Last night we celebrated our international award winners at our annual conference, Scale Up, in Brisbane.
Loan Market Geelong City Managing Director Sarah Thomson and Wellington’s Loan Market Capital & Coast, headed-up by Daniel Bailey and Mark Solomon, took out the prestigious awards of Top International Broker and Top International Business at a ceremony held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Sarah capped off another stellar year in Geelong by servicing 500 clients over 12 months - more than any other broker in the network - while Capital and Coast facilitated more than $400 million in settlements for their New Zealand clients.
Loan Market’s Head of Business Improvement, Michael Zavelberg, was named the Chairman’s Choice for Outstanding Contribution to the Group. Michael has led a transformation of the network, introducing Kaizen processes into brokerages to drive industry-leading productivity.
Grant Rheuben from Rheuben & Associates took out Loan Market’s Top Commercial Broker after increasing his volume of commercial settlements by 136% in 2021. Around 75% of Grant’s leads are generated by referrals through finance professionals, including accountants, thanks to his holistic approach to customers’ financial needs.
Nitish Kumar from Loan Market Horizon received the Top Marketing Campaign title for his use of Loan Market’s suite of digital marketing tools. Over a 12-month period, his business captured 766 leads and lodged $179 million in applications for clients. Nitish combined tools such as Amplify, Talk It Up and ReviewR as well as Nurture, Stay-in-Touch and Insider newsletters to engage with the marketplace.
Brisbane-based Sophie Cavanagh from Paul Hixon’s Loan Market business took out the Customer Service Manager of the Year - Australia. Sophie has been the linchpin of the business for several years and was pivotal in overseeing the structures and processes that helped the business record a 45% increase in settlements over the last financial year.
NSW/ACT: Amanda Young
Amanda moved from another aggregator as a loan writer and became a business owner. She has recorded a 47$ year-on-year increase in activity in the move.
Vic/Tas: Nittaya Phommachack
Part of the Entourage team in Melbourne, Nittaya is the brokerage’s investment lending specialist. She brings close to a decade of experience in the finance industry. Over FY22 she quadrupled her settlements.
QLD: Mel Wright
Mel (Zest Mortgage Solutions) has been an active member of the Queensland chapter of MFAA. Her NPS is an impeccable +98 and she recorded a massive 148% increase in settlements over the last 12 months.
SA/NT: Alex Politis
A member of Adelaide’s Homeward Finance team, Alex is a specialist in first-home buyer finance and construction loans. He has an impressive NPS of +97 and over the last 12 months, his productivity has rocketed by 233%.
WA: Udit G.
In little more than 12 months out of the bank system, Udit has been routinely settling three-to-four mortgages a week. Based in the riverside enclave of Applecross, Perth, Udit has been sought out by clients from all over WA with word-of-mouth referrals driving his success.
All winners of the night included: