From trader to broker, Marty McDonald (pictured) shared his journey, views on tech disruption, and why brokers must adapt as banks embrace online lending and AI-driven approvals.
McDonald didn’t set out to become a mortgage broker. In fact, his entry into the industry was, as he described, almost accidental.
“It was 2003 and my future wife Sarah and I had just made a tree change move from Sydney to Bungendore (about 40 minutes from Canberra),” he said.
“We were loving living on a farm and being out of the rat race of Sydney (for a while) and I was looking for a new career after spending the first part of my working life as a futures trader for JB Were and then ANZ Bank where I ended up (to my surprise) as their senior Bank Bills trader at 24 years old. Problem was I hated it!”
After a stint in wine sales, McDonald applied for a marketing job with Mortgage Choice’s largest Canberra franchise — but didn’t get it. That turned out to be a turning point.
“I didn’t get the job – ha ha – but was fascinated by the industry, so I approached the franchise owner and asked if I could join his team as a commission-only mortgage broker,” he said. “Thankfully he said yes. I later went on to co-own the franchise.”
After seven years of broking in Canberra, McDonald and his wife returned to Sydney with two young kids and no client base. He started his own brokerage, Mortgage Experts, and has been aggregating through Connective since 2010.
McDonald sees digitisation as the most significant positive change in broking.
But with progress comes new competition.
McDonald is keeping a close eye on the rapid rise of online lending and automation.
“One of the biggest challenges I see facing the industry is the threat from increased online loan origination,” he said. “The banks have every right to find the cheapest, most efficient way to distribute their products, and I think they see online as the way to do that. They already are with Unloan and the like.”
McDonald sees artificial intelligence further improving the online model and potentially disrupting the traditional broker role.
“Complex loans and scenarios plus the human touch will always leave a place for mortgage brokers but if the banks can approve circa 50% of home loans in a few minutes with no human involvement at lower interest rates than offered via their other channels then some brokers may be in trouble.
“Or maybe the broker channel adopts aspects of the online capability / AI into their processes and its play on. Let’s see.”
Early in his career, McDonald took the traditional broker route – evening house visits and after-hours meetings. One appointment changed his perspective for good.
“I arrived at 6.30 pm as agreed and as I walked into the house, I noticed it was pretty messy with hoarder house type vibes… It became abundantly clear that the two kids had gastro! Long story short I didn’t end up getting out of the house until 10.30 pm,” he said.
The experience prompted a shift in how McDonald approached his value proposition.
“It was the catalyst for me having a rethink on my value proposition and shortly thereafter I stopped doing after hours and weekend house visits and instead got clients to come to our office,” he says. “Surprise, surprise, clients didn’t want to do appointments at 8 pm or on weekends after all.”
For those entering the industry, McDonald offers a clear and practical recommendation.
“For new to industry brokers my advice would be to go and work for a medium or large brokerage first rather than going it alone,” he said. “Learn what the ideal loan process workflow looks like and how to implement this into your day-to-day broking. Then learn how to generate your own business which is ultimately the hardest part.”
