One-third of brokers would take a job at a bank

“Never in a million years” say other brokers, as industry divides over news that banks are desperate to hire lending and processing staff

One-third of brokers would take a job at a bank
“Never in a million years” say other brokers, as industry divides over news that banks are desperate to hire lending and processing staff

One-third of brokers would accept a job at a bank, a survey by MPA has indicated.

Following Monday’s news from recruiter HAYS that banks were “vying” for lending and processing staff, MPA surveyed 202 of our broker readers (as of 8.30am today) on whether they’d take a job at a bank. 34% said they would; 45% were against and 21% on the fence. 

Brokers were strongly divided on the issue. “Never in a million years would I go back” wrote broker Kate T “[I] love the freedom of broking, working from home, no travel, no micro-management of my every movement, no targets, no having to flog insurance products and at least twice the income.” 
However, she did note that the workload “has never been worse so I am looking forward to retirement.”

Broker James T argued that referral sources are drying up and complained that “working for a group is no better than having a job” due to restrictive conditions. “Give me a bank job any day....if only I were young enough to get an interview.”

Out of the frying pan...

As we reported on Monday, banks are looking to hire lending staff at the same time as broking becomes more competitive.

Nationally, broker turnover stands at 10.2% nationally, according to the MFAA’s Industry Intelligence Report. 

Turnover has increased half year on half year, noted the report, which warned that “The likelihood that turnover will increase seems self-evident: an increasing population of brokers; falling sales productivity; plateauing sales volumes and falling new loan application volumes will likely mean that higher rates of turnover are sustained.”

The grass may not be greener in banking, however. In 2016 the Finance Sector Union, which represents bank staff, warned that the “relentless pursuit of profits” was damaging the mental health of its members. 

What is your trail worth?

As Bob, a broker from Perth pointed out, comparing broker and bank staff incomes doesn’t take into account the trail books built up by brokers.

The average broker portfolio includes $37.7m, according to the MFAA, although this conceals major differences between states and brokers. Furthermore, many aggregator contracts diminish the value of brokers’ books.

In a recent article on trail books, Mark Osborn, director of Trail Book Buyers told MPA that a book’s value depended on “the nature of the lenders or the age of the loan; it could be the mix of owner-occupiers and investors, fixed-rate products as opposed to variable rate products, and also the debt pay-down on the book.”

The demand for trail books certainly exists: Jeff Zulman, founding director BBBSA Finance, commented that “we have a ratio of roughly six people looking to buy every book that’s for sale.”