Patten takes down broking shingle after 16 years

Veteran mortgage adviser Bruce Patten has hung up his shingle as a broker and moved into a new role at the NZ Financial Services Group.

Wednesday, July 18th 2018, 6:00AM

by Miriam Bell

In his role as Head of Growth at NZFSG / Loan Market he mentors and coaches advisers and is also charged with the development of non-core products.

Core products are mortgages and insurance, and non-core ones are add-ons advisers can use like KiwiSaver or fire and general insurance.

Patten says that there are lots of advice and products that advisers get asked for but that currently they may not be able to follow through with them.

“So now we are giving our advisers the ability to be all things to all people and do more for their clients.

“We want to get our advisers into the headspace that they are there – ready, willing and able – for the client for all financial things and advice.”

It opens the door to so many more opportunities and providing a way for advisers to think about the various income streams that are open to them, he says.

“Advisers can make mortgages or insurance their core product but this gives them more options and means they don’t have to turn people away.

“They can either do it all themselves or they can refer them on to get it done through us. There’s not one path or another, rather they have the opportunity to do it or the ability to pass it on.”

The other part of the role fits in to the Loan Market area and is in the mentoring space around recruiting and developing new advisers.

Patten, who has run a model of the programme in his own office over the last 18 months, says it’s about attracting talented people to the business.

“We work with people who might not initially have the financial where-with-all to go it alone (in a franchise) – but who we can see have potential.

“So we mentor them and get them in to a position where by they can have their own franchises. It’s about helping people to get started in the business and then helping them to develop.”

The two advisers Patten has been mentoring in his office over the last 18 months have now written $65 million and $85 million respectively over that time.

“That shows it is a successful initiative, but it will definitely all keep me pretty busy.”

Patten has been a mortgage adviser since 2002 and was NZMBA Broker of the Year in 2011. Before becoming an adviser, he worked in banking for 10 years.

Tags: client engagement financial advisers Insurance Advisers Loan Market Mortgage Advisers NZFSG