Broker Networks Shrink but Productivity Surges in 2026 Market

Australia's aggregators are shedding brokers while loan books grow — here is what the industry shake-up means for borrowers choosing a home loan.

The Adviser reports that Finsure's managed loans rose 25% on the prior corresponding period to $193 billion at 30 June 2026, up from $175 billion at the end of 2025 — a result achieved despite the aggregator's broker network contracting from 4,208 to 3,866 over the same period. Owner MA Financial has attributed the reduction to a deliberate focus on "broker quality, compliance and efficiency".

Independent analysis by WealthData and Padua Wealth, using ASIC credit licence and credit representative datasets, found Finsure recorded a net loss of 152 credit representatives in the June quarter — the largest decline among Australia's 10 largest aggregator licence controllers. The data showed 82 new appointments against 234 resignations. Despite the falling headcount, revenue per broker rose 16% year on year to $13,000. Loan settlements reached $8 billion in July alone, with MA Financial noting "strong momentum" continuing into the second half of 2026.

Finsure has set a target to reach $300 billion in managed loans by the financial year 2029.

Read the full results coverage at The Adviser.

What's Behind the Broker Attrition?

The compliance history matters here. In December 2025, former banker Andrew W. Hu was arrested and alleged to be the ringleader of a criminal network known as the Penthouse Syndicate, having written loans as a broker under the licence of Hai Money — a sub-aggregator operating under Finsure. Hai Money relied on Finsure's lender panel, which included Commonwealth Bank and ANZ, for approximately 210 brokers.

An internal investigation removed 14 Hai Money brokers before Finsure terminated its contract with the sub-aggregator amid ongoing fraud investigations. Hai Money challenged the termination in the Supreme Court, which granted an interim injunction finding the termination arguably invalid. The parties later reached a resolution under which the termination stood.

Across the broader industry, the trend is not isolated to Finsure. Among the top 10 aggregators, gross resignations (959) outpaced appointments (853) for a second consecutive quarter, pulling combined headcount from 17,854 to 17,748. Astute Financial Management posted the only other significant net decline — down 65 representatives — largely due to the wind-down of its Centrepoint Alliance Lending licence. Loan Market Group retained the largest footprint at 3,763 representatives with a net gain of 27, while Connective grew to 3,402 with a net gain of 68.

What This Means If You Are Borrowing Through a Broker

For borrowers, a shrinking broker headcount at any aggregator is not automatically a bad sign. In Finsure's case, revenue per broker rising 16% while overall numbers fell suggests the remaining brokers are writing more loans and generating better outcomes per client. Aggregators that actively manage compliance and exit underperforming participants tend to produce a more reliable experience for borrowers at the other end of the transaction.

The aggregator behind your broker matters more than most borrowers realise. Aggregators determine the lender panel your broker can access — the broader that panel, the more competitive rates they can source on your behalf. They also set the compliance framework and the technology your broker uses to process your application. If you are weighing up a refinance or a new purchase, it is worth asking your broker how many lenders are on their panel and what aggregator they operate under.

MA Financial's non-bank lender MA Money reported a loan book up 127% year on year to $7.5 billion at 30 June 2026, with more than $1 billion in new settlements in the opening months of the second half. The group's fintech platform, Middle, has supported more than 165,000 consumers through the mortgage application process and was processing around $1 billion in loan applications each week as of mid-2026. These figures reflect how technology-enabled broker platforms are scaling loan volumes even as overall headcount contracts.

For first home buyers and investors selecting a broker in the current market, the practical questions to ask are: how many lenders does your broker have access to, what aggregator do they sit under, and can they explain how their compliance framework operates? In a market where the aggregator landscape is consolidating around quality, those answers carry real weight.

Before you sit down with any broker, use a borrowing power calculator to understand your realistic borrowing ceiling. Walking in with that number means you spend the conversation on strategy — not basic qualification.