Aggregator reflects on highlights and merger benefits
A conference for asset and equipment finance brokers, held by COG Aggregation on the Gold Coast has given brokers and lenders an opportunity to share the latest industry insights, and to celebrate the achievements of the top performers.
The value of asset finance originations settled by aggregation members of COG Financial Services Limited, hit $6.7bn in the financial year ending on June 30, up 30% on FY21. The company announced on Monday it would merge the operations of its two main aggregation businesses, Platform Finance and Consolidated Finance Group, to form COG Aggregation.
Read more: COG merger creates biggest asset finance services business
The two-day conference, held from October 6 to October 7, 2022, at the Sheraton Mirage Resort on the Gold Coast, drew 350 delegates and partners – two-thirds of participants were brokers and the rest were lenders.
COG Financial Services group CEO Andrew Bennett provided an overview of potential growth in asset finance, including trends involving decarbonisation and the move towards electric vehicles.
Retired Australian army officer and 26th governor-general of Australia (from 2014-2019), Sir Peter Cosgrove was keynote speaker. He was joined by other speakers including strategic planning consultant and futurist Dr Keith Suter, director of Slattery Asset Advisory, auctions and valuations James Slattery, and principal of Compliance One David Carson.
CBA general manager broker agency and specialist services Ian Burnett, and CBA general manager asset finance Chris Moldrich ran the broker-only session, themed “Bigger, Better, Stronger”.
Head of COG Aggregation Mark Rayson (pictured above) told MPA that one of the highlights he took away from the conference was the sense of community shared across all the attendees.
When the original CFG business was sold into COG, it insisted on holding a conference, he said. It had since grown into the biggest asset finance conference in Australia.
The new, unified brand was unveiled at the conference, before the merger of Platform Finance and Consolidated Finance Group into COG Aggregation was formally announced on October 24.
The conference concluded with the COG Asset Finance Awards, which recognise excellence and the outstanding achievements of people in the business.
Westpac was the largest funder by volume, winning the Funder of the Year award, while Pepper Money achieved the highest growth, winning Growth Funder of the Year.
There were four BDM awards. These were selected by COG Aggregation brokers, who were asked to vote on their best BDM.
Mykolas Kaliacius, BDM at FlexiCommercial (pictured above left) was awarded BDM of the Year for Queensland, and Mark Hoban, BDM at Metro Finance (pictured second left) won BDM of the Year for NSW and ACT. Narelle Bruni, BDM at Pepper Money (pictured second from right) was awarded BDM of the Year for Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, and Damian Hatchley, senior business banking manager and asset finance specialist at NAB (pictured right) won BDM of the Year for WA.
Westpac general manager equipment finance Greg Pell is pictured third from left, and Pepper Money head of business performance, asset finance Andrew Gamble is pictured third from right.
In recognition of the change in business composition, Rayson said the award categories had expanded. Five years’ ago, the business was 80% banks, 20% non-banks, but now it was more a 50/50 split, he said.
“We wanted to acknowledge not just the biggest, but also those that had actually grown the most by dollar,” Rayson said.
Providing further detail on the benefits of the merger to the company and its brokers, Rayson said the formation of COG Aggregation would funnel resources and investments into a single business.
Read next: Broker diversification spurs growth in COG’s asset finance offering
One of the key benefits for brokers is the COG Connect system, which supports lodgment of applications, client management functions, lender APIs, and combines both commercial and consumer, including compliance, he said.
“By aligning everything into COG Aggregation, we’ve put our investment and IP into one system, COG Connect, which we launched at the conference … that will be rolling out to our brokers in early November,” Rayson said.
As a result of the merger, brokers would receive “the best tailored asset finance technology on the market,” continually updated with changes in lenders and compliance, he said.
It would result in a unified system and process, provide “one face to lenders,” and better depth of staffing around looking after and managing brokers.
“Our brokers will have access to more lenders as we combine our panels to one, this will offer more choice to brokers and their customers,” Rayson said.
“The merger will also help brokers to improve efficiencies and make the most out of asset finance market opportunities, with our larger broker support team there to assist every step of the way.”
According to the MFAA Industry Intelligence Service 14th edition report, which covers the six months ending March 31, 2022, the number of mortgage brokers also writing commercial/asset finance loans reached a new high of 5,396 brokers, up from 5,268 over the previous period. Year-on-year, this represented an increase of 669 brokers, or 14.15%.
