Former teller discusses value of independent advice
It seems logical that helping people to buy homes is a satisfying career choice, but one mortgage adviser has discovered that working for himself provides the opportunity to help more people.
SuperCity Mortgages and Insurance managing director Marchy Pang (pictured above) has worked in the finance industry since he graduated from university in 2008.
He followed the traditional route to mortgage advising, starting his career as a teller for ASB Bank, working his way through the ranks to becoming a mobile mortgage manager for ANZ.
Pang, who started with SuperCity Mortgages and Insurance as an independent mortgage adviser in 2016 and took ownership of the business in early 2022, said that his experience in banking gave rise to a passion for helping people – and a realisation that his capacity to do so was limited.
This may have been because the products offered by the bank at that time didn’t meet a customer’s needs, or because the customer didn’t fit into the bank’s criteria.
“I started to realise that if I became an independent mortgage adviser, I could have access to all the banks,” Pang said. “I thought, ‘If I can manage my client and they can trust me, I can take them to different banks’.”
Pang is quick to add that it was through banking that he discovered that mortgages were his passion.
At the time, Pang said that there was no clear pathway to progress into mobile mortgage manager roles, as they were typically held by highly experienced staff.
Not to be deterred, Pang asked his manager if he could work extra hours over the weekends and started to provide relief support for lending roles at the branch. He joined ANZ as a mobile mortgage manager in 2013, describing it as his “dream role” where he focused on mortgages and was responsible for finding his own clients.
He resigned from the bank in 2016, following many of his colleagues to join SuperCity Mortgages and Insurance, then run by founder Joel Oliver. Early last year, he took over the business, and was granted a Class 2 Financial Advice Provider license.
His company now has four advisers including Pang, and two support staff.
Mortgage advice provides reciprocal value
In addition to giving him the ability to help more people, Pang said that working as a mortgage adviser helped him to feel valued, as he was able to share his experience and exposure to property investment, including commercial and lifestyle property.
There is also an opportunity to consider what has worked well for clients in the past, what the obstacles were and any pitfalls to be aware of, he said.
“The beauty of my role is that I get to share information and give advice to the client … the end result is that they go out and buy and enjoy being a homeowner,” Pang said.
“I think the journey working alongside with them is actually quite powerful.”
As a mortgage is a long-term commitment, it’s a long transaction, with many small touch points along the way (the anniversary of the loan, opportunities to review the structure and look at lifestyle changes), Pang said.
“I love what I do and that’s because of all these interactions,” he said.
Traditionally a buyer group that seeks assistance from advisers, Pang said that first home buyers had recently become more active in the market.
Amid a wealth of online information, such as Facebook groups and other forums which could provide mixed messages, Pang said first home buyers needed mortgage advisers now more than ever.
“This group deserve the advice from a mortgage adviser and we are definitely seeing the growth, especially following the NZ Election,” he said.
With the forming of a National-led government now under way, Pang said that the market was starting to show greater confidence.
“It’s about stability now … people know what is going to happen and traditionally over spring and summer, we expect homebuyers will be more active,” he said.
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