Mortgage brokers raising the floor, not just the roof | Finsure Roundtable

Australian Broker gathered a group of leading mortgage brokers and Finsure representatives at Cafe Sydney to examine what professionalism means in a post-royal commission industry. The roundtable covered rising entry standards, the obligation of ongoing education, the expanding scope of the broker's role beyond settlement, the profession's public image, and whether artificial intelligence will separate the best brokers from the rest. Mortgage brokers now facilitate more than three quarters of all new residential home loans in Australia.

What does professionalism mean for mortgage brokers in Australia today?

Professionalism in Australian mortgage broking has shifted from information access to long-term client advocacy. Vache Vartanian, founder, director and head broker at Hero Finance, describes the change clearly: 'Now it's become more of a partnership with clients, to work with them, to hold their hand, to guide them. The true professionals are working alongside the client – not to get money out of them, never to see dollar figures, but to help that client and be an advocate for that client and structure their loans in a way where they can continue growing.' The old transactional model, where brokers held an information advantage over clients, has been replaced by something requiring much broader skills and a longer view.

Are entry standards for mortgage brokers in Australia rising?

Entry standards are rising, and aggregators are leading the change. Finsure now requires a diploma as its minimum standard and has stopped accepting new-to-industry applicants without prior credit or lending experience. Noushig Megerditchian, head of sales for the northern region at Finsure, explained the reasoning: 'We want to change the image of brokers. We have some very well-established, knowledgeable, experienced brokers, but those one or two [with weaker skills] were tarnishing the name.' Mansour Soltani, director at Soren Financial, noted the Certificate IV itself has also strengthened, observing a clear difference between the course his wife completed two years ago and the one he sat six years earlier.

How important is ongoing professional development for mortgage brokers?

Ongoing professional development is a business-critical obligation, not a compliance exercise. Kristy Atkins, director and finance broker at Parity Capital, is direct about the stakes: 'If you're just sitting back relying on what you learned before you came in or what qualification you had to do coming in, you're going to get left behind because these lenders are changing on the daily. That ongoing professional development is critical, and if you don't do it, you're not going to be around for too long.' Atkins also noted a commercial dimension: her business regularly works with other brokers' clients because those brokers stopped reviewing products and following up on property equity opportunities. Megerditchian put the pattern plainly: 'The brokers that are investing in themselves, not every year but every month, are the most successful ones.'

What role do mortgage brokers play beyond writing the loan?

The best mortgage brokers now function closer to financial coaches than transaction processors. Soltani's business runs client webinars, connects clients with financial planners and uses amortisation tables to show the impact of extra repayments. His firm avoids referral fee arrangements on principle: 'We want to work with people who actually want to do the right thing by the client and not because we're going to get a clip.' Sally Prowse, founder and managing director of Sandcastle Finance, is involved in a financial literacy programme being introduced into schools and sees trail commissions as carrying a clear obligation: 'When we do get a trailing commission, I think that's our responsibility to keep educating our clients and keeping in contact with them.'

How are mortgage brokers perceived by clients, and does the 'free service' model hurt their reputation?

Market share data suggests client trust in mortgage brokers is growing: the MFAA reports brokers facilitated 77.3% of all new residential home loans in the September 2025 quarter and 76.7% in the December quarter. However, Soltani argues the cost-free perception creates a respect problem. 'When you offer a service that people perceive to be free, they don't respect it,' he said. His business charges fees for complex work and is explicit about this upfront: 'We want clients who actually value what we do.' Atkins attributes the high market share partly to the relationship advantage brokers hold over bank branch staff, where turnover is frequent.

How are mortgage brokers using artificial intelligence and technology to improve their service?

AI adoption is accelerating in financial services, with a CreditorWatch Annual Business Sentiment Survey reporting a 49% adoption rate in the sector and 95% satisfaction with return on investment among adopters in the year to September 2025. Soltani's business built its own automated pricing tool using a no-code app builder: 'In 2026, if you know nothing about HTML coding, you can use an app to build a piece of software in a couple of hours.' The tool automatically alerts his team when a client reaches their six-month anniversary, prompting a pricing review. Paul Song, state manager for NSW/ACT at Finsure, sees digital presence as inseparable from business professionalism, noting clients are already using AI tools to search for brokers in their area.

What does running a mortgage broking business professionally look like in practice?

Professionalism as a business identity starts with basics that some brokers still overlook. Megerditchian said Finsure will not onboard brokers operating on generic email addresses: 'If you want to look professional and you're running a business, you can't have johnsmith@gmail – you've got to have a domain. If you're not serious about your business, you're not professional, and we don't want to accept you.' Song added that a business-owner mindset drives results: 'If you're running a business, be that owner.' Prowse sees transparency as the foundation, whether that means being open about referral arrangements or being visible in the broader community.

Roundtable participants

• Vache Vartanian: founder, director and head broker, Hero Finance; long-standing mortgage broker and advocate for client-centred broking.
• Mansour Soltani: director, Soren Financial; mortgage broker with more than a decade of industry experience; proponent of credit-first training pathways for new entrants.
• Noushig Megerditchian: head of sales, northern region, Finsure; responsible for broker recruitment standards and network development at Finsure.
• Paul Song: state manager, NSW/ACT, Finsure; focuses on broker professional development, aggregator-led education and business growth.
• Sally Prowse: founder and managing director, Sandcastle Finance; two decades of industry experience; involved in a school-based financial literacy programme.
• Kristy Atkins: director and finance broker, Parity Capital; background in banking before moving into mortgage broking; specialises in commercial lending diversification.