Non-banks head to Hamilton and Christchurch

Nine non-banks, Avanti, Bluestone, First Mortgage Trust, Heartland, Liberty, NZCU Baywide, Resimac, Southern Cross Partners, and Spotcap, are bringing their speed dating format to Hamilton on February 26, and Christchurch on February 28. 

The Hamilton event will take place at the Hamilton Hotel while Christchurch's event will be held at the city's Riccarton Park. Both events will be held in the afternoon and will offer mortgage advisers a chance to learn more about the products and features on offer from non-traditional lenders. 

The third and fourth speed dating events follow two successful meetings in Auckland and Wellington last year, attended by the market's biggest non-bank lenders.

Non-banks will hope to bring their momentum into 2019 after a positive 12 months, which has seen many win business as banks reduce and restrict available credit, under pressure from their Australian parent groups. 

Adrienne Church, general manager at Resimac, (pictured) said mortgage advisers "have been extremely positive about the fast paced format". Julia Winterbottom, Business Development Manager, Avanti Finance, added: "With a better understanding of the Specialist options available, an adviser is able to make an informed recommendation about the appropriate solution to meet their client’s needs.”

The event plans come as non-bank lenders build profit and market share in New Zealand. A report from advisory firm KPMG last year revealed non-banks posted a 22.9% increase in net profit last year across all lending classes. The advisory firm predicts another sharp rise this year.

Bruce Smith, Sales Manager, First Mortgage Trust, hopes the speed dating events will help advisers improve their customer proposition. He added: "We are focused on being part of the training and upskilling of the adviser network in this space and collectively this can only improve the customer service proposition and options advisers can present to their clients.”