Following criticism of its independence and accusations of conflicts of interest, Leveraged Investor Finance, the mortgage broking arm of the Richmastery/ESC group, has been taken over by Premier Mortgage Group whose directors are mortgage industry stalwart Rob Tucker and Alan Robertson.
Tucker, who is past chairman of the New Zealand Mortgage Brokers Association, says his firm will be "refiguring" the Leveraged business to the way it should be.
"There is a place for a mortgage broking operation that does specifically look at investor finance, but it’s got to be handled properly," Tucker says.
"Our approach is that we put in the right people and we advise people whether they’re suited to property investment in the first place."
The Richmastery group will still be able to refer clients to Premier, but they will be treated exactly the same way as Premier’s existing clients.
"We want to remove the perception and do it at arms length and remove the conflicts of interest problems," Tucker says.
Premier’s principal broker is Steve Higgison who has an extensive banking background.
Good Returns understands the Richmastery group was practically forced to divest Leveraged after disapproval from the banks over its perceived conflict of interest problems.
However, Richmastery says that over the past several months, "we have been working closely in association with two of New Zealand's most experienced broking financiers, Rob Tucker and Alan Robertson, to develop processes that better meet investors' needs. From this has come the decision to formally, and completely, separate the undertakings of Leverage from the ESC family."
Among its other activities, the Richmastery group publishes a magazine for property investors. Tarawera Publishing, which also publishes Good Returns, recently launched a rival magazine, The New Zealand Property Magazine.
