Shifting the narrative on women in broking

The mortgage industry is grappling with gender biases, and looking at how to redefine success, foster inclusion and empower women brokers for a more balanced future

HAS THE mortgage and finance industry fallen into a ‘beauty trap’? Society has increasingly distanced itself from imposing external standards of perfection on women’s looks and embraced more realistic and healthy ideas of beauty. However, benchmarks for success in mortgage broking often still revolve around similarly rigid definitions related to volume or value of deals. Industry rankings that focus on these mortgage industry ‘beauty standards’ are overwhelmingly dominated by men – top 100 broker lists typically have levels of female representation that are less than half the proportion of women (25%) in the industry overall. Holding women to impossible standards of physical beauty is widely thought to contribute to a negative body image. Does holding women brokers to unrealistic standards in their careers lead to a similar crisis of confidence, a self-perpetuating reluctance among females to enter or stick with the industry, and a proliferation of the impostor syndrome? “When we talk about what a successful mortgage broker looks like, the first thing that comes to mind is volume. The focus is on how much business they write, indicating financial success is interlinked to success overall,” says Christine Gough, state sales manager for Vic/Tas at Liberty. “If we want to attract more women to the industry, perhaps we need to change how we define success.”

Anja Pannek, chief executive of the MFAA, has a broader range of view than many, in her role overseeing the industry’s top body. She suggests such feelings are common. “The challenges you are facing have no doubt happened to many other female brokers, who have tackled these and gone on to run remarkably successful businesses.” To compare yourself to others in the mortgage industry (or any industry, really) is a career version of the beauty trap that frequently leads to a negative self-image at work. “While it’s important to be inquisitive and open to learning from everyone, refrain from comparison,” says Gough. “Everyone’s journey is different, and what works for someone else may not work for you.” The reality is that women in any career are often time-poor. “We’re seeing many women in this industry absorbing greater domestic responsibilities, which reduces their free time to attend training courses, cultivate a professional network around them, and ultimately develop the confidence they need to enhance their abilities and make key decisions,” says Noushig Megerditchian, Finsure’s new head of sales for its Northern Region. “As such, the main advice I would give any women embarking on a journey into mortgage broking is to just take it one step at a time.”

“This can be especially beneficial in client-facing roles, where understanding and addressing client concerns, building trust and maintaining relationships are crucial – such as in mortgage broking,” says Megerditchian.

In fact, women have been shown to perform better than men in difficult economic times when it comes to business decision-making. “Ensuring equality and inclusivity in the mortgage broking and lending industry is not only a matter of fairness but also a strategic imperative for any business that wants to thrive,” says Megerditchian. “A diverse workforce can lead to better decision-making, greater innovation and an enhanced ability to serve a diverse client base.” A well-established body of academic literature shows superior business performance at companies with higher female board representation. The long-running Credit Suisse Gender 3000 report, for example, found as far back as 2012 that companies with more women on their boards achieved a stronger share price performance during the GFC as risk volatility increased.

Another study comparing the leadership ratings of women and men before and after COVID found that women were rated better in both time periods, but the gap increased during and after COVID, indicating that women leaders tend to perform better in a crisis. The competencies women excel at leveraging in a crisis include taking initiative, building relationships, communicating powerfully and prolifically, and displaying high integrity and honesty.

Established in 2011, Finsure has evolved into one of Australia’s largest mortgage broking groups. The core of its business ethos is a desire to provide the strongest value proposition to all its broker partners. This underpins who Finsure is as an organisation and why it’s able to provide the maximum value to those who align with the group. Finsure currently has a network of over 3,100 brokers, while its loan book exceeds $100 billion. With an international presence, Finsure is a dynamic, scalable, technology-enabled aggregator that is ahead of the pack and driving broker recruitment through its innovative solutions and breadth of service.

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The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) is the leading professional association for the mortgage and finance broking industry, with over 15,000 members. MFAA members include mortgage and finance brokers, aggregators, lenders, mortgage managers, mortgage insurers and other suppliers to the mortgage broking industry. The association’s purpose is to empower its members to prosper and thrive, ensuring Australians benefit from competition and choice.

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Confidence, or lack of it, is often cited as a reason why women haven’t scaled the corporate ladder or industry rankings in similar numbers to men. Yet feminist critiques say it’s workplace standards and the definitions of success that need changing, not women’s self-belief. A Harvard Business Review article has gone so far as to say that the impostor syndrome narrative takes what is a fairly universal feeling of discomfort, second-guessing or mild anxiety in the workplace and pathologises it, especially for women.

Christine Gough

Liberty

Industry experts

Christine Gough has been Liberty's state sales manager Vic/Tas since December 2021. With a customer-first ethos and a willingness to delve deeper, she is driven to find more ways to add value to interactions with business partners. Gough has a wealth of knowledge and expertise, having spent nearly 20 years in the financial services sector. She holds a Bachelor of Business from Monash University and a Diploma of Financial Planning from the Monarch Institute.

Liberty

Christine Gough

Liberty

Anja Pannek

MFAA

Industry experts

Liberty

Christine Gough

Noushig Megerditchian is head of sales – northern region at Finsure. With a Bachelor of Science, she has spent most of her career in the banking and finance arena, specifically in third party distribution. Servicing the broker channel is her life’s passion, and she has done this for the past 10 years. Experienced in lending, aggregation and business coaching, she prides herself on the success that her team and brokers achieve. Megerditchian is also chairwoman of Women in Finsure, a supportive platform to ensure equality throughout the Finsure network and the finance industry as a whole.

Finsure

Noushig Megerditchian

Aside from making it easier to juggle family and work demands, mortgage broking taps into a number of skills that women often excel at. “Many of the women I have encountered within the industry are intrinsically motivated, and having a genuine love for what you do can help create deeper connections,” says Gough. “Women can often also be empathetic and compassionate.” The ability to put yourself in another’s shoes can go a long way when budgets are tight or borrowers find themselves overwhelmed by their financial obligations. “Particularly in the current market with cost of living pressures creating challenges, the ability to show clients empathy is invaluable,” she says.

Christine Gough

Liberty

Industry experts

“Mortgage broking is a really viable career choice for women. The relatively flexible nature of the job, particularly for self-employed brokers, allows for more freedom to balance work and life’s commitments”

Karen Sorrenti, Lendi Group

One result of monolithic standards can be high levels of attrition, as well as difficulty in attracting new female recruits. “The gender imbalance in the broking industry acts as a barrier to entry for women into the profession,” says Karen Sorrenti, general manager for NSW/ACT at Lendi Group. “Many women feel discouraged from entering the industry, or don’t consider it at all, due to a perception that it will be difficult to achieve success in an industry so dominated by men.” The irony is that mortgage broking lends itself to flexible working more easily than many other careers, a key factor that boosts women’s ability to shape the job to their own needs. “Mortgage broking is a really viable career choice for women,” Sorrenti says. “The relatively flexible nature of the job, particularly for self-employed brokers, allows for more freedom to balance work and life’s commitments than your traditional nine to five.” Over 42% of the brokers onboarded at Lendi Group over the past two years have been women. “Many mothers with children, and women with intentions of starting a family, have leveraged this flexibility to build successful broking businesses and careers with Lendi Group and across the broader industry,” Sorrenti says. Expanding the mindset around success is key to helping women move beyond concerns that cater to straight-and-narrow financial beauty contests. “It’s important for the industry to educate women on the viability of mortgage broking as a career choice to rebuff perceptions that the industry is more suited to men,” says Sorrenti. “There should be an emphasis on attracting women to the profession from a young age so they can build successful, sustainable careers.”

Other skills that female brokers can exhibit include the ability to nurture people and build rapport. “Women also tend to be great listeners, are quite perceptive and can offer a different perspective in relation to problem-solving,” says Sorrenti. These skills allow women to gather relevant information even in unusual, crisis-type situations, which may be a reason for their outperformance in tough circumstances. “They have the resilience to adapt when plans don’t work out, push through fear and self-doubt… and keep the plates spinning,” says Gough. Women also frequently have deep emotional intelligence, including intuitive empathetic and interpersonal skills.

Liberty

Christine Gough

Noushig Megerditchian

Finsure

Noushig Megerditchian

Finsure

Noushig Megerditchian

“While it’s important to be inquisitive and open to learning from everyone, refrain from comparison. Everyone’s journey is different, and what works for someone else may not work for you”

Christine Gough, Liberty

The confidence problem and how to get around it

Inherent strengths of women in broking

The confidence problem and how to get around it

Inherent strengths of women in broking

Published 27 May 2024

Noushig Megerditchian

Finsure

Karen Sorrenti

Lendi Group

Anja Pannek is CEO of the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia. She is an experienced leader in the financial services sector and has a proven track record of leading successful businesses within the third party channel, including aggregator businesses and mortgage distribution for major financial services firms. Pannek thrives in complex and uncertain environments and through her vast experience in financial services has an exceptionally strong understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the Australian mortgage and finance broking industry.

MFAA

Anja Pannek

Bringing over 20 years of financial services experience to Lendi Group, Karen Sorrenti joined the Aussie business four years ago and since then has been a driver of strategy and performance in various roles across the distribution division. Over the past 12 months, she has supported Aussie retail franchisees and brokers through significant transformation, overseeing the migration to the new Aussie Platform and the rollout of its Plus and Grow supported store models. Sorrenti has recently transitioned into the role of general manager – NSW/ACT and will spearhead growth in both the Aussie retail and mobile channels.

Lendi Group

Karen Sorrenti

Source: Zenger Folkman’s Extraordinary Leader 360-Degree Leadership Assessment

Where women outscored men on leadership qualities during COVID

As a leading Australian non-bank lender, Liberty offers innovative solutions to support customers with greater choice. Over the past 26 years, this free-thinking approach to loan solutions has seen more than 850,000 customers get financial across a wide range of home, car, personal and business loans, as well as SMSF lending and insurance products. Liberty remains the only non-bank lender with an investment-grade credit rating offering custom and prime solutions to help more people get financial.

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Noushig Megerditchian, Finsure

“Ensuring equality and inclusivity in the mortgage broking and lending industry is not only a matter of fairness but also a strategic imperative for any business that wants to thrive”

Many women in finance have experienced bias first-hand. “I have been in the minority from a gender perspective for much of my career working in financial services,” says Pannek. “I’ve had to face into poor and disappointing examples of gender bias – both conscious and unconscious – where the presumption was that I was not capable because of my gender.” This can be a motivating experience for some, where disappointment can galvanise the will to strive harder, creating “an opportunity to continue to grow and rise up to the challenge” in Pannek’s words. But it’s also crucial to recognise bias for what it is. “Importantly for me, too: this is also about calling out discrimination and poor behaviour if this occurs. This is completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated,” Pannek says. “More so than anything, my experiences have led me to focus on ensuring my own biases don’t create barriers for others – female and male.” Sometimes biases can be internal. Gough says, “When I was offered a promotion in a previous role, impostor syndrome naturally kicked in. Despite my long and successful career to that point, I doubted my ability to succeed in a leadership capacity. This doubt grew when someone implied that this promotion was because I was female, not because I was the right candidate.”

The proportion of the world’s wealth held by women is growing, and the trend is expected to continue. “More and more our brokers are seeing women become the primary financial decision-makers in the household, and this is unlikely to change,” says Sorrenti. “This serves as an opportunity for women in broking as many female customers would feel more comfortable building rapport and transacting with another woman.” There are some who believe that women aren’t interested in finance or have no aptitude for it, but Pannek says, “That’s simply not the case. Women are making financial decisions, they’re managing their household budgets, they’re running their own businesses.”

Overcoming bias against women in broking

Gender pay gaps at financial institutions in Australia

Recent research by CoreLogic found that 68.2% of women in Australia owned at least one property, compared to the marginally lower 67.4% of men. “This is further evidence that we need to meet the needs of these clients and give them the options so they can choose a broker that meets their values and can understand their perspectives,” Pannek says. Indeed, female wealth is expected to outstrip that of men in the not-too-distant future, with some studies showing 55% of the world’s wealth will be held by women by 2030. “As the amount of women-controlled wealth increases, there will be more opportunities for everyone in the finance industry,” says Gough. “From financial institutions to brokers, we will all need a greater grasp on the needs of women and the way they manage finances.” Megerditchian says any such future increase in female-controlled wealth would be “profound”. “To have primary control will influence where the money is directed, how the money is spent and who is trusted to help them growth their wealth.” The reality is that female brokers may be better placed to address the needs, risk preferences and priorities of other women and ask them the right questions. Some of these women will likely need help in optimising their options and protecting them for the future. “Education in financial literacy, particularly relating to investments, property, superannuation and retirement strategies, will also be critical as women become more financially independent,” says Gough.

Source: Workplace and Gender Equality Agency database, May 2024

The trend of increasing wealth among females is mirrored by the growth in affluence of other groups in Australia, such as immigrants and non-native English speakers. “Our industry should reflect this diversity, and we know home loan borrowers and business owners are valuing this more and more,” says Pannek. “Consumers are increasingly expecting businesses to be diverse and representative of the community. They want to see themselves reflected in the people they do business with.”

Anja Pannek, MFAA

“I’ve had some fabulous male role models, as I’ve had female. What I have found hugely beneficial is managers and peers who help me challenge my thinking and point out opportunities”

Female mortgage brokers have a key role to play in this future, as do organisations in the finance industry. “Elevating the success stories of women is paramount, to show other women that mortgage broking could be a great opportunity,” says Sorrenti. Role models need to be seen in order for women both inside and outside the industry to shed false perceptions that the job is more suited to men. “Seeing other women in roles of leadership and influence, putting themselves out there … can make a big difference to others, with what they believe they are capable of,” says Pannek. “It’s very much a case of ‘you cannot be what you cannot see’.” Men can also be role models. “I’ve had some fabulous male role models, as I’ve had female,” she says. “What I have found hugely beneficial is managers and peers who help me challenge my thinking and point out opportunities. Role models can also be people who have followed different, and non-linear, paths in their careers.” Men also have a crucial role to play in fixing inequity in mortgage broking. Gough says, “We need more men within the broker community to step up and become visible allies. By taking the time to understand the landscape through a different lens, we can make the conversation more inclusive and inviting for women.”

An increasingly diverse market with more women stakeholders

Lendi Group was created in 2021 though the merger of Aussie Home Loans and Lendi to form Australia’s largest retail mortgage broker. Both were founded as market disruptors to help Australians get better deals, better rates and better information on home loans. Lendi Group’s platform helps customers compare, apply and settle loans online while being supported by a team of experts and brokers that power its brands, products, services and relationships. With a shared history of challenging the status quo, the two brands provide different experiences for customers, with the same goal of helping more Australians achieve homeownership.

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While numbers around women in leadership, women-led businesses and female entrepreneurship are on the rise, wage gaps, unconscious biases and various other limiting factors still pose barriers to true gender equity.

One of the most important policy revisions to speed up change happened in March – a public database of gender pay gap levels at individual companies was published by the Workplace and Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) on its website. Moves to make pay gap data public in other countries, such as the UK and New Zealand, have resulted in the gap narrowing more quickly as companies seek to avoid the negative image associated with pay disparities. “As more businesses acknowledge the moral and social imperative of gender equity and inclusion, and we continue to make important strides towards gender balance, there will be more opportunities for women in the industry,” says Sorrenti. Brokers are well positioned to take advantage of those opportunities. “Those brokers who best connect with their female clients and have a clear understanding of their needs and priorities will be in the box seat for the foreseeable future,” says Megerditchian.

Potential for change in mortgage broking

Anja Pannek

MFAA

Karen Sorrenti

Lendi Group

MFAA

Anja Pannek

Lendi Group

Karen Sorrenti

Anja Pannek

MFAA

Karen Sorrenti

Lendi Group

MFAA

Anja Pannek

Lendi Group

Karen Sorrenti

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51%

19%

National

Proportion of women in workforce

Gender pay gap (based on median total remuneration)

52%

25.6%

Finance sector overall

51%

23.1%

ANZ

50%

18.8%

NAB

56%

29.9%

CommBank

54%

28.5%

Westpac

51%

21.9%

Bank of Queensland

47%

22.1%

Macquarie Bank

52%

15.3%

Liberty

55%

28.5%

Pepper Money

52%

23.9%

Loan Market Group

47%

29.6%

Resimac

52%

28.1%

Firstmac

44%

8.3%

La Trobe Financial

Much was made of the setbacks working women faced across all industries as a result of the pandemic, and broking was no exception, with the proportion of female mortgage brokers falling in the period from 2019 to now. “With the pandemic behind us, our efforts should now be focused on recruiting more women in this industry,” Megerditchian says.