I am invigorated after attending the first of many CAFBA annual conference and award nights held last Friday at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne.
The indecision surrounding this industry of late, heightened with often more negatively skewed media has for obvious reasons impacted the overall vibe among Finance Brokers. The reality is that clients enjoy the great value they receive when tapping into the variety and knowledge of Brokers. This industry is growing and will continue to grow because there is great value in the professional services we offer. The proof is in the advocacy, and once a client uses a Finance Broker they are more likely to use us moving forward and they tend to refer friends and family to the industry.
The positive future focused attitude of this Commercial association resonated with me and the wider industry. With a goal to be recognised as the voice for all commercial finance brokers in Australia it is no surprise why CAFBA is cherished by their members and receiving remarkable support not only from top leaders within this industry, but also valued for their expertise by leaders throughout Australia.
Some of the key highlights included David Gandolfo the President of CAFBA’s lobbying update, statistics around the Broker share of the commercial finance pie within Australia, and I really valued his view that you can solve more problems with education than with regulation. Ian Burnett from CBA covered the different diversification models within the industry and some ultra-modern asset sharing products CBA were working on that had everyone intrigued. BOQ had Peter Munckton as the Chief Economist who shared an overall optimistic view on the current financial position for Australia, with a focus on wage increases and transport being a probable concern. Jonathan Martin from Macquarie covered really interesting considerations for fraud awareness and Richard King did a Royal Commission Update from Westpac.
Keynote Speaker Tracey Spicer Television, radio, newspaper and online journalist was outstanding and dynamic as she spoke about personal experiences around gender inequality and how women really need to get better at throwing the ladder down for other women.
I was pleasantly surprised when one of the break out sessions in the afternoon held by Westpac was a Pizzini wine tasting run by the owner Alfredo who had been a loyal Westpac business client for many years.
Honoured to have been a finalist in the Emerging Broker category of the Awards evening, and really delighted to see all the winners and top talent in the industry take home awards and well earned recognition.
Thank you to CAFBA for a terrific event, I feel truly proud to be a member and part of the exceptional work you do to grow this area of finance that I am absolutely passionate about!
