Westpac, Mortgage Choice pay tribute to their teams
A record number of people gathered at Sydney’s Star Event Centre last Friday for a black-tie event to acknowledge 27 of the year’s best mortgage industry performers.
The 2023 Australian Mortgage Awards attracted more than 700 guests from all over Australia with many taking the opportunity to let their hair down and connect with friends and colleagues.
Australian comedian and presenter Merrick Watts proved a hit with the crowd who enjoyed a three-course dinner while being entertained by band SongDivision and the magic of Soul Mystique.
When it came to the lender awards, The Westpac Group, which won Q2 Bank of the Year, and Mortgage Choice, which was named OnDeck Aggregator of the Year, were among the big winners on the night.
Westpac managing director mortgages Richard Burton (pictured above left) said helping more Australians into homeownership was a core part of Westpac’s business strategy, so the award win was fantastic recognition for the continued work being done to improve the mortgage experience for their brokers and customers.
“Our people are our point of difference, so this is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our teams across the business who support the end-to-end home lending process,” Burton said.
“It was fantastic to see the incredible talent we have recognised through the awards, with seven of our team members nominated across the best major and best non-major bank BDM categories, and Lily Parle taking out the Best Major Bank BDM title. “
Burton said over the past year, Westpac had worked hard to make it easier and faster to do business with the lender by completing the roll-out of its digital origination platform to lenders and brokers, simplifying its products and processes, and growing its BDM team to better support both brokers and customers.
“We’ve also made important progress in improving access to home finance for more Australians, including through our participation in Housing Australia’s Home Guarantee scheme and expanding our Medico LMI waiver policy to include nurses and midwives, in a move to support more women into homeownership.
“This success is also credit to the longstanding partnerships we have with brokers across Australia, and we want to thank them for their ongoing support and collaboration. We will continue to build on this through listening to feedback, making further improvements, and working to deliver a better mortgage experience for our brokers and customers.”
Mortgage Choice CEO Anthony Waldron (pictured above right) said his team was incredibly proud to have been named Aggregator of the Year at the Australian Mortgage Awards 2023.
“This is the fourth major aggregator award Mortgage Choice has won this year, and we are tremendously appreciative of this recognition for everything the Mortgage Choice broker network does for their customers day-in and day-out,” Waldron said.
“It’s also testament to the support provided to our network by our head office and state teams.”
Waldron said the win came after what’s already been a very busy year.
“In FY23, we integrated two broker networks under a refreshed Mortgage Choice brand; delivered new brand campaigns, products and marketing support to increase broker leads; launched a new educational playbook to help brokers build their businesses; and delivered our first women-focused broker recruitment campaign.
“For more than 30 years, Mortgage Choice has focused on delivering an industry-leading support model that helps its franchisees build successful small businesses so our brokers can help Australians achieve their property ownership dreams.”
Waldron said over the next year the head office teams would be focused on their “post-integration roadmap” including delivering enhancements to help brokers continue to grow their businesses and add value to the service they provide to their customers.
Other highlights of the night included seeing Liberty named Rate Money Non-Bank of the Year and ubank winning the PropTrack Fintech Lender of the Year award.
The Bluestone Home Loans Mortgage Manager of the Year award was won by Mortgage Ezy.
Awards were presented in 27 categories, including two national awards with Simplicity Loans & Advisory’s Jean-Pierre Gortan winning Westpac Australian Broker of the Year and Empower Wealth Mortgage Advisory, which won Liberty Australian Brokerage of the Year.
Organised by Key Media and supported by Mortgage Professional Australia and Australian Broker, the awards again had the backing of event partner Westpac, along with NAB and PRPTY 360 as premium partners.
Other sponsors included Adelaide Bank, ANZ, Bankwest, Bluestone Home Loans, Commonwealth Bank, Equity-One, FBAA, Firstmac, Gateway Bank, Hays, La Trobe Financial, LBH, Liberty, MFAA, Mortgage Choice, Mortgage Street, OnDeck, Pepper Money, PropTrack, Q2, Rate Money, Resimac and ubank.
FINSTREET was the VIP post awards event sponsor, and PRPTY 360 was the champagne sponsor. Fifo Capital was the photo booth sponsor, Maxiron Capital the social media sponsor and SongDivision the entertainment partner.
There were only 25 winners announced at last year’s Australian Mortgage Awards 2022.
How important are the Australian Mortgage Awards 2023? Share your thoughts below
