Cory Bannister

La Trobe Financial has announced that it has been judged the Best SMSF Lender in the SMSF Awards. La Trobe Financial also won this award in 2019 and was highly commended in 2021.

These awards are judged by professionals in the financial sector, including financial advisers and accountants, acknowledging companies which provide exceptional service.

Cory Bannister, Chief Lending Officer at La Trobe Financial commented “we are very pleased to have won this award. More importantly, it is great for the team to be recognised for their tremendous efforts.”

“We have been offering SMSF loans since 2009, as part of our diverse and inclusive product range, one of Australia’s broadest in the sector”, Bannister said.

“According to the latest figures from the ATO released in June 2021, the number of SMSFs continue to grow – presently at 597,900, of which there are over 1.1 million members, and growing year on year. We expect to see further increases as many Australians take more control of their investments, including superannuation. We see that this is particularly the case with millennials, who over the past three years have become the largest cohort of all age groups establishing SMSFs, accounting for almost 30% of all new SMSFs established.

“We also see continued demand on SMSFs acquiring light industrial property as the e-commerce and data storage industries continue to grow, along with well-located middle and outer suburban commercial properties to support decentralisation of work spaces,” Bannister added.

At La Trobe Financial, we have purposely engineered our SMSF product, like all our products, to be user friendly, supported by a deeply experienced team standing ready to assist.

La Trobe Financial was also recently recognised as the Non-Bank Lender of the Year by Money magazine for the third consecutive year.

The post La Trobe Financial judged Best SMSF Lender appeared first on AdviserVoice.

The SMSF Awards, now in its ninth year, celebrate and acknowledge the leading providers of SMSF offerings, as assessed by financial advisers who specialise in the sector. The awards were based on a survey of 585 advisers and accountants, conducted between June and July this year. Core Data’s principal, Andrew Inwood, who oversaw the collection and analysis of the adviser feedback, identified that La Trobe Financial stood out for quality of service, product marketing, and in particular, the ability to efficiently and diligently process loans to SMSFs.

Inwood further commented during the awards that the COVID-19 pandemic had continued to put stress on the SMSF sector, but service providers like La Trobe Financial had maintained their high levels of delivery during these times.

La Trobe Financial’s Chief Lending Officer, Cory Bannister, stated “having launched our SMSF loan in 2012, and being one of the few lenders to continue offering this product consistently without interruption during this time, we have built a sizeable portfolio of what are really “super-prime” loans. We have used this experience to refine our policy and process, and are delighted to be recognised as the best provider for our SMSF Residential Loan.”

La Trobe Financial’s Deputy CEO and Chief Investment Officer Chris Andrews commented, “we are delighted to win this prestigious award as an SMSF Innovator. Our asset management business has long had a focus on consistent, low-volatility income and SMSFs have been consistently strong supporters of our offerings. This award is really a tribute to the efforts of our excellent investments team. When markets turned volatile in March and April last year, they leaned in – as they always do – and provided exceptional service to all of our investors.”

The post Advisers judge La Trobe Financial the best in SMSF appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Cory Bannister

La Trobe Financial has announced that it will partner with property valuation platform provider Valocity to streamline its commercial property valuation process.

The partnership will enable La Trobe Financial to digitise and automate its commercial lending and property valuation process, further streamlining this procedure for its business partners.

As part of an ongoing innovation program at La Trobe Financial, the team identified the need for a centralised Commercial Valuations Platform to support workflow and process efficiencies, particularly when staff are working remotely.

La Trobe Financial Chief Lending Officer Cory Bannister said, “We’re delighted to partner with Valocity to accelerate and improve the commercial property valuation experience for brokers and their clients. We’re constantly innovating to provide the best and most secure solutions with the most efficient service delivery to further enhance our award-winning commercial loan program. Valocity will help us deliver a faster, more seamless customer experience now and into the future.”

La Trobe Financial will be Valocity’s first lender in Australia to access the custom-built Commercial Property Valuation Platform. The Valocity Commercial Platform automates workflow functionality with bank grade data security protocols and enables ongoing collaborative innovation to transform the commercial valuation journey.

Valocity Founder and Global CEO Carmen Vicelich said, “We’re delighted to provide leading diversified wealth manager La Trobe Financial with a digital solution that will enable them to further streamline their operations and deliver a better seamless customer experience.”

The post La Trobe Financial partners with Valocity to streamline commercial property valuations appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Cory Bannister

La Trobe Financial has announced it will offer hardship assistance for small business customers who are financially affected by the spread of COVID-19. These small businesses could be tourism operators, growers and exporters of fresh produce or businesses reliant on imports.

The hardship assistance program at La Trobe Financial is designed to help customers experiencing financial stress in times of unprecedented economic times.

The type of hardship assistance offered may include:

• A deferral of scheduled loan repayments;
• Waiving fees and charges;
• Temporary interest only periods to assist with cashflow; an
• Debt consolidation to help make repayments more manageable.

La Trobe Financial will work with its customers on a case-by-case basis and encourages any customer experiencing financial hardship, regardless of their circumstances, to contact them.

Cory Bannister, Chief Lending Officer at La Trobe Financial, commented, “We recently announced a $1 million bushfire relief package to help people affected by the devastating bushfires across Australia. Today, we are looking out for our customers who have been impacted by the spread of COVID-19. As always, we remain committed to helping our customers through these challenging times.”

The post La Trobe Financial establishes hardship assistance program for small business customers affected by COVID-19 appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Since inking a partnership in December 2017 with Blackstone, the US$545 billion AUM New York based Alternative Asset Manager, La Trobe Financial has grown to over $9 billion AUM and sees further growth ahead. Deploying 385 staff, originating c$850 million of both residential and commercial loans each month, and operating retail investments via its award-winning $4 billion retail Credit Fund, the business is now entering a new phase.

La Trobe Financial is well on track to becoming one of Australia’s leading non-banks, with planned growth and a clear focus on broader market opportunities. Greg O’Neill CEO said…” the company, with almost seven decades in business and a proven record of performance is well positioned to serve our customers with a genuine difference, and to better this we have decided to further strengthen our executive ranks with three experienced bankers.

David Bleakley, a bank industry veteran, and most recently Chief Risk Officer North America for ANZ banking group based in New York, including 10 years with Standards & Poor’s in credit has been appointed Vice President Treasury & Settlement Services.

David is originally from New York, having commenced his career with Standard & Poor’s and worked across their Municipal Bond, Financial Institutes and Structured Finance Rating Department. Following this, he worked with the National Australia Bank as Head of Asset Backed Securities and Structured Credit Operations in Melbourne, where he built the foundations of what was to become the largest RMBS/ABS house in the Australian market.

O’Neill said “we are delighted to have David join us. His solid credit and capital markets experience will play an important role as we grow and we very much look forward to supporting him in his leadership as we expand our operations.” Bleakley said, “I’m genuinely excited by our prospects and the genuine point of difference La Trobe Financial bring to market, the opportunity set is very large indeed.”

Also joining the team is Rick Drury, another veteran banker highly recognised as a global expert in financial services industry risk. Rick has initially been appointed Senior Executive Chief Lending Officer – Commercial. Rick has developed a global and deep knowledge of credit risk and portfolio management over 30 years.

Before joining La Trobe Financial, Rick was the Managing Director of the National Bank’s UK Commercial Real Estate run-off business. Under his leadership Rick established a team of over 200 banking professionals and achieved over 80% reduction in financial risk exposure to the bank. He has also led teams during a period of disruptive global markets (post Global Financial Crisis) with the delivery of high quality outcomes (minimising losses and underpinning bank support for Australian business customers) through focusing on consensual debt workouts, turnaround and restructuring.

Confirming Rick Drury’s appointment, Chief Lending Officer, Cory Bannister said, “we are delighted to welcome someone of this calibre to our team. His strong experience in leadership makes him a valuable addition. Rick will play a major role in executing our strategic plan.” Drury stated, “this is a once in generation opportunity for non-banks to truly serve customers with distinction and excellence. Our culture is rightly focused on customers first, and our processes and credit hygiene are first rate. We are great stewards of investor capital having managed over $17 billion since inception serving over 140,000 customers so we are confident we can deliver something special for our customers and staff.”

Completing the trio of appointments is Annie Sestito, who has been appointed Senior Executive Head of People, PR and Marketing. Annie has over 20 years’ experience in Financial Services, Superannuation and Banking. Prior to joining La Trobe Financial, Annie worked at Westpac most recently as the Executive Manager – Head of Strategic Partnerships and Alliances and previously in Corporate and Private Banking for over a decade. Annie also has diverse industry experience and has held a number of positions including Head of Corporate and Wealth with ME Bank in their Treasury Department where she was instrumental in raising capital by building their intermediary wholesale funding book. Annie also has over 11 years’ experience in superannuation having held a number of roles at AXA Australia and AMP where she managed large operational teams.

Upon joining Annie stated, “at the heart of every great organisation are great people, and we are building on a company that has the right core values to succeed. This is such a wonderful place to work and I’m delighted to join such a solid group of professionals at this point of my career. We see the future through the customer lense and notwithstanding the opportunity know that our success can never be at the expense of our clients or staff. I encourage all people oriented bankers who are looking for the next challenge to reach out as we have other senior positions available”

The post La Trobe Financial bolsters executive team with 3 senior bankers appeared first on AdviserVoice.

With over 30 years’ financial services experience working both as a broker and for some of Australia’s major banks and non-bank financial institutions, Mr Simmons brings a wealth of experience and product knowledge to his new role. This marks the beginning of what some believe could be a very large expansion of La Trobe Financial’s footprint in the market, following its recent 80% acquisition by Blackstone.  Mr Simmons has unwavering focus on the highest level of client service and commitment to the mortgage broking channel and is widely respected in the industry as someone who gets things done.

La Trobe Financial’s Chief Lending Officer, Cory Bannister noted that Mark’s appointment is testimony to how we see continued growth of our national footprint. We are working from a new base in 2018, having one of Australia’s broadest product ranges and annual loan originations now running at $6 billion p.a. With majority ownership from the world’s largest alternative asset manager Blackstone, with over US$434 Billion in FUM, we are repositioning the business for more residential and commercial loan flows.

In particular, we have targeted an expanded presence in the critical Sydney market to ensure that we continue to provide the industry’s highest service levels to our mortgage broker partners. Mark will play a pivotal role in our existing distribution team of twenty.  He joins a winning team which includes Suzanne Hemsworth, recently recognised as Australia’s Best BDM at the Australian Mortgage Awards, and other expert credit SMCPs all of whom have strong credit underwriting skills which assist almost 2000 brokers weekly with on the spot enquiries. Mark will be a great cultural fit with the team.

Mr Bannister said that the market can expect more announcements shortly.

In commenting on his appointment, Mr Simmons stated “La Trobe Financial’s culture of service ‘others before self’ exceeded my expectations. I wanted to become part of and build out their customer focused experience with brokers.  I am delighted to be joining a credit team so committed to providing practical solutions to broker partners and borrowers across Australia.  I look forward to assisting brokers throughout Sydney and greater NSW with the best service in the industry.”

This appointment is the latest in a series for the La Trobe Financial Group, which is continuing to experience strong growth on the back of its broad product range and its reputation for speed of service.  With 230 staff across offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Shanghai and Hong Kong this non-bank lender is now on a major uplift and expansion path – some 35 new appointments are currently underway internally to bolster plans for expansion.

The post Blackstone owned Credit Specialist begins to expand Distribution Team appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Cory Bannister

La Trobe Financial has been awarded Australia’s Best Specialist Lender at the International Finance Awards.

Sean Thomas, Senior General Manager at International Finance Magazine (IFM), said “this Award is based not on performance excellence alone, but [also] rate of innovation – this is what specialists are meant to be doing. In this regard La Trobe Financial’s P2C® and Aged Care product innovations were standouts”.

The judges also considered corporate social responsibility, governance and other achievements that may impact global finance. La Trobe Financial’s presence in the Shanghai China Free Trade Zone (SFTZ) since 2008 was also viewed favourably by the judging panel.

La Trobe Financial’s Chief Lending Officer, Cory Bannister who received the award said “For over 60 years we have totally committed to providing the best and broadest specialist loan and investment solutions for customers. It is a privilege to help others realise their dreams of home-ownership, start-up their own business, or help their children enter the property market. We are attempting to address two of the largest concerns’ for consumers in the market today – how do my children ever buy their first home, and how can I afford to move ageing parents into an aged care facility without selling the family home.

Earlier this year, in Hong Kong, La Trobe Financial was also recognised at the International Alternative Investment Review Awards (IAIR) as Best Specialist Lender – Asia Pacific. These Awards recognise some of the world’s best operations globally. Winners were chosen from a shortlist selected by over 50,000 investors globally and then reviewed by a judging panel.

The post International Award bestowed on large Australian non-bank operator appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Cory Bannister

Credit Specialist La Trobe Financial has announced a new and innovative non-resident loan product to the market – making our product suite the broadest specialist product suite in the market from just one lender.

What makes this product innovative, is the added feature of including fully verified self-employed non-resident applicants who are often under served by the major Australian banks here. La Trobe Financial incorporates their popular “Lite-Doc” verification methodology with this new product catering for foreign nationals who continue to look to invest with ease in Australian real estate.

Australia is a top choice for foreign investors and migrants making this product initiative very timely. For example, Melbourne has been ranked as the world’s most liveable city by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) liveability survey of 140 cities.

Other Australian cities such as Adelaide, Sydney and Perth were also ranked in the top ten in the world according to the EIU. This innovative non-resident product is available for both Full Doc and Lite-Doc verification on residential and commercial investments. No additional accreditation is required for Brokers.In fact, Brokers can offer this product immediately to their clients.

Cory Bannister, La Trobe Financial’s Vice President and Head of Distribution commented that “the non-resident loan product further increases La Trobe Financial’s extensive product range, one of Australia’s broadest range of innovative specialist loan products offered by one lender.” He further commented “we provide Brokers nationally with many opportunities to write more business by expanding or diversifying their loan writing capability into areas they may not have tried before, such as self-employed “Lite-Doc” SMSF, construction, commercial and now new to the market, non-resident.

By keeping our forms and processes across all of our loan products consistent, Brokers find they can easily write all of our products with ease, increasing their revenue as a result”.

The post Credit specialist launches innovative non-resident loan product appeared first on AdviserVoice.