Cameron Marcroft has been handling Loan Market's Auckland Central office from a home in Wanaka for much of 2022, augmenting on-line lending work with a once-a-month commute to check things out at the Remuera Rd office.
This absence did not stop him from passing the $1 billion milestone less than seven years after setting up the Central branch of the Loan Market franchise.
Two other Loan Market operators, Bruce Patten and Robyn Ashkettle, have also sold mortgages worth that same amount.
So how did Cameron pull it off?
'I have seen many other mortgage models in my career – the good, the bad and the ugly – and I saw the best way for Loan Market to grow its business was to align with Ray White real estate in Remuera.
“I also invested into the business and employed good people who have stayed with me.”
Marcroft says in reaching the big number he had a bit of luck in that Remuera house prices were higher than elsewhere and so people had to borrow more to buy a property. He also spread his business a bit wider, though mainstream banks still took the vast majority of his business compared with non-bank lenders.
Marcroft adds in the early days, Ray White provided about 50% of his leads, but this had since dropped to 20% as business started coming in from a wider range of sources.
Cameron Marcroft started working in the finance sector when he took a job with a job in the old National Bank, and joined the ANZ when the two banks merged.
He later worked in sales for the New Zealand Financial Services Group (NZFSG) before setting up Loan Market's Central Auckland Branch in Remuera.
His goal is now to build up his team of advisers to run the business and “get their names up in lights”. He is also moving back from Wanaka, but will not be so hands-on as a mortgage adviser. That does not however mean he will stop.
“I am many years away from retiring, however, a change of scenery like Wanaka helps you evaluate what you want in life.
“I want to evolve my business so it is not so much about me, but it is about my staff. I want to oversee them, to mentor them ….. that is how I see myself.”
