Brokers help drive record originations for Pepper

In a trading update this week, Pepper provided an overview of its global lending and loan servicing operations, including strong growth in Australian mortgages.

The group noted that its Australian residential loan portfolio remains “well balanced” regardless of market trends – over 72 per cent of the portfolio is owner-occupied, with an average loan-to-value ratio of 71 per cent.

Pepper’s third-party footprint has grown substantially in recent years. Brokers using Pepper have grown from 600 in 2012 to over 2,630 in 2016. One of the non-bank lender’s strategic initiatives is its continued focus on diversified distribution via brokers, direct channel and white-label partners including B2C digital marketplace platforms.

Pepper Group CEO Michael Culhane said the global executive team have spent a lot of time discussing how best to execute its strategy with an eye to current market conditions.

“With this backdrop, particularly with respect to lending, we are looking to deploy a strategy of measured growth to ensure that we are retaining the best possible borrowers which in turn leads to high quality lending portfolios,” Mr Culhane said.

“Pepper’s role as managers of your capital is to make sure we build a sustainable and high quality balance sheet which in turn generates strong and consistent returns over an extended period.”

[Related: On the Record: Mario Rehayem, Pepper Money]