Australian Broker's Spotlight Series returns, with a closer look at the people shaping the future of mortgage and finance broking.
This week, we sat down with Paul Katranis. After stints with lenders such as Westpac, Adelaide-based Katranis decided to start his own firm, SA Wealth, roughly 14 years ago. Since then, he has built a multi-award-winning firm, where he serves as founder and director, and established himself as a respected mortgage and finance broker and Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) member.
Rather than chasing volume, Katranis has focused on complexity. His practice is geared toward high-net-worth (HNW) clients — many of them self-employed — who require sophisticated, joined-up advice across multiple disciplines.
"I look after client groups end-to-end as their personal family chief financial officer," Katranis told Australian Broker. "Being their adviser and family chief financial officer with licensing across financial planning, lending, accounting and property is rare in Australia, and allows us to sit at the absolute top tier of the industry."
Australian Broker caught up with Katranis to find out more about his pathway into broking, what brokers need to know about working with high-net worth individuals, and his best practices for staying ahead of the game.
The following interview has been edited for grammar and clarity.
PK: I am the son of migrant parents. My father was a bricklayer and one of twelve siblings. My mother was a refugee from Cyprus after the war with Turkey, and one of ten siblings. I grew up in a big family with 64 first cousins, went to a Catholic primary school and then a public high school. Expectations at home were always to go to university. My older brother and sister went into accounting, but I wanted a broader business pathway. So I studied banking and finance, and commerce as a double degree.
I was lucky to get a part time job at a smaller commercial bank through family and friend connections after working at Woolworths for seven years during my studies. The bank role came up because someone went on maternity leave and never returned. So I stayed on part time until I graduated, then moved into full time. A friend then introduced me to an opening at Westpac in financial advice, which I qualified for. After that I worked in a private advice practice with the long-term plan to start my own firm.
Over time, I saw how strong the cross referrals were between financial planning and broking. More referrals were going out to an external broker than were coming back for advice. So I set up the broking arm myself. I found a mentor, leaned on my banking background and taught myself everything else. From there I built capability across residential, investment, asset, commercial and developer finance. I have been a national finalist and award winner in broking for the last four to five years.
PK: I loved travelling in my twenties and wanted a lifestyle that gave me freedom and flexibility. Starting my own practice was the only pathway that allowed me to build that lifestyle while also building something scalable and meaningful.
PK: My specialty is complex self-employed lending, which involves multiple entities and spans home lending, investment lending, commercial and developer finance. I look after client groups end-to-end as their personal family chief financial officer. My practice is licensed for financial advice, tax financial advice, accounting and tax, finance and property. So clients get one relationship managing everything rather than dealing with multiple providers.
Each client has a dual-licensed financial adviser and finance broker as their key contact, supported by account managers, paraplanners, accountants and parabrokers. We serve clients all around Australia, and also some non-resident clients who previously lived in Australia.
PK: They are actually similar. But HNW clients transact more often and expect fast execution. They focus on bigger picture outcomes rather than small details. Mums and dads tend to fixate on the small things and not the overall strategy.
HNW clients also need a team with the capability to coordinate multiple transactions across tax structures, lending products and trusted networks. Our bankers know our clients and know we vet client groups before introducing them. That trust allows speed and precision.
PK: For clients, I try to be personable and human. I recommend connecting on personal and business socials so they can see who you are. Share your life, your family, your stability and your pursuits. Trust goes both ways. Also, be highly competitive for your clients. Show them that you want to win for them.
For lenders, it is relationship driven. But also, it is about understanding the system and placing deals where they truly fit best. I push hard where appropriate. But I have learned when not to as well. I am very strong in complex lending across residential, investment, commercial and development with multiple structures and multiple simultaneous transactions. Also, having an in-house accounting division means we can move extremely fast with entity setups and information requests. We manage some very large structures. For example, one client group has around $20 million in aggregated lending across home, investment and commercial. Another has around $15 million across home and development. Being their adviser and family chief financial officer with licensing across financial planning, lending, accounting and property is rare in Australia, and allows us to sit at the absolute top tier of the industry.
