3 LOUIS KOVANIS

Louis Kovanis of Genius Loan Solutions Pty Ltd is on the 3rd place of the MPA Top 100 brokers of 2016.

3 LOUIS KOVANIS
http://www.geniusloans.com.au/
3 LOUIS KOVANIS
Genius Loan Solutions Pty Ltd
Kogarah, NSW
Aggregator: FAST
Total value of residential loans FY2015/16: $186,000,000
Total number of residential loans FY2015/16: 162

In 2014 Louis Kovanis burst onto the broking scene, clinching eighth spot with no staff but a secret weapon: a client base of medical professionals. In 2016, Kovanis is still in the Top 10 but now in third place: evidently doctors, unlike other types of clients, are no one-hit wonders.

Kovanis continues to exclusively specialise in medical professionals for a good reason. “These doctors have an insatiable appetite for debt, insatiable!” Lenders have long had favourable policies for medical professionals, but in recent years have been increasingly bullish in increasing their exposure in this space, according to Kovanis. That also means recent lending changes left Kovanis and his clients entirely unscathed. “The banks’ policies towards medicos are unchanged: they lend them 90% with no LMI still … the banks have done a massive study into the healthcare sector and discovered they are really AAA; they’re rock solid. Therefore their credit policy hasn’t altered.”

What has altered is Genius Loan Solutions. Moving to Kogarah in early 2015 hit Kovanis’s volumes but is now paying off, he says. “It’s dramatically increased my footprint in the Kogarah area, because it’s very much dominated by medicos … word of mouth has increased dramatically.” Additionally, after a career as a lone broker, Kovanis has taken on a supporting staff member, William, who approached Kovanis after eight years at a bank.

Kovanis is finding that a hands-off approach to management is working well. “I had a person who was in a big corporation, in a box, and now I’ve made him autonomous and made him feel like he’s got his own little business within my business.”

With William taking care of more of the back-office work, it’s freeing up Kovanis. “It’s enabled me to market my services and get out there and write more business.”

Medical professionals may appear to be a broking gold mine, but they’re a hard one to reach, with strong links to private bankers and little time or patience for brokers, Kovanis warns. With a vast number of potential clients he’s aiming to write $250m over the 2016/17 financial year, and compete with Australia’s biggest brokers and brokerages. “I want to be No. 1 next year; that’s my target.”