Speed Dating series successfully hosts two more events

The latest Specialist Lender Speed Dating events for mortgage advisers have wrapped up following a lunch in Christchurch last week, with all events being a well-attended success.

The Speed Dating event series was launched in Auckland in August of last year, and was initially supported by five specialist lenders: Resimac, Avanti, Bluestone, First Mortgage Trust and Liberty. The success of the first event led to an expansion of the panel to include Heartland, NZCU Baywide, Southern Cross Partners and Spotcap.

The format was also changed to a breakfast event in Wellington, which was headlined by national netball player and former New Zealand Sportswoman of the Year, Irene Van Dyk.

The third Speed Dating event was held in Hamilton at the end of February and featured former Olympic Cyclist Sarah Ulmer ONZM as a guest speaker. Last week’s Christchurch event featured former NZ Netball coach and Silver Ferns player Margaret Foster.

The four events were attended by over 300 mortgage advisers and business development managers across the country.

“The increased regulation within the main banks makes for a tougher lending environment and thankfully we have excellent non-bank lenders to work with,” Roost Mortgage Brokers adviser and Speed Dating attendee Toby Stanley said.

“Over the years we have been working more and more with non-bank lenders. However we know we are still missing opportunities and attending this conference reiterated this. Overall it was a very well organised event with a great speaker and agenda. Having all the key non-bank lenders in a room was a golden opportunity for us to improve our knowledge of the products, policy and opportunity. We would never see such a collaborative session between the main banks.”

Mortgage Express adviser Di Dunn commented: “It was a great way for each lender to present. I believe I got more value from this type of session rather than each lender presenting formally to the bigger audience. There was a much more personal atmosphere and time afterwards to discuss scenarios further.”

Loan Market mortgage adviser Deryn Coldstream said: “They opened up some options that I needed clarification on and provided me with some new solutions for my clients. Having such a short time frame kept it punchy and on topic. Great idea and opportunity.”

A 2019 event schedule is currently being discussed and more details will be issued at a later date.

Did you attend the Specialist Lender Speed Dating events? What did you think? Let us know in the comments.