30 years of Aussie - celebrating some of our longest tenured brokers

Aussie has recently reached it’s 30-year anniversary, and this achievement would not have been possible without the efforts of our brokers. We're excited about the prospect of helping our newer brokers build strong businesses into the future, and we’re grateful to our more established brokers who have been on the journey with us for many years. Fifty brokers have been with us for more than 20 years, and over 20% of the entire network have called themselves Aussie brokers for over 15 years, and this longevity speaks to their success and dedication.

On the eve of our 30th Birthday, we spoke with some of our longest-tenured brokers from across the country to discuss their time with Aussie, changes they’ve seen in the industry over the years, as well as some of their personal highlights.

Mehboob Manji, franchisee of Aussie Hurstville NSW, is our longest-tenured broker, having called Aussie home for the past 27 years. One of the drawcards for Mehboob was the opportunity to build a business to set up the future for himself and his family, and he’s certainly achieved what he set out to. Not only is he continuing to achieve strong results after all these years, he is now also joined in-store by his daughters Alya and Hanna, who have both become brokers, making Aussie Hurstville a true family business.

The industry has certainly seen some change over time. Our brokers were all remarked on writing deals with a pen and paper in the early days, and they all recalled Aussie’s transition from one-product lender to fully fledged brokerage. Tina Awad, Western Australia’s longest-tenured broker (24 years), noted ‘we had to adapt our approach pretty quickly, because we went from competing against banks, to all of a sudden offering a range of bank products’. Steve Lyons, Victoria’s longest-tenured broker (25 years), added ‘The early days were interesting. Some customers were fully ready to embrace a new era of lending, while others were a little more suspicious as they’d never known an alternative to a bank, so it was a matter of explaining things clearly and educating customers that they could achieve home ownership without using a bank'.

Kate Barnes, South Australia’s longest-tenured broker (21 years), has also been privy to the evolution of the industry over the years, and has fully embraced the changes, in particular the Best Interests Duty, noting ‘this allows me to establish meaningful relationships with my customers, as we work together to establish what is best for them and their future.’

Anthony Ciaverella, Franchisee of Aussie Clayfield and one of Queensland’s longest-tenured brokers (22 years), has perhaps seen the most change of all. He established the first Wizard Home Loans branch in Queensland in 1999 which rebranded in 2009 after Aussie’s acquisition of Wizard, noting ‘I was able to achieve strong growth under the Aussie brand and ultimately moved into a larger site nine years ago’

There is a common trend among the brokers that we spoke with, specifically, the strong volume of referrals and repeat business that they all enjoy. In fact, some of them operate exclusively off these avenues. This speaks to the exceptional customer service they’ve offered and the meaningful relationships they’ve cultivated over many years.

Mehboob recently brokered a new loan for his very first customer, Steve is now writing loans for customers who were once 3-year-old kids sitting in his office while he was helping Mum and Dad and Anthony recalled making himself available to a customer at 9pm on a Saturday, with that customer since providing 17 new referrals.

When speaking with these brokers, it was clear that customers are so much more than a transaction for them, and any financial benefit is far secondary to the satisfaction they derive from helping customers achieve a goal. Tina said, ‘the clients are the biggest highlight for me, being able to help them realise a dream is so rewarding. Even after so many years, receiving a thank you card from a client is the best feeling’. While Kate was kind enough to share the experience that has had the most profound impact on her, telling us ‘a number of years ago, an existing customer came to me needing an urgent loan to assist their daughter as her new-born grandchild needed lifesaving surgery. With only 48 hours to coordinate the loan, we were able to source the funds they needed, and a little while back, my customer sent me a photo of their child, who is now a happy, healthy 17-year-old!’

Nothing makes us prouder than hearing stories of how our brokers have made a difference in the lives of our customers, and we know that there are so many more unearthed stories, as they all go above and beyond to help your customers every day.

We’d like to thank Mehboob, Steve, Kate, Tina and Anthony for speaking with us, and we acknowledge them, and indeed all of our brokers, for the role they’ve all played in seeing Aussie reach 30 years. We look forward to celebrating their successes long into the future. 

with comments from:

Mehboob Manji, Franchisee Aussie Hurstville NSW

Anthony Ciavarella, Franchisee Aussie Clayfield QLD

Steve Lyons, Senior Aussie Broker VIC

Tina Awad, Senior Aussie Broker WA

Kate Barnes, Retail Broker Aussie Prospect SA