Talking back: The top 10 broker-friendly lenders

For the broker and lender relationship to truly work there needs to be an open line of communication. For that reason CMP, which gave brokers their say in our last issue, now hands it over to the lenders

Last month, CMP published the results of our third annual Brokers on Lenders survey. Over 300 brokers from nine different provinces filled out this year's survey and ranked the lenders on a score between one (very poor) and five (very good).

Some have questioned the purpose of the survey, which is to simply provide another channel for brokers to communicate to the lenders. Most importantly though, it's an anonymous channel, so it can be rest assured that the scores and comments are 100 per cent truthful and unbiased by any outside influences, as CMP's only interest in conducting it is to educate.

First National
Since CMP started polling brokers for their feedback on lenders, First National has scored in the top three, finishing first overall last year and second in 2007. Based on the overwhelmingly positive comments that came in for First National, it was no surprise to anyone to see them on top again this year.

This includes vice-president, residential mortgages, Scott McKenzie, who stresses the team atmosphere and hard work from all employees at First National for this year's strong finish. In fact, it was the one lender to stress that CMP include a team picture instead of the headshot that we asked for. While they eventually gave in to our request, as a team shot would simply be too small, the gesture was obvious. To emphasize that even further, McKenzie says that while the market has been through a lot of change in the last year, keeping a full staff has made the difference.

"When volumes are lighter we schedule a number of internal training sessions to ensure that employees are up-to-date on changes, know product features, what can be done, policies and processes," he says, adding that when the market changed from "relatively quiet to very active in a short period of time," everyone there was ready.

Another part of its success is making a conscious decision to communicate with brokers any changes, he says.

"This allows us to further gain efficiencies which ultimately lead to better service for brokers. This approach has worked very well for us for the last six months, and we will continue to focus efforts on underwriter and broker education."

He also points to First National's popular online mortgage approval and tracking system, Merlin (at least according to the comments from survey respondents who mentioned it), and its paperless technology platform, which not only gained it the highest score in the IT category, but serve as "key ingredients for outstanding broker service."

And with the highest score in eight of the 11 categories, it seems the mortgage community would agree.

Merix Financial
While Merix has always finished relatively high on the list, it made a big jump from fourth to second place this year.

Boris Bozic, president, attributes its success to three main initiatives it has taken over the last year: providing training, education and more tools to its sales people; improving processes with things like document imaging, restructuring credit approval terms, hiring seasoned underwriters and launching a Vancouver location to service the West Coast; and working on post-funding customer service by expanding the customer service team, introducing technology for reporting SLAs and a welcome program for new customers.

But he is also the first to admit that these are only "works in progress. Directionally I believe we are on the right track. And that's something we are all proud of being just four years into the business."

Everything isn't rosy though, as it also scored low on important things like turnaround time.

"We have technology challenges currently that result in our poor scores when it comes to approval/ turnaround time," says Bozic. "It's unfortunate because just as I believe we have a fantastic sales team, I'm equally proud of the job our folks are doing at the credit centres. They don't have a lot of tools but they do the best they can with what they have. And we're going to fix those technology issues - we've committed to it."

Bozic also feels that education is an area the whole industry can improve on.

"All of us have the ability to fall into old habits and not necessarily think about the long-term implications of their day-to-day decisions," he says. "More and more originators need to take a longer term approach to their business. For example, what is their exit strategy? Do they even have one? Well, as lenders and as partners, we can help them with this."

Page 2: MCAP, ING Direct, Street Capital

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MCAP
MCAP has always finished in the top 10 for CMP's Broker on Lender surveys, and finished second overall last year. And while their score dropped from last year by .33, it was still enough to land them this year's third place standing. Backing on the strength of its interest rates, in which it finished ahead of everyone else, not to mention second place finishes for turnaround times and IT, MCAP exemplifies what it likes to call "your expert partner."

"We have worked to maximize turnaround times by streamlining processes and by enhancing our technology offerings on our broker portal, Professor," says Bryan Devries, senior vice-president, broker lending, about MCAP's introduction of the tool that allows for the uploading of supporting documentation.

"It has resulted in much faster clearing of conditions, reduces paper use, generates efficiencies and serves to optimize the closing process for our brokers," he said. Since last year MCAP has also been really focusing on interacting with its broker partners, says Devries, which has resulted in some new initiatives.

"Brokers asked us to forge new ground in our consumer-focused marketing efforts and were very clear in recommending that we work to raise the general identification and awareness of the MCAP name and brand among consumers," he said, adding that consumer awareness benefits both lenders and brokers.

As such, it is now focusing on growing its presence in online communities by "providing informative articles, promoting the broker channel and providing consumer referrals to mortgage brokers," he says.

"We listened and acted accordingly. At the same time, we took the opportunity to explain and promote the services of professional mortgage brokers as the best option for consumers. As a lender dedicated to the broker channel, we saw this approach as a great opportunity to promote both the channel itself and our own brand at the same time."

But MCAP also scored lower than it expected in the broker support category, and is planning an "Expert Partner National Speaker series" this fall - something it did last year that received a lot of positive feedback, and hopes for again this year.

ING Direct
ING Direct finished in fourth place on the banks survey last year, but only with a score of 2.83. This year, even with the combination of the two surveys (banks and non-banks) it finished fourth again, but with a much higher score of 3.45.

On the back of its strong scores in things like transparency of commission structure and interest rates, it is the highest scoring lender formerly from our banks survey.

George Hugh, vice-president, broker sales, attributes this to recognizing the broker channel as a "core part of ING Direct's long-term strategy," he says, adding that it has taken steps to build a stronger relationship with the broker network.

"Recently we've added more staff and increased face-to-face interaction with more brokers," he says.
"We've launched a new loyalty program in April which rewards for consistent and repeatable volume."

He also mentions that ING has seen an increase in volume from regions and brokerages that were at one point underdeveloped, pointing to things like extended hours of operation in the West and making its products "simpler and easier."

But Hugh says he was "surprised" by the scores for broker support.

With the "philosophy of no branches we deem our authorized brokers as an extension of ING Direct's sales team," he said, adding that it "provides assistance by continuously training and equipping brokers with the proper tools to educate their clients."

And while he says that "now more than ever it is vital that brokers know their lenders' products inside out," ING is also taking some actions to improve in this area.

"We will be launching our own survey shortly to our broker network," he says. "The survey will help us learn more about regional challenges in Canada, helping us to improve service nationally. Regions that are underserviced will be addressed with more training and support from our regional sales managers."

Street Capital
As mentioned before, Street Capital didn't have a ranking last year, so its fifth place finish was a big jump for the company that introduced a conventional mortgage program since last year. When asked what it had specifically been working to improve on over the last year, Paul Grewal, president, said that "service is always top of mind so we're developing a service guarantee for mortgage brokers that provide them with specific, measurable targets that sales and underwriting must deliver to our top mortgage brokers."

But that isn't the biggest improvement he thinks the company has made, instead pointing to the above-mentioned conventional mortgage program.

"It was the No. 1 product category that mortgage brokers suggested we have so being able to implement it has proven to be successful for us," he says.

In the interim Street Capital recognizes some of its shortcomings, and as a result has plans to redesign its website to "ensure brokers have all the tools they require to make their job more effective," he says, specifically mentioning things like "pipeline management, document tracking, detailed product information and communication to underwriters. During the broker feedback sessions we held across Canada this was a consistent message from brokers so we feel it's very important to work toward addressing these gaps."

It has also opened a Western Canada underwriting centre for B.C., with plans for the central Prairies shortly, all in a bid to improve on what it sees as major areas lenders can improve on in general.

"In our opinion, service levels are paramount. Many brokers were disappointed with the service they received from lenders during the spring market, specifically underwriting service," he says.

Page 3: Bridgewater Bank, Abode, Home Trust

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Bridgewater Bank
Bridgewater Bank was another lender from last year's separate banks survey. In fact, along with ING it represents the only company on this year's list that wasn't on the non-banks survey before, and for good reason. With an overall score of 3.05 last year, enough to finish in third place, it improved its score this year to 3.42. But with non-banks traditionally scoring higher, this meant a sixth place finish this year.

(Editors note: in issue 4.7 CMP noted in its "medal standings" table that Bridgewater had scored bronze in only one category, when in fact it scored it in two, giving it the same amount of medals as several other lenders.)

Todd Poberznick, assistant vice-president, production, points to Bridgewater's increase in score concerning turnaround times as a highlight, but it also managed to place in the top three for other important categories like BDM support and satisfaction index on overall credit policy, a new category this year.

"We ran a 'Re-Fi Express' campaign that focused on quick turnaround times," he says. "It went over very well with our brokers and in turn their responses on the survey reflect their continued support."

He also mentions the lender's focus on service, which he says is accomplished through underwriters working closely with the mortgage professionals to ensure deals "get the attention they deserve," as well as to "respond quickly to all applications."

He suggests that the increased credit requirements from insurers mean that it takes longer to approve deals, but that it hopes to "compensate on [its] end with quicker response times."

That said, it still has some work to do.

"After ranking first in the broker support category two years running (2007-2008) we're definitely disappointed to see slippage in this category. It's certainly an area we'll be looking at very closely," he says. "When the market was booming, the focus tended to be on product development and technological enhancement. Now the tide has turned and when the market gets skinny, lenders need to listen to what brokers are looking for. How have their needs changed? What can we do to meet their needs?"

Abode Mortgage Corporation
Absent from last year's ranking, Abode is another lender that made great strides, especially in areas like BDM support, credit policy and transparency of commission structures.

Joe Digiambattista, senior vice-president, Canada, attributes it to a work environment that "fosters authentic employee satisfaction. Appreciated and engaged employees deliver amazing customer service for our loyal brokers. When these two key areas work cohesively everything else falls into place," he says.

He adds that the focus at Abode has been on "removing roadblocks" for mortgage professionals so that its "deemed easier to do business with," and based on the fact that it received the highest score for BDM support, the plan seems to be working in that regard.

One of the categories that Abode didn't score as well in was IT, despite, as Digiambattista says, spending "a lot of time and effort on IT solutions ... and we look forward to introducing exciting technology improvements to our brokers." Another area that he would like to see Abode improve on is product range.

"I would like to see us have a better score," he says. "We are working hard in making sure this happens going into the New Year by looking at a broader scope in our lending segments as well as the range within them."

Home Trust
Home Trust performed well in two of the new categories this year, receiving the second highest score for both overall service level to brokers and underwriter support. Overall service levels proved to be a particularly important category to respondents also, as it received the second most votes when they were asked to put the categories in order of importance.

It has been busy year too for Home Trust, says Pino Decina, senior vice-president, mortgage lending, which more than likely has to do with its high service scores.

"Home Trust has seen strong growth over the past year and we've been working hard to maintain our high service levels and fast turnaround times," he says, mentioning the launch of the "accelerator program" last fall - a range of high ratio-insured mortgage products.

"With the success of this new product line, our volumes have increased significantly over last year," he says. "With this rapid growth, we've expanded our underwriting staff to ensure we continue to develop one to-one relationships with our brokers."

Another initiative that paid off for Home Trust over the last year was its open house programs that went across the country.

"[They were] to increase awareness of our full product line and to introduce brokers to their dedicated underwriting teams," says Decina. "All events were well attended, and broker feedback was very positive."

Some areas of improvement, according to the survey results, were product range and IT, where it dropped .17 and .40, respectively, leaving Decina surprised by the results.

"With the launch of our Accelerator program last year, we greatly expanded our range of products. With this addition Home Trust is now the only lender offering a full range of 'Alt A' and 'A' products, so we expected that would have been reflected in a stronger Product Range score," he says, but admits that there is some room for improvement in the IT department.

"We are currently in the process of upgrading our system to streamline the mortgage approval process and reduce administration costs and time for our brokers," he says.

Page 4: Macquarie, Equitable Trust

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Macquarie
While Macquarie didn't score in the top three for any of the survey categories, it managed to finish ninth overall by posting consistent scores, its strong points being BDM support, interest rates and transparency of commission structures. Macquarie does this by focusing on a group of select brokers, says Doug Lee, head of sales.

"Partnering with select brokers who understand and value our proposition enables Macquarie Financial to provide privileged access, including preferred rates, exclusive programs and dedicated one-on-one support," he says, mentioning one particular initiative it has implemented to help improve its standing even more.

"In 2009, we have improved our BDM-to-broker ratio by 30 per cent and our underwriter-to-broker ratio by a remarkable 60 per cent," he says. "This evolving partnership approach is key to even stronger results in next year's CMP survey."

Equitable Trust
Even though Equitable Trust moved down on the overall list, from seven last year to 10 this year, it showed a lot of improvement in key areas like approval/loan turnaround times and underwriter support. And while it went down in the broker support, IT and product range categories, it moved up in several others after not receiving a standing in every category last year. Andrew Moor, president and CEO, points to what he sees as the reason for its improvement in scores.

"Highlights have included the faster turnaround from our underwriting teams, a simpler and easier to use commitment letter, the launch of our Ruby and 85 per cent LTV uninsured mortgage, improving our closing processes and solidifying our workout processes with investors holding second mortgages," he says.

He says that placing third in the turnaround and underwriter support categories show him that it is "definitely on the right track for a niche lender," before pointing out that "we do not deal in all provinces and with all brokers - so our scores may not be reflective of our underlying service levels - but overall we are very pleased with the progress we are making in what has been a very difficult period for many mortgage lenders."

But there is always room for improvement, and where Moor sees that happening is with communication.

"We clearly believe that there is opportunity for Equitable to improve on communicating with our broker customers both on a deal-by-deal basis and in terms of our overall product benefits and approaches to business," he says. "I think our broker customers will see this in an improved product layout on our website and slicker communication at the transaction level."