Whie label loans pop for AFG
Demand is stirring for Australian Finance Group's white label home loan, the broking group's own "Competition Index", released yesterday, shows. The AFG Home Loan range of six products accounted for 11.7 per cent of all mortgage flows handled by brokers aligned with AFG in May 2018, up from 10.9 per cent of flows in April, and around 9 per cent to 10 per cent during the second half of 2017. AFG uses Macquarie Bank, NAB's Advantedge, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Pepper and its own AFG Securities business to fund its white label loans.Th AFG Competition Index for May more broadly confirms demand drifting away from major banks and toward the 32 other smaller ADIs and non-banks for whom AFG introduces business."The major lenders' share of new business is declining, with their overall market share continuing a five-month slide to be sitting at 59 per cent at the end of last month," Mark Hewitt, general manager for broker said in a commentary."Among the majors Westpac and its subsidiaries Bank of Melbourne, Bank SA and St George have been hardest hit, with each of their brands recording a drop in market share," Hewitt said.Hewitt said the borrowers "turning to non-major lenders in greatest numbers are those seeking to fix their interest rates, with market share for the non-majors in this category steadily increasing to finish the quarter at 32.6 per cent. "The major lenders have been pulling back from the investor market to meet regulatory caps and as a result the non-majors are filling the gap in the market," he said.The non-major market share among investors rose from 33.6 per cent in February to 42.6 per cent at the end of the quarter, the index shows.