Momentum Media and The Adviser are pleased to reveal the top brokers in Queensland at the Better Business Awards 2022.
The ninth annual Better Business Awards, run in partnership with NAB, kicked off this year in Brisbane on Thursday 28 April. (Picture from BBS QLD 2021)
The ninth annual Better Business Awards, run in partnership with NAB, kicked off this year in Brisbane on Thursday 28 April, and celebrated high-performing brokers, business development managers (BDM) and loan administrators in Queensland.
The awards – hosted by Momentum Media’s mortgages’ brand, The Adviser, offered the leading lights of the industry the opportunity to mingle and toast to their successes in person after a busy and challenging couple of years amid the coronavirus pandemic and soaring client demand for property.
Comedian Lizzy Hoo kept the audience in splits throughout the evening.
More than 500 members of the sector attended the awards to cheer on the 216 finalists who were in the running for 19 awards. All eyes were on who would walk away with the prestigious Broker of the Year award for Queensland.
Loan Market mortgage broker Paul Hixon emerged as the overall winner of Broker of the Year Qld this year, after also being named Best Residential Broker earlier in the evening.
Mr Hixon was praised for being a well-rounded broker and lodging a high-quality submission, while judges recognised his strong results and point of difference.
The Best Finance Broker award went to Green Finance Group finance consultant James Kelder who was commended for posting exceptional growth over the past four years.
The Best Customer Service (Individual) trophy was given to Mortgage Innovations’ principal mortgage broker Jason Cuerel, who impressed the judges with his demonstrated commitment to understanding his clients’ needs and servicing them impeccably, while investing in the systems and experienced staff to grow the operation from strong referral business.
Regional brokers were acknowledged for their efforts in regional Australia, with Toowoomba-based RB finance managing director Ryan Baddock crowned Best Regional Broker after lodging a submission with strong supporting material and well-written responses and examples.
The awards recognised the effective mentoring system of Smart Mortgage director and mortgage broker Jinping Huang by conferring her with the Mentor of the Year title, while Ramsey Property Wealth director Ewan Ramsey nabbed the Thought Leader of the Year trophy and was commended for his outstanding effort and approach.
Zest Mortgage Solutions’ director and mortgage broker Melissa Wright was applauded for her outstanding year and achievements by being named Best Newcomer, while Professional Lending Solutions’ Kelly Peterson won the Best Loan Administrator award.
BDMs were also recognised and rewarded at the awards ceremony for their unwavering support of brokers.
Macquarie Bank’s Ashleene Rennie emerged as this year’s Best Lender BDM (Bank) in recognition of her outstanding achievements and efforts, while Simon Winters at Shift (previously GetCapital) won Best Lender BDM (Non-Bank) for demonstrating points of difference in his submission as well as posting strong business results.
Loan Market BDM Patrick Moore was named Best Aggregator BDM at this year’s awards in recognition of his work supporting the group’s brokers.
This year’s Editor’s Choice award was given to Wealthfolio Financial Services director and founder Emma Cattermole.
Group awards
As well as celebrating the achievements of individuals, the Better Business Awards hailed broking groups for the tireless efforts of their teams.
It was double the celebrations for IQ Capital Group, headed by managing director – group, Rachel Doblo, which was deemed Best Branded Office for its focus on optimising efficiency to drive growth, as well as Best Customer Service (Office).
Meanwhile, Loan Market Greater Springfield won Best Community Engagement Program for raising awareness and funds across a range of important issues.
After securing an individual award, broker Jason Cuerel – who heads up Mortgage Innovations – saw his brokerage take home the trophy for Best Regional Office. Judges called out the office’s exceptional year-on-year growth, along with providing a quality approach to customer service and referral business.
Finance Industries Australia – headed by principal Fabian Restaino was awarded Best Independent Office (five brokers or less), while Sunshine Coast-based Mason Finance Group (headed by director Colin Mason) won Best New Office.
Momentum Media and The Adviser would like to congratulate all the winners!
Better Business Summit – the show goes on
After the successful summit and awards ceremony in Brisbane, the 2022 Better Business Summit and Better Business Awards will proceed to four other capital cities across Australia.
Themed “Digital Broker”, a variety of speakers will provide brokers with the tools and knowledge to harness technology to increase efficiencies and succeed in their businesses.
The Better Business Summit 2022 will be held in the following locations:
Sydney, 5 May 2022 at the Australian Turf Club, Royal Randwick Racecourse
Adelaide, 12 May 2022 at the Adelaide Convention Centre
Perth, 19 May 2022 at Crown Towers
Melbourne, 2 June 2022 at Crown Towers
Click here to buy tickets to the summit for $249 and make sure you don’t miss out!
Alternatively, attend the summit for FREE by becoming a member of The Adviser. Click here to learn more.
For more information about the 2022 Better Business Summit including speakers and agenda, click here.