Betting on himself

Some people said Akhilesh Bhatia was crazy to leave a secure banking job to become a mortgage broker. He's proved them wrong

Betting on himself

Akhilesh Batia took a big risk a few years ago. After a decade at a secure banking job, he decided to “bet on himself” and become a mortgage broker.

That bet led to Bhatia (pictured above) becoming one of the top young brokers in Australia and earned him a spot on MPA’s 2021 Young Guns list.

Bhatia, now a broker with Home Loans Fast, told MPA that he had been feeling that his bank job was limiting in terms of what he could offer the customer. He felt that mortgage broking could give him the autonomy he needed to work in his clients’ best interests. He left the bank and became a broker in October of 2019.

Bhatia said that some people thought he was crazy for leaving a good job – especially since he had a young family. However, his insistence on seeing customers as more than just a number led to him writing more than $30 million in loans in his first year as a broker.

“My bigger vision has always been to educate people about finances,” Bhatia said. “I think there is a huge need for people to get on top of their finances, as their lack of knowledge can be the cause of great hardship and stress. I became a broker to help my clients solve their financial challenges and educate them along the way.”

Read next: Akhilesh Bhatia on being a Young Gun

Timothy Schneider, partnership manager for Victoria at Choice Aggregation Services, said Bhatia’s determination and experience in the banking industry helped him rise to the top.

“Akhilesh’s professionalism and previous banking expertise managing commercial clients means he is able to deliver solutions where most brokers are unable to,” Schneider told MPA. “Despite being a newcomer in this industry, he has built a solid network of referrers, used technology to help his clients, and also gained the respect of myself and fellow members of the industry.”