Fast Break Finance, while UFinancial expanded into South Australia after acquiring Adelaide brokerage Rise High. Empower Wealth also took a major step forward after receiving a significant capital injection from aggregator AFG, which acquired a minority stake in the business during the year.
At the same time, nearly all of the Top 25 Brokerages have been investing heavily in artificial intelligence and automation tools designed to improve turnaround times, compliance accuracy, and broker productivity. However, despite these investments, the data suggests that broker efficiency remains strongest among smaller, independent brokerages, rather than the largest networks.
Indeed, while the largest commercial brokerages continue to dominate in terms of total dollar value written – reflecting the size and complexity of the loans they originate – it is the smaller, independent firms that are writing the highest volume of loans per broker. This may be due to brokerages with fewer than 25 brokers being able to implement change more quickly and lift efficiencies faster, while major groups with hundreds or even thousands of brokers face higher costs and longer lead times to achieve the same outcomes .
So, which brokerages are leading the way?
In the 2026 Top 25 Brokerages ranking, partnered by Liberty, Aussie reclaimed the top spot, supported by the ongoing consolidation of the Lendi Group network. The brokerage finished FY25 with 1,312 active brokers, who settled 52,222 loans worth a market-leading $28.07 billion. Aussie’s total loan book stood at $85.1 billion as at 30 June 2025.
Close behind was Mortgage Choice, ranking second overall. Its 1,119 brokers settled 52,700 loans valued at $24.43 billion during FY25 – the highest number of loans settled of any brokerage in the ranking. Mortgage Choice also retained the largest loan book in the country at $93.16 billion.
Loan Market secured third place once again, with 690 brokers settling 33,040 loans worth $19.87 billion, supported by a growing national footprint and a loan book exceeding $53.26 billion.
Further down the ranking, a number of independent brokerages stood out for their exceptional efficiency. Mortgage Pros, for example, ranked 18th overall, but delivered one of the highest broker efficiency figures in the table, with just four brokers settling $895 million across 1,020 loans (both residential and commercial).
Shore Financial also continued to punch well above its weight, with 31 brokers settling $2.15 billion in loans during FY25.
With competition intensifying, technology accelerating, and consolidation reshaping the competitive landscape, the coming year is likely to reward brokerages that can balance scale with agility.
As the industry heads into 2026, efficiency, execution, and strategic growth – rather than sheer broker numbers alone – are proving to be the defining characteristics of Australia’s top-performing brokerages.
You can find out more about how the top brokerages are scaling and pulling ahead at the Better Business Summit 2026, run in partnership with NAB. Taking place across five states between March and April, the summit will focus on the new normal for scaling a better business. Visit www.theadviser.com.au/better-business-summit for more!
How the Top 25 Brokerages ranking is compiled
The Adviser’s Top 25 Brokerages ranking is determined based on submissions from Australia’s largest brokerage brands (where brokers operate under the business’s brand).
The ranking takes into consideration key business metrics and overall productivity.
It is determined by the relative rank of brokerages utilising six key metrics across FY2024–25
- Number of active brokers and loan writers.
- Loan book size.
- Number of loans settled.
- Value of loans settled.
- Loan book by years in business.
- Broker efficiency.
A brokerage’s rank is determined based on the sum of these metric ranks, equally weighted, to determine Australia’s Top 25 Brokerages. The lower the score, the better the ranking.
Following this, the highest-performing brokerages are then re-ranked to determine the brokerages’ final place in the ranking.
Note: Broker efficiency calculations for Aussie and Lendi have been adjusted to reflect the actual number of active brokers as at the end of FY25, accounting for broker migrations between brokerages during the reporting period.
