Briefs: James Symond takes the reins at Aussie, National Mortgage Co and Australian First Mortgage m

More than six months after Ian Corfield quit the top job at Aussie Home Loans, the company has announced the appointment of James Symond as the new chief executive. Symond is a nephew of the company's founder and executive chairman, John Symond, and has worked at Aussie since its launch in 1992. He has been the leader of the company's sales team since 1997. Aussie has 1250 brokers and 170 stores, and lodges A$2 billion of home loans a month. It is 80 per cent owned by Commonwealth Bank. The company also announced the appointment of Quentin Boyes as chief operating officer.
National Mortgage Company, a Queensland mortgage manager, will diversify its business with the takeover of Australian First Mortgage, a home loan broking platform. The combined entity will have a loan book of more than A$4 billion, write $1 billion a year in new business and generate revenue of more than $30 million annually, AFM said in a media release. Ian Forbes, director of AFM, will retire from a business he co-founded with his daughter Tanya White.
The number of P2P lenders entering the Australian market is growing fast, with the announcement yesterday that DirectMoney has joined SocietyOne, Harmoney, ThinCats, RateSetter and Money Place. The Australian Financial Review reports that Direct Money has been active since last October and has lent A$6 million. The company's executive chairman is Stephen Porges, former chief executive of Aussie Home Loans and SAI Global.