The MFAA has crowned 18 winners at the Queensland State Excellence Awards – the first of five state and territory industry award events to kick off across the country.
Held on Thursday, June 1, at Sofitel Brisbane Central, all winners were also entered as finalists in the MFAA National Excellence Awards, which kicks off on July 27.
The awards celebrate the achievements of MFAA members and the mortgage and finance broking industry recognising excellence in areas such as customer service, professionalism, ethics, growth, and innovation.
MFAA CEO Anja Pannek said the calibre of nominations received this year highlighted the unwavering commitment of MFAA members to professionalism, innovation, and outstanding customer service.
“As the CEO of MFAA, I am immensely proud to recognise the exceptional achievements of our MFAA Excellence Awards winners and I congratulate all finalists,” Pannek said.
The winners of the Queensland awards included Kate Sadler (pictured above left), director of The Broker Society, who won both the Newcomer and Young Professional awards; Mark Davis (pictured above centre), director of The Australian Lending & Investment Centre, who was recognised with the Residential Finance Broker Award, and Melissa Wright (pictured above right), director of Zest Mortgage Solutions, who won the Customer Service Award – Individual and Finance Broker Business awards.
The Queensland awards will be followed by the MFAA state ceremonies for NSW/ACT (June 8), Western Australia (June 15), Victoria/Tasmania (June 22), and South Australia/Northern Territory (June 29).
The MFAA said the awards, which are audited by accounting group Hall Chadwick, were judged equally based on excellence and professionalism across all areas of business.
The peak industry body thanked its sponsors, including Key Media’s Australian Broker and MPA magazine, ANZ, BOQ, Commonwealth Bank, Helia, La Trobe Financial, Macquarie Bank, ME Bank, Mortgage Choice, NAB, Prospa, QBE and Teachers Mutual Bank Limited.
The 2023 MFAA Queensland State Excellence Award winners are as follows:
- Business Development Manager Award – Aggregator: Ross McDougall, AFG
- Business Development Manager Award – Lender/Support Service Provider: Sally Hillman, St.George Bank
- Commercial & Equipment Finance Broker Award: Ryan Baddock, RB Finance
- Community Champion Award: Stanford Financial
- Customer Service Award – Business: Loan Market Buderim
- Customer Service Award – Individual: Melissa Wright (pictured above), Zest Mortgage Solutions
- Diversified Business Award: IQ Finance for IQ Capital Group
- Finance Broker Business Award: Zest Mortgage Solutions
- Fintech Lender Award: ubank
- Loan Administrator Award: Courtney Hudson, Mortgage Innovations
- Major Lender Award: Macquarie Bank
- Mutual/Credit Union Lender Award: Heritage Bank
- Newcomer Award: Kate Sadler (pictured above), The Broker Society
- Non-Major Lender Award: Suncorp Bank
- Regional Finance Broker Award: Xavier Quenon, Go Mortgage
- Residential Finance Broker Award: Mark Davis (pictured above), The Australian Lending & Investment Centre
- Specialty Lender Award: Pepper Money
- Young Professional Award: Kate Sadler, The Broker Society
