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An asset finance group has experienced a 45% increase in broker partners in the past year – and expects the number to continue to grow.
Damian Mantini, Platform Finance’s director of aggregation and strategic partnerships said, “Market conditions have obviously changed, with tighter lending criteria and the softer housing market, and that has impacted brokers’ core businesses.
“But with change comes opportunity; asset finance provides a solid return on investment with positive consumer outcomes – brokers already have the infrastructure in place, which means it won’t cost them that much more.”
The director noted that since the royal commission, there has been a noticeable surge in brokers taking active steps to learn about asset finance and how it can grow their businesses.
To Mantini, the biggest challenge for brokers to expand into asset finance lies in letting their clients know about the new services being provided.
“We are working with brokers to educate them about asset finance and teach them how to have the conversation with their clients,” he said, referencing the resources that Platform Finance has developed to educate brokers, including webinars, workshops, EDMs and point of sale material.
Mantini continued, “Brokers are building relationships and establishing trust with their clients to get them into a home loan, and if the clients are made aware that brokers can also organise asset finance – whether for a car or other depreciable item – down the track, it’s likely they will come back to the broker because they value that relationship.
“The timing is perfect, particularly as the focus is on best customer outcomes and more aggressive pricing structures, which is good news for brokers and their clients.”
While the statistics show that a significant portion of mortgage brokers are already beginning to expand their services, Mantini spoke of a large cross-section that has yet to “come onboard” and claim a stake in the many profitable areas of asset finance.
“While cars are the ‘bread and butter’ in asset finance, equipment finance is also a large part of our business and the next wave that brokers can ride is energy finance,” he concluded.
