NAB opens one-stop planning/mortgage broking shop
By Michael Bailey
NationalAustralia Bank (NAB) aims to profit from the trend for financial planners to become mortgage brokers and vice versa, launching a division which provides for the product and business management needs of both disciplines.
NAB Financial Planning and Third Party will draw services from the financial advice arm of MLC and the bank division, which manages relationships with external mortgage brokers, to assist self-employed businesses that are doing or want to do both.
The general manager of the new division, Matt Lawler, said its creation reflected the industry’s move from a sales culture to an ongoing service culture.
For example, he said mortgage brokers were now often interested in selling clients various types of insurance that reflected the life change a new home owner goes through.
“To provide advice on insurance, a mortgage broker will more frequently need to operate under an Australian Financial Services Licence and complete some further study, both of which are available within NAB Financial Planning and Third Party,” Lawler said.
As well as training, Lawler said mortgage brokers would benefit from services already available to planners, such as compliance monitoring, practice management support and succession planning strategies.
Planners would be able to access mortgage broking tools such as Homeside, Lawler said, in an environment where NAB sold $1.5 billion of loans through its adviser network in 2003-04.
Recipients of the services would need to use a certain amount of NAB-owned product to justify receiving them, Lawler said.
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