Finalists comment on recognition from industry
Ahead of the Australian Mortgage Awards 2023, we are excited to announce this year’s excellence awardees.
Featuring a black tie gala dinner at the Star Event Centre in Sydney on Friday, October 13, the awards recognise and celebrate excellence in the mortgage and finance industry in areas such as service delivery, innovation, professionalism and/or leadership.
Organised by Key Media and supported by Mortgage Professional Australia and Australian Broker, the Australian Mortgage Awards honour the “best of the best” across the nation.
Westpac is the event partner, supporting the Australian Mortgage Awards for the 14th year.
“Australians trust and value the independent service mortgage brokers provide,” Westpac Group head of mortgage broker distribution Warren Shaw said.
“We support and celebrate this as we come together to recognise an industry of hard-working and high-achieving professionals at this year’s AMAs.
The AMAs enjoy widespread support across the industry. This year’s premium sponsors are NAB and PRPTY360 are premium sponsors.
Award sponsors include Adelaide Bank, ANZ, Bankwest, Commonwealth Bank, Equity-One, FBAA, Firstmac, Gateway Bank, Hays, La Trobe Financial, Liberty, MFAA, Mortgage Choice, OnDeck, Pepper Money, PropTrack, Q2, Rate Money, Resimac and ubank.
FINSTREET is the VIP post awards event sponsor, and PRPTY 360 is the champagne sponsor. Fifo Capital is photo booth sponsor, Maxiron Capital is the social media sponsor and SongDivision is the entertainment partner.
Brokers have been busy placing nominations for the 25 award categories, which closed on June 30.
Lender excellence awardees comment on industry recognition
Suncorp Bank, La Trobe Financial, RedZed and Resimac are among the excellence awardees (finalists) in the Q2 Bank of the Year and Rate Money Non-Bank of the Year categories.
Suncorp Bank head of broker partnerships Troy Fedder (pictured above left) said that the bank was “genuinely excited” to be named among the excellence awardees for Bank of the Year.
“It feels great to be recognised at this level and it’s an indicator that we’re making a difference to our brokers and customers,” Fedder said. “Our team is thrilled and energised by the acknowledgement knowing they have all played a role in achieving this and are ambitious to do more in FY24.”
Reflecting on business successes over the last year, Fedder said that despite changing market conditions, the bank had remained focused on delivering for its brokers and customers by making “improvements that matter”.
“Our Suncorp Bank SunLight innovation was one of the driving forces behind our market leading turnaround times, streamlining the assessment of eligible loans with a decision returned to customers in 48 business hours,” he said.
La Trobe Financial chief lending officer Cory Bannister (pictured above second left) said that the business was “incredibly proud and delighted” to have been nominated for Non-Bank of the Year.
“Recognition such as this is greatly appreciated and is indicative of the great work performed by the whole team here at La Trobe Financial – an amazing team of people who continually place ‘others before self’,” Bannister said.
The “others before self” philosophy keeps the team focused on allowing many creditworthy Australians to realise their property ownership and investment goals, when at times, others have retreated from the market or chosen to overlook high quality borrower segments, he said.
Today more than ever, the non-bank sector plays a pivotal role in supporting the financial needs of Australians, Bannister said. Based on the events of the past 12 months, La Trobe Financial believes that this is likely to remain the case for many years ahead.
“In the current environment, with interest rates increasing, cost of living rising and traditional banks focused on ‘vanilla’ automatable credit, La Trobe Financial’s customer base continues to grow as an increasing number of Australians seek lenders that can provide tailored, common sense solution,” Bannister said.
RedZed chief sales and marketing officer Loralle Slater (pictured above second right) described receiving recognition as an excellence awardee for the Non-Bank of the Year as “extremely exciting”.
“We are incredibly proud of the way RedZed supports and empowers the self-employed community, and it is encouraging to learn that our holistic, common-sense approach to business, income and lending is valued by our customers and the broader finance industry,” Slater said.
Noting that 97% of RedZed business volumes are sourced via broker partners, Slater said that the achievement was also a reflection of the strength of RedZed’s relationship with the third-party distribution channel.
RedZed is proud of the digital transformation outcomes it has delivered over the last year, specifically the rollout of the nCino loan application origination platform, Slater said. The business has also made significant inroads in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) space, and has developed a free educational broker resource, to be introduced to the market in the coming months.
The recent ‘RedZed Nature: Broker Experience Research’ showed that overall broker satisfaction with RedZed remains very high, Slater said.
“It’s been a busy, challenging yet rewarding 12 months, and we look forward to celebrating the year with our peers at the Australian Mortgage Awards,” she said.
Resimac general manager distribution Chris Paterson (pictured above far right) said that given the level of competition in the non-bank space, it was great to be recognised as a Non-Bank of the Year excellence awardee.
“Resimac strives to be a solutions-based lender for a broad range of customers and gaining this recognition is reward for heading in the right direction,” Paterson said.
Over the last year, Resimac has continued to provide solutions for brokers and customers, particularly in the self-employed segment, he said.
“We’ve worked hard to support brokers through increased commission on our near prime and specialist products,” Paterson said.
“We have also adjusted credit policies to be more flexible and accommodating to customer needs and improved the customer experience.”
2023 Australian Mortgage Awards Excellence Awardees
The full list of excellence awardees is available on the Australian Mortgage Awards website and is available below. Each of the excellence awardees is a finalist for the 2023 Australian Mortgage Awards.
LENDER AWARDS
Q2 BANK OF THE YEAR
ubank
RATE MONEY NON-BANK OF THE YEAR
Brighten Home Loans
Heartland Reverse Mortgages
La Trobe Financial
Liberty Financial
Pallas Capital
Pepper Money
RedZed
Resimac
Wisr
MORTGAGE MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Better Mortgage Management
FINSTREET
Home Affordability Solutions
Rate Money
BROKER AWARDS
LA TROBE FINANCIAL BROKER OF THE YEAR – COMMERCIAL
Daniel Green, Green Finance Group
George Karam, BF Money
Isabella Constantinou, Simplicity Loans & Advisory
Jean-Pierre Gortan, Simplicity Loans & Advisory
Joseph Portolesi, JPI Finance
Marwan Rahme, Kanebridge Capital
Kevin Wheatley, Bayside Residential & Commercial Mortgages
Son Pham, Rethink Financing
FBAA BROKER OF THE YEAR - RESIDENTIAL
Alex Veljancevski, Eventus Financial
Chris Bates, Blusk
Christian Stevens, Shore Financial
Chuyu (Kiki) Feng, AUSUN Finance
Graeme Holm, Infinity Group Australia
Josh Egan, Astute Melbourne City South, Gippsland and Newstead
Louisa Sanghera, Zippy Financial Group
Mark Davis, The Australian Lending & Investment Centre
Parth Shah, Jabsons Finance
Sarah Thomson, Loan Market Geelong City
PEPPER MONEY BROKER OF THE YEAR – SPECIALIST LENDING
Hayden Turner, KeyStart Finance
Helen Avis, Specialist Mortgage
Mark Anyon, Green Finance Group
Michael Hughes, AHK Finance
Michael Maiolo, SMSF Loan Experts
Rojan Paudel, Home Loan Experts
Samuel Gardiner, TSC Mortgage Brokers/Punters Finance
Suvidh Arora, Cinch Loans
EQUITY-ONE BROKER OF THE YEAR – PRODUCTIVITY
Andrew Hadjidemetri, Australian Financial and Mortgage Solutions
Ben Walker, First Finance Solutions – BW Finance Solutions
Christopher Raymond, Unconditional Finance
Chuyu (Kiki) Feng, AUSUN Finance
Hasitha Dharmasena, JETT Finance
Leah Busby, Blackfish Finance
Mohit Lal Pradhan, Home Loan Experts
Parag Dixit, Nfinity Financials
Suvidh Arora, Cinch Loans
Vivienne Than, Home Loan Experts
NAB BROKER OF THE YEAR - REGIONAL
Brenden Lowbridge, Money Links
Duane Mengel, Mortgage Choice Coffs Harbour
Jarred Spurr, Hubbl.it
Kirsty McKinnon, Flair Finance
Liz McRae, Loan Market Geelong City
Matthew Turner, GSC Finance Solutions
Nick Smith, Red10 Finance
Paul Nelson, Nelson Financial
Vincent Woodgate, Woodgate Finance
Xavier Quenon, Go Mortgage
ADELAIDE BANK YOUNG GUN OF THE YEAR
Baz Khan, Mortgage Advice Bureau Sydney
Bradley Donnelly, Green Finance Group
David Lucas, Indigo Finance
Jyh Kao, JD Capital
Kim Bui, Lending Hub Co.
Morgan Bushell, Full Circle Finance
Nicholas Hakim, Smartmove Professional Mortgage Advisors
Peter Jin, Keylend
Shubham Bhaskar, Sheel Capital
Terry Wong, Fundex Capital
Veronica Vojnikovic, Vevo Financial Services
BROKERAGE AWARDS
PRPTY360 BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR – DIVERSIFICATION
The Australian Lending & Investment Centre
AUSUN Finance
Birdie Wealth
Blackfish Finance
Build Invest Grow
Infinity Group Australia
Leopard Lending
Marquee Group
Secure Finance
TM Finance Group
Ufinancial
MFAA BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR (1-5 STAFF)
Bayside Residential & Commercial Mortgages
MoneyQuest Penrith and Blue Mountains
Mortgage Choice (St Peters)
Mortgage Choice in Lane Cove
Nfinity Financials
Nelson Financial
Pristine Finance
Reach Lending Group
Zippy Financial Group
RESIMAC BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR (6-20 STAFF)
Atelier Wealth
Birdie Wealth
Blue Crane Capital
Infinity Group Australia
JKK Solutions
Ming Finance
MortgageWorks
Reservoir Finance
Seniors First - Reverse Mortgage Broker
Specialist Mortgage
COMMONWEALTH BANK BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR (>20 STAFF)
1st Street Financial
The Australian Lending & Investment Centre
Empower Wealth Mortgage Advisory
Entourage
Green Finance Group
Inovayt
Loan Gallery Finance
Shore Financial
Smartmove Professional Mortgage Advisors
Ufinancial
ANZ BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR – REGIONAL
Astute Gippsland
Atmosphere Capital
Capta Financial
Crunch Finance
Go Mortgage
Loan Market Geelong City
Mortgage Innovations
Preferred Finance
BANKWEST NEW BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR
Cinch Loans
Core Finance Co
Entourage Mornington
Kiri McNamara - Loan Market
Lending Hub Co.
Resolve Finance - Nedlands
Trusted Financial Choice
The Happy Finance Company
GATEWAY BANK BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM AN INDIVDUAL OFFICE
Birdie Wealth
Home Loan Experts
JETT Finance
Loan Market Canberra
Mortgage Domayne
Mortgage Choice (St Peters)
Penny Finance
Shore Financial
Smartmove Professional Mortgage Advisors
Specialist Mortgage
INDUSTRY AWARDS
BEST INDUSTRY MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Bankwest
Birdie Wealth
Mortgage Choice
My Expert®
Pepper Money
ubank
NAB BEST INDUSTRY SERVICE
Broker Essentials
Deposit Assure
FINSTREET GROUP
LoanQ
PropTrack
Quickli
Rerise Digital
Ruan Burger and Success & Broker
Uptick Marketing
AGGREGATOR AWARDS
UBANK BOUTIQUE AGGREGATOR OF THE YEAR
Liberty Network Services
Masters Broker Group
Money Quest Group
Platform Finance
BDM AWARDS
FIRSTMAC BEST AGGREGATOR BDM
Anne-Marie Deieso, Loan Market
Anthony Wick, National Mortgage Brokers
Ben Livera, Mortgage Choice
Erin Williams, AFG
Haley Bellamy, AFG
Sarah Chan, outsource Financial
Shelley Tetlaw, Loan Market
Taryn Howe, Loan Market
Van Vu, Finsure
BEST MAJOR BANK BDM
Anita Crawford, Westpac
Anthony Gravina, NAB
Anurag Bonde, Commonwealth Bank
Blake Hauber, Westpac
George Markos, ANZ
Jessica Matthews, Commonwealth Bank
Kym Ning, ANZ
Lily Parle, Westpac
Sam Tang, Westpac
Yash Dave, NAB
HAYS BEST NON-MAJOR BANK BDM
Aysun Portoglou, ubank
Helen Bozikis, Bankwest
Kim Lau, Suncorp Bank
Madeleine Papathanasiou, Bank of Melbourne
Michael Anastasovski, HSBC
Nicholas Brookes, ING
Roohi Kumar, St.George Bank
Sally Hillman, St.George Bank
Tes Anderson, Bankwest
Tony Lionello, ubank
MORTGAGE CHOICE BEST NON-BANK BDM
Belinda Gray, Bluestone
Chris Maamoun, Funding.com.au
Dragan Latincic, Firstmac
Harry Stewart, Pepper Money
Jaime Aplin, Prospa
Jimmy Hou, Brighten Home Loans
Jo Oliver, Resimac
Liz Mollica, Resimac
Simon Winters, SHIFT
Waran Chandiran, La Trobe Financial
NATIONAL AWARDS
WESTPAC AUSTRALIAN BROKER OF THE YEAR
This award recognises the most outstanding mortgage broker in Australia. The excellence awardees in this category comprise the winners of the individual broker categories.
- LA TROBE FINANCIAL Broker of the Year – Commercial
- FBAA Broker of the Year – Independent & Franchise
- EQUITY-ONE Broker of the Year – Productivity
- NAB Broker of the Year – Regional
- PEPPER MONEY Broker of the Year – Specialist Lending
This category is not open for nominations. Excellence awardees will be announced on the night.
LIBERTY AUSTRALIAN BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR
This award recognises the most outstanding brokerage operation in Australia. The excellence awardees in this category comprise the winners of the brokerage categories:
- MFAA Brokerage of the Year (1-5 staff)
- RESIMAC Brokerage of the Year (6-20 staff)
- COMMONWEALTH BANK Brokerage of the Year (Over 20 staff)
- PRPTY360 Brokerage of the Year - Diversification
- ANZ Brokerage of the Year - Diversification
- BANKWEST New Brokerage of the Year
This category is not open for nominations. Excellence awardees will be announced on the night
