Jenny Campbell's return to the mortgage industry
Jenny Campbell, now heading Australian aggregator Finsure's push into the New Zealand market, had already stepped back from the industry in March 2020, just ahead of covid landing on our shores.
Friday, July 28th 2023, 10:12AM 
3 Comments
“I had sold my shares of my previous mortgage companies prior to covid as I knew that, with the new financial advice provider (FAP) regime fast approaching, I would have had to spend a huge amount of time and money getting ready,” Campbell says.
“It was going to be a massive task that would have involved a major IT project as well as taking on a large personal financial risk. I though it was a great time to cash up and see what new opportunities might present themselves,” she says.
Campbell was most recently chief executive of The Mortgage Supply Co and was previously general manager of the Professional Advisers Association (PAA) and the NZ Mortgage Brokers Association before it became part of the PAA.
But she didn't have much time for idling, becoming lead carer for her grandmother and aunt who were living nearby semi-independently.
“It was an unexpected pleasure to have the time and space to care for my oldies, but lockdowns were very hard on them,” Campbell says. But after “some terrible strokes and other misadventures,” both relatives ended up in full-time care.
“In the most senendipitous timing, just as I was thinking it was time to plan my next act, I was asked to have a chat to a couple of Australians that were looking at the NZ market and who were keen to hear the 'lay of the land',” she says.
Local advisers and lenders had recommended Campbell as someone with direct experience of creating and running an aggregation business.
“Needless to say, we clicked immediately. I was super impressed by their business in Australia, Finsure, as it is the fasted growing aggregation business created by people that really understand and value mortgage advisers,” she says.
Finsure is also well-known as a leader in the tech field and has “their own amazing” customer relationship management (CRM) system.
But Campbell says it was the people above all that most impressed her, particularly chief executive Simon Bednar, who she says has “created a team of absolute stars in their fields, from compliance experts to commercial lending gurus, he has picked out the best of the bunch.”
Finsure was founded in 2011 and now has about 2,800 advisers signed up with total mortgages of more than A$90 billion in Australia, where more than 70% of home loans are originated by brokers.
“It is really powerful to be able to leverage off all the skills and experience of our Aussie colleagues and it easily translates to NZ. Our regulatory regimes and advice processess are very similar and, of course, so are many of the lenders,” Campbell says.
| « Australian mortgage aggregator comes to NZ | Interest rate rises end tailwind » |
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Comments from our readers
I think it was a huge disappoint to see her exit when she did and I think a lot advisers felt let down by The Mortgage supply companies sudden departure from the aggregation space leaving advisers to scramble to find another group in small space of time as (we all know) mortgage advisers are forced to belong to aggregation groups ( aggregation groups do not actually exist anymore , they are called master FAP”S) to be able to deal with banks.
How do we know Jenny won’t do this again?
A new master FAP entering the NZ market in my opinion must have:
1. Low-cost model membership fee.
2. Flexible PI cover group scheme to fit the different types of advisers not a one size fits all over insured product that a group profit from.
3. To not have a competing self-owned brand that competes directly with its non-branded members.
4. A CRM that’s not owned by a real-estate company in Australia.
5. A group CRM where client data is not kept and sold or given to other members if a member leaves.
6. Be able to negotiate better bank commissions rather than negotiate lower commissions to let previous non friendly banks back into the industry and then have other banks instantly follow.
7. Provide compliance training that’s aligned to the individual members FAP license not Just the groups own master FAP license.
Xmas is coming
8. An aggregator (head group) that realises it owes its existence to its members and not the other way around.
Beyond having accreditation with the main banks, I'm not sure what value aggregators are really providing now to mortgage advisers who hold a class 1 or 2 FAP licence. Insurance advisers have been able to deal directly with the insurers for years so with the arrival of licensing it's just a matter of time before banks elect to have direct relationships with mortgage advisers whom they trust. The aggregator model may still have relevance to mortgage advisers new to the industry, but experienced advisers are likely wondering what it is that aggregators still do for us aside from passing along our commission once a week. All Industries evolve and business models that might have been relevant 10-15 years ago are unlikely to continue unless they can demonstrate real value to their members. Be interesting to see what Finsure can offer NZ advisers.
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