Wendy Brown adds direct home loans to her remit amid wider leadership shakeup
Macquarie Bank has restructured its home loan leadership, handing Wendy Brown (pictured) oversight of direct lending in addition to her existing broker sales portfolio
The change was confirmed to MPA this week alongside a wider leadership reshuffle at the top of Macquarie Group.
Brown, previously head of home loan and commercial broker sales at Macquarie Bank, will now also oversee direct sales and loan variations.
She told MPA: “By bringing our teams responsible for broker sales, direct sales, and variations closer together, we hope to provide an even more seamless experience for both our broker partners and customers at every stage of their journey.
"With the share of all loans written by the mortgage broker channel reaching another record high, and with broker originated loans representing around 95% of our flows, we’re proud to be backing brokers right across Australia.”
The 95-5% split between brokered and direct home lender has held even as its mortgage book has grown strongly over the past year.
The reshuffle lands as brokers facilitated a record 81.6% of all new residential home loans nationally in the June 2026 quarter, underscoring how central the broker channel.
Ben Perham steps up
Brown's expanded role sits within a broader leadership shift at Macquarie.
It was confirmed in July that group chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake will retire in November, with Greg Ward, current group head of banking and financial services, appointed as her successor.
"In my time as Head of Personal Banking over the last 10 years, I’m incredibly proud of the relationships we’ve built with you, our broker partners," said Perham. "We set out to be a committed partner to the broker channel, and be recognised as a tier 1 lender.
We’ve focused our investments and our energy on delivering you – and our mutual customers – the best possible experience. I hope you agree that we’ve achieved these things. But we’re not finished – we continue to invest in the broker channel because we believe there’s even more opportunity ahead, with more Australians looking for the value that brokers can provide."
Drew Hall will succeed Perham as head of personal banking. Hall brings more than 30 years of experience in Australian financial services – including several decades in and around the home loan broker channel – making him "ideally placed to continue our mission", said Perham.
