Brendon Smith
As New Zealand moves into alert Level Three today, Smith believes digitisation will be a key change for mortgage brokers after the covid-crisis.
Smith believes it is time for advisers to “review, realign and re-present” their business in the new world.
Smith outlined his top 12 predictions for the post-Covid market:
Digitalisation is here to stay
“Over the next few months, advice will become paperless. Interviews will move online, clients will enter data directly into an adviser's system and clients will sign electronically.”
Kiwis will stop using cash
“The longer this crisis goes on the less likely it is that we will return to paper. That means that automated bank statement analysis becomes more accurate, as too will be the systems that are being designed by groups to ensure advisers can comply with responsible lending.”
Adviser market share will rise
“As we have seen over the last few weeks, customers reach out to advisers when they want trusted advice away from complexity and ambiguity.”
Clients will want ‘digitally assisted mortgages’ not ‘digital mortgages’
“Whilst I’m sure good online businesses will grow - there is no doubt that more clients will want to deal with a local expert who has great technology.”
Our industry will be better trained and more professional than ever before
“I am sure all groups have significant training plans to make sure that no one gets left behind in this bridge to the new world and all of us will be spending more time than ever before on training.”
Adviser marketing tools will become increasingly more sophisticated
“The need for advisers to be able to market through social and digital channels, as well as providing ongoing targeted and relevant content for current and potential clients will be critical.”
Turnaround times for digitally-enabled advisers will improve
“Established lenders will up the ante in this space and adopt a more data-driven approach as they aim for real-time credit decisions.”
IT security will be key
“Groups are going to need to invest more in IT security. The deep relationships between the head of third party teams at the lenders and that of groups will extend to relationships between their respective IT teams - and these relationships will be critical.”
The government will make it easier for advisers and customers to work together online
“Digital Identity Verification, there still needs to be some government legislation to support this.”
We will be ready for Good Customer Outcomes
“Ironically, our planning for GCO has made us more prepared for COVID than what we may have been. For advisers who adapt to these systems now, the transition to GCO will be seamless.”
Our industry will change shape
“I do think it [Covid-19 will spur on a change to see more teams of advisers working under businesses and where leadership, infrastructure and knowledge is shared. Indeed, we are already seeing this trend at NZFSG.”
Changes for groups
“Groups will need to live up to four core promises to advisers; to save advisers time, to keep them safe, to help them find and keep clients and to grow their business.”
