Top Commercial Brokers - 2009

Danny Masri has been inching his way up the Top Commercial Brokers list since its inception three years ago. At Masri’s first attempt he placed fourth with a sales volume of $69.68m. Last year, he stood one better, ranking third with a settlement total of $99.34m. This year, Masri outperformed his peers and improved his own record with a volume total of more than $126m. “We had a few big loans in the pipeline. But the First Home Owner Grant really gave things a push. We had some developments with 70-odd units, and [the FHOG] really allowed those projects to move forward.”

One secret to his success has been to outlast his peers. “More brokers have disappeared, so we’ve been able to get a bit more penetration. Some mortgage managers that did some referral arrangements on the commercial side have come back to us. So we’ve been able to do a bit more there,” he says.

Masri adds that the tightening up of major lenders has meant that some people have had to seek a broker to get business through, because their traditional banker was suddenly unable to do their business. Having solid relationships with the Big Four has also helped business.  “When things got tough, the qualities of our previous loans have helped get the new ones over the line.” Before becoming a mortgage broker, Masri worked as business banker. Having experienced the economic downturn of the late ‘90s while working at the bank helped him understand how lenders look at situations and change policy during tough times. “It’s given us a bit of an inside advantage,” he says.

Masri already operates a diversified business – offering all parts of finance, general insurance and financial planning. The general insurance side of the business has really taken off, giving the business about 30–35% in growth, he says. “So we’ve really concentrated on that and it has really started to feed us through on the commercial side.”

He doesn’t have plans to diversify further, but Masri says there’s opportunity in the new regulatory environment in terms of sub-aggregation. “We can provide for those mortgage brokers who will never be able to implement a general insurance and financial planning business by having them join our group, and being a fully-fledged service provider on all sides of financial services. That’s where we see our ability to add people.”

Masri takes an upbeat view of economic situation and months ahead. “I think the market has turned. If this  is as bad as it gets then we shouldn’t be complaining.”