Awards winner celebrates business relationships for life

A 34-year-old mortgage adviser who was lauded at this year's Financial Advice New Zealand annual conference has a motto: her relationships with her clients last long after a property deal is done.

Sunday, September 18th 2022, 8:30AM

by Eric Frykberg

Angela Downie, of Platinum Mortgages NZ, says that is part of the process of establishing trust with her customers.

Downie was named Outstanding Adviser of the Year for 2022 at a ceremony in Christchurch.

At the awards event, the judges said Downie was chosen from an excellent field of entrants, and showed exceptional empathy and integrity.

“This adviser leaves no stone unturned in finding a solution for her clients, and passionately pursues suitable solutions that are always fit for purpose,” they said.

Downie herself said she was grateful to win the prize, even though she was unable to turn up in person to collect it.

“The awards are really important in building trust with clients that potentially don't know of you or have come across your name or your business name (but don't know you personally.),” she said.

“It's all about building some certainty about my brand and putting a bit of certainty around what I do. There are so many advisers out there, it is always good to have a point of difference.”

Downie's specialty is residential lending and she works out of Orewa, north of Auckland. She moved there from Birkdale for family reasons, especially to give her four-year-old son a good place to grow up.

And how does she feel about her job?

“I love it, I absolutely love it, I feel quite privileged to be able to wake up every day and still have that excitement to get up and help clients.”

And when she helps people with a mortgage problem, she establishes a relationship that doesn't end at settlement.

“My main goal is to be my client's financial adviser for life,” she said.

“I focus on building client trust, and being knowledge-based, and being the person they will come back to for a second purchase, or a third purchase.

“They become your friend at the end of the day, you get invited to their house warming, you get invited to weddings, which is really nice,”

Downie works as a sole operator though she is looking for more people to join her, but with limits.

“I have never wanted to be so big that I don't know who my clients are, I don't want them just to become a number to me. It is very important for me to know my customers in and out and to have that trusting relationship with them.”

And that policy applies through thick and thin.

“Even when it's not good news, you want to have that open and honest connection with the client.”

Tags: awards