00:00 Our main focus is helping the right people get through the the house buying or mortgage finance process with as little stress as possible.
00:09 [music]
00:11 Hello and welcome to NZ Advisor TV. I'm Kylie Spear and joining me today is Alan Borthwick, director at Ducks Financial
00:20 Services. Alan has been named as one of the winners of NZ Advisor's top brokers for 2026.
00:28 Welcome to you Alan. Kudos on such a fantastic accolade and thank you so much for joining us today.
00:36 Thank you very much. It's it's great to to be here and I appreciate taking the time to talk to me.
00:42 Well, first off, Alan, NZ Advisor's top brokers for 2026 is an honor based on client nominations and service ratings.
00:53 What does this recognition mean to you and your team at Ducks Financial?
00:59 It's a validation for my team about the the process that we follow. Um and and the the methodology that we take when
01:07 when working in the mortgage space. Uh we've never been focused on purely volume. U so we've never we've never
01:14 bothered when it comes to scoring on total volume. Our main focus is helping the right people get through the the
01:21 house buying or mortgage finance process with as little stress as possible. And so this is a reflection of that from our clients as to how they found the process.
01:30 You've built your business on slowing down and prioritizing human connection in a fastmoving and techdriven industry.
01:41 How does this approach support your belief in mortgage-based financial planning over purely transactional advice?
01:50 Absolutely. The you don't you don't have a mortgage for a short amount of time.
01:54 You have it for quite a long time and obviously people want to pay it off faster than the you know the term they're given when they start. But it is
02:02 a journey. It's not something that's over in in two years. So rather than focusing on pure transactions, uh mortgage based financial planning is
02:09 around setting things up with a review plan with a process to make it clearer and easier to pay it off faster uh with
02:18 ongoing advice as life inevitably changes. What we set in stone today really isn't in stone. It's set in sand because life will will change hopefully
02:27 for the positive, but something will happen and so the plan needs to change.
02:30 So being adaptable is also a part key part of this. The top brokers report celebrates client first commitment and
02:38 exceptional service. How does your team-based model and referral-driven growth help you consistently deliver that level of personalized excellence?
02:49 With a with a team, what it means is that there's always someone there who can help, right? So, we have different people at different stages of the process able to help the client rather
02:58 than, you know, one harried adviser who's having to deal with everything single thing. see new clients, market,
03:05 you know, do applications, Chase banks, that sort of thing. We have people at different stages looking after different areas, but also within a team
03:13 environment. And then as well, of course, we have the ongoing servicing support post settlement, which is a a key feature for us that uh I believe
03:22 helps set us apart and it's really just to hold the client's hand through the entire process.
03:28 Alan, you're known for simplifying complex lending scenarios and helping clients achieve outcomes like early
03:36 mortgage repayment. How do you balance reducing stress in the short term while guiding clients toward long-term financial resilience?
03:47 Absolutely. What our focus is initially is to make it as straightforward as possible to get the finance. What we do there is that we talk about simplifying
03:56 the complex is breaking it down to a very straightforward uh process as much as possible. Some loans are very complicated but giving the client clear
04:04 straightforward instructions as to this is what you need to do next. This is your role here. We'll do X Y and Z. You do A, B, and C. And we just tick away
04:12 bit by bit by bit as a team, us the client, my team to get those results.
04:18 And then eventually either through finding the house, solving the problem, we get to the point of settlement. As we get close to settlement, we can then
04:26 we're no longer looking at solving the problem of getting the finance. We can then focus to the problem of really getting rid of the finance. Uh and then
04:33 we start to build in the plans for the long term, the the goals uh that we will have talked about at the start, but now they're more relevant, right? So we
04:42 don't try and do everything at once. So we get the big picture and then we we compartmentalize, we segment it out and obviously once we're getting close to
04:50 settlement, the client is now free mentally to think longer term rather than the immediate. And then obviously we build the long-term review plan in
04:58 place and the expectations and the goals and that sort of thing.
05:02 And finally, Alan, looking ahead, you've prioritized stronger client outcomes over volume. How do you see the
05:11 advisor's role evolving in a digital world and what does success look like for Ducks Financial in delivering total holistic advice?
05:22 Absolutely. For us, I think it's probably more of the same. We are we are like everyone else using tools to make things easier. Uh but that focus is to make it easier for the client and for
05:30 ongoing service, not to replace or speed things up necessarily to make transactions. I think for advisers in
05:37 the future there is a very real danger for the transactionalbased advisor that digital AI based applications direct
05:45 from the banks will take away a lot of that lowhanging fruit that very transactional work that doesn't really need an advisor uh for just to get it
05:55 through and so the people who are on the fence about using an adviser will be more driven towards the the automated systems. But for those who have been
06:04 recommended to an advice process such as the one we follow, while there will be some people who won't want to do that,
06:11 we feel that that's going to be more robust for people. One, they'll get a better experience. But for us, it means it's kind of business as usual. We won't
06:19 have to worry about trying to find a new way to get more transactions. We'll just double down on what we're doing. And because our clients primarily come from
06:27 referral and existing, you know, relationships where who have gone through that process, the the word of mouth out there will be about these guys help you this with this ongoing process.
06:38 They're there for the long term rather than this guy got me this low rate, but you can get it online yourself. And I think that's the key focus for us is
06:46 continue to do what we're always doing, faster, smarter, simpler, we're relevant, but taking the time to really
06:54 focus on the client and get through the get through the process with them to reduce the additional noise that's now coming with things being faster and and more automated.
07:05 Well, thank you so much for your time and insights today, Alan, and huge congratulations once again on your clearly welldeserved award.
07:14 Thank you so much. I'd really appreciate it. Um, and look, I wouldn't be here without the backing of my wonderful team at Ducks Financial. I have an amazing
07:22 team that always go to the ends of the earth for our clients at any stage, at any sort of transaction, any sort of relationship, um, any sort of query they
07:30 have. Uh, and um, I'm looking forward to helping more people with my team uh, into the future.
07:36 And thank you, of course, to our viewers for watching the latest episode of NZ Advisor TV. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
