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A manager at a major lender has been appointed as CEO of one of Australia's mortgage broking franchise groups.
REA Group today announced the appointment of Sam Boer as CEO of Smartline.
Boer joins Smartline from Commonwealth Bank Australia, where he served as general manager, third party banking in the retail banking sector.
REA group acquired an 80.3% stake in Smartline in June 2017, strengthening its home loan offering, which also includes realestate.com.au Home Loans and realestate.com.au Home Loans broking.
Smartline is settling more than $6billion in loans annually with a total loan-book of approximately $25billion, which it says gives the REA Group Financial Services segment greater scale and capability for the long term.
Announcing Boer’s appointment, REA group executive general manager, financial services, Andrew Russell, said, “Sam brings a wealth of experience to this role and has a long history of leading high performing teams to deliver value for customers. His recent experience at CBA and standing in the industry make him perfectly placed to lead Smartline into a new era of broking and finance.
“The Smartline business is an integral part of the REA Group and I look forward to working closely with Sam to drive our Financial Services strategy."
Commenting on Boer’s appointment, Smartline executive director and co-founder, Chris Acret, commented, “We’re delighted that Sam will be joining Smartline to lead the business into our next chapter of growth with REA.
“We’ve known Sam a long time, he has strong industry experience and we are very comfortable that he will be a good fit for the business and our people."
Boer said, “I have known and admired the Smartline team for many years and am delighted to have been selected to lead the business in its next exciting stage with REA Group.
“I look forward to meeting up with the Franchisees, staff and all other stakeholders that support this quality business and working with them to achieve further success in the years ahead."
Boer joins Smartline on Monday 14 August and will be based at the North Ryde (Sydney) office.
