After roughly five months at the helm of the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA), Leo Gagic still recalls his earliest experiences of stepping into the role.
"About two weeks leading up to my start date, I thought I'd do a bit of the undercover-boss-type stuff," said Gagic, chief executive officer of the industry body. "And so I started mystery shopping. I was calling the FBAA; I jumped on the chatbot. I was looking at social media, different websites, just trolling for information. What I did is, I put myself in the shoes of a new broker and I said, what would it be like? What would it feel and look like to be a new broker? How do I navigate, sometimes the complexities, to get what I need, to get started? And what I found was that it's a very complex industry: too many events, too much information, and too much selection, data, AI capability, business process capability.
"And then, my experience coming on as a new CEO, and the feedback, overwhelming feedback, was that there's so much going on; there's so much noise, too many events, too many awards, too many things, too many options," he told Australian Broker. "So how do you narrow that down?"
That question became the brainchild for the FBAA's new strategy, shifting its focus towards a practical action plan designed to support brokers on the ground.
The industry body launched the "Real Broker 27," starting Thursday at the FBAA's 2026 National Industry Conference (NIC) in Sydney, building on the conference's "Still Human" theme.
"As the industry evolves, it will still ultimately be judged by humans," he said. "Evolution will be managed by humans. So that human element will remain critical. And I think that is this whole aspect of keeping it real. Consumers will always want to talk to a real broker. Technology will help with fast transactions, it will make life easier. But they'll always want to talk to a real broker."
That philosophy extends beyond the consumer experience, with the FBAA also looking to better understand and support brokers as individuals, recognising that their needs change throughout their careers.
Real Broker 27 puts that approach into practice. The formula is simple: rather than adopting a one-size-fits all model for brokers, the strategy offers broker support, depending on their individual career stage.
"So instead of an all-you-can-eat jump in, here's everything you need to know about brokering; let's get it targeted around where we are," Gagic said.
Each stage will offer tailored content to brokers' individual career stages, ensuring the support is relevant to their specific needs. Members will be able to tap into bite-sized professional development sessions, addressing practical business issues, specialised industry events, weekly online seminars, advice on using AI ethically and effectively, and resources to improve client engagement and communication skills.
"We're going to pivot all our education," Gagic explained. "Our services and offerings around where the brokers are on the broker journey. So if you're a new broker, we're going to pivot education; we're going to pivot events, information, get the right partners in the room around the education. And we're going to make sure you're getting what you need in terms of a new broker.
"If you're a legacy broker, then you're probably thinking about retirement, selling your business," the CEO continued. "So [legacy brokers are] thinking, should I be going to events or education where someone's talking about, how do I get the best business value when I sell my business? How do I get a business valuation? How does the sale process work? But I shouldn't necessarily be in a room with new brokers talking about trying to grow and scale up. So get me in the room with relevant people, give me the education that I need, and make it really relevant to what I need at the point in time where I am in my business.
"Everyone's telling me, 'we're just time poor; we can't be everywhere.' And, 'I just want to get straight in, get access to what I need.' And just, 'help me,'" Gagic added. "That's what we need to be doing as an association, listening to members, and they give me overwhelming feedback. And unfortunately, across the industry, we're just making it too complex. We just need to make it simple. So that's what we're doing."
