From Big 4 Banker to Broker: How Neo Finance Finds Solutions Banks Can’t

🎙️ From Big 4 Banker to Broker: How Neo Finance Finds Solutions Banks Can’t

In this episode, we sit down with Evan Reid - founder of Neo Finance - to explore how he went from a 14-year career in Big 4 banks 🏦 to building a brokerage that gives clients access to 60+ lenders 🔑.

Evan reveals why chasing the lowest interest rate might be holding you back and how the right loan structure, lender policy, and strategy can unlock real growth 📈.

Here’s what we cover:

• 🔄 Why Evan left the banks to create Neo Finance

• 🧩 The benefits of 60+ lending options

• 🧠 Why rate isn’t everything and why structure and policy matter more

• 🚪 Helping clients who thought property was out of reach

• 👥 The power of the right team around your portfolio

• ⚖️ Balancing business growth with personalised service

• 🧮 Short-term sacrifices vs. long-term portfolio wins

Whether you're a first-time investor or scaling your portfolio, this episode is packed with insights to shift your strategy and mindset. 💡

Chapters

• 0:00 Financial Adaptability in Business
• 3:58 Meet Evan Reid from Neo Finance
• 6:29 Breaking Free from Corporate Banking
• 9:05 Neo's Unique Service Approach
• 13:57 Growth Plans and Team Culture
• 21:34 Beyond Interest Rates: Value Over Cost
• 24:12 Balancing Growth with Service Excellence

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I think if you're open to adapting and changing your business model, you've got to be swift, you've got to be ready to move in the direction that the market's moving, because if you don't, you're going to get stuck, you're going to get lost and then your clients are going to feel it as well. So it's definitely it's a balancing act, it's walking that tightrope and not dropping anything.

Speaker 2: 0:24

Welcome back to another episode of the Tailored Property Wealth Podcast. My name is Casey Taylor and on this episode today we have Evan Reid joining us from Neo Finance. Welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:35

Thank you for having me, Casey.

Speaker 2: 0:37

No worries man, the podcast cherry too.

Speaker 1: 0:39

First one Absolutely Podcast virgin.

Speaker 2: 0:42

Yeah, cool. So I guess today we're just going to talk a little bit about who you are, what you do, how we kind of work together as well to mutually help clients essentially investing in property for what we work together with, but you do a lot of things with Neo Finance. So, yeah, it's going to be a good episode for everyone to kind of listen to and get to know you and go from there.

Speaker 2: 1:05

Yeah, it'll be good, cool. So, I guess, tell me a little bit about who Neo Finance is, who you are and, like what your background is prior to starting Neo.

Speaker 1: 1:16

Yeah, so Neo Finance Group is a mortgage brokerage and we specialize in a few different things, mainly investors and owner occupiers and things like that but, yeah, we sort of have a range of services that we offer, you know. So we can essentially help anyone that's wanting to buy their first home, their fifth home under a different structure, whether that's a company trust or self-managed super fund, yeah, and then we've also opened our separate division, which focuses on business and asset finance too.

Speaker 2: 1:48

Yeah, yeah for sure. And what's your background? What did you do prior?

Speaker 1: 1:53

Yeah, so big background in finance and lending. Yeah, I spent probably almost 13, 14 years working for the major banks. Yeah, a smaller financial institution as well. Yeah, um and yeah, so mainly in leadership and also in the lending aspect yeah, which go hand in hand for being a business owner.

Speaker 2: 2:15

Yeah, it's definitely yeah, it's definitely set myself up for success yeah I think when I've done all those leadership roles and lending roles, you you learn what is good, what's not good, how to service your clients, and you essentially become an expert in that field and I think it's good as a mortgage broker to know how some of the banks work from a service point of view, but just like the mechanics in the background and some of the frustrations and timelines and all the rest of it. I obviously have a finance background as well and just having that knowledge, even for what I do, which is obviously a little bit different to the mortgage broking, it just gives you that foundational knowledge for sure. Hey.

Speaker 1: 2:59

It definitely does. You know, seeing with all the different banks that we have in Australia you know there's over 60 and each of them have different processing times, different policies, um, different ways that they structure their loans, yeah, which is good in a way where it essentially means you can help anyone and that's a good thing about not just working directly with one lender.

Speaker 2: 3:21

You got one door that you can go through with. Yeah, like some very strict policies with this one lender. You've got one door that you can go through with some very strict policies with this one lender, whereas as soon as you're a mortgage broker, you can look at different lenders based on their individual situation and what's going to work for them.

Speaker 1: 3:35

Yeah, it's really interesting working at the bank directly and knowing the minimal products that you can offer a client and then being on the broker side now seeing how much different options there are that will suit anyone. Yeah, it's definitely been a game changer. It's meant that you know some clients that we have may have a loan with three or four different banks. Yeah, but it essentially helps them achieve their financial goals and sets themselves and their portfolio up for success.

Speaker 2: 4:06

Yeah, 100%. And I think so many people are banging on about this all the time. Everyone wants the lowest rate in the marketplace and it's like well, you're not the lowest risk to all lenders, so you can't just get the lowest rate in the marketplace. And sometimes it's going to a lender that is going to have a high rate but their borrowing capacity or their policies is going to allow you to be able to take that next step, which is very powerful, to continue going, especially if it's like building a portfolio. But sometimes it's the owner-occupied right With certain lenders. They're like no, I want the lowest rate, I can't buy.

Speaker 2: 4:38

As soon as you go to something else, maybe a higher rate different policy.

Speaker 1: 4:46

You can make it happen, yeah, and especially when you are trying to access equity, you know every different lender will value your house differently, you know. So sometimes you need to sacrifice a 0.1 or a 0.2 of a percent to gain that next property that you want to buy, and I think it's balancing. You know a low interest rate against balancing. You know a low interest rate against. Well, what will my portfolio look like in 5, 10, 15 years? It's something to not just have in your mind as the go-to thing. We'll always look for the lowest rate, but essentially, what we're doing is we're looking at in these pool of lenders, who is the best lender for you and what you're currently trying to do, yeah, and also balance that with a pretty good rate as well.

Speaker 2: 5:28

Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. I see that sometimes with like past clients, they want to. They go and get a valuation, comes in a bit short and it's like well, we can get a second valuation. You might have to additionally pay for that, yeah, and they're like nah, I don't want to pay the 500 bucks, but if you go there, get more equity and you can go again into another property.

Speaker 1: 5:47

So there's some sacrifices that you need to make, yeah, in your finances, and you need to be prepared, yeah, to spend a little bit of money in some odd occasions to get to where you need to be. But you know, some of these options that we provide they're not long-term. Yeah, exactly, if you're getting on a high rate, we're not having to keep you there for five, ten years. Yeah, you know, we can look at it as soon as three, six, 12 months to see what else is better out there for them.

Speaker 2: 6:14

It is short-term right and that's if you can get into the market. Lvrs drop and property prices are increasing and all the rest of it. Your income might change. So many different things can change and then all of a sudden you can get something more competitive.

Speaker 1: 6:26

Yeah, that's right?

Speaker 2: 6:27

Yeah for sure. Cool. What inspired you to leave, I guess, a stable job with one of the big four and go out, start a business and start Neo.

Speaker 1: 6:38

Well, other than I was sick of getting consistent income every week, yeah, and that's what stops people taking that plunge right.

Speaker 1: 6:47

It's hard, you know, especially when you have a family and you are the main income owner, then you take that leap. It's been rewarding. You know, the biggest thing right prior to leaving and starting my own business, I was managing a team of 20 lenders and you know I didn't want to go up in that corporate world anymore. You know You're still always working for someone, yeah, and it restricted you. I felt it restricted me on the service I could give, on how I could be my own person, have my own personality, yeah, and actually show that we truly care, but also offer more products, like actually be a lender that can give you a variety of options and not just one.

Speaker 2: 7:34

Yeah, not pigeonhole the client, really Correct.

Speaker 1: 7:36

Yeah, and that's when I started Neo. You know it's been for myself is we're always, we're always continuously learning, because we want to continue to be the best, and you know we genuinely are customer obsessed. Yeah, that's what we prioritize, you know.

Speaker 2: 7:56

Every interaction on and we're talking about this just off air before we started. It's like you need to stand out in the industry, and this is across any industry and just customer service in general. If you can provide a high level of customer service, but then on the back side you you have the knowledge around the different products to get stuff done like we've just been talking about, it's very powerful to stand out in the industry yeah because that service is so important it is.

Speaker 1: 8:22

It is and people can see through that, you know. If you're not genuine, yeah, people will see through it. And yeah, we did not create neo um on the back of just being, you know, product based. Yeah, we want long-term relationship focused.

Speaker 2: 8:37

Yeah, business yeah, and there's so many brokers out there that are just ordinary with their service.

Speaker 1: 8:42

Yeah, you know they don't have. I think and that's probably another part that I think every business owner in that mortgage broking space should focus on is making sure that their service is on par or sorry, exceeds anyone else in their industry. If you've got that as a goal that will go a really long way.

Speaker 2: 9:03

Yeah, for sure. And tell me a little bit about what NEO means, because I know that, as a goal, um, that will go a really long way. Yeah, for sure. And tell me a little bit about what neo means, because I know that has a meaning. So talk about that a little bit yeah, so.

Speaker 1: 9:10

So neo is my name and my two boys names put together, so our initials. So we've got noah, evan and oliver. So. But neo also means refreshed new. It means that you know we're taking a different approach on your finances. We want it to be engaging, we don't want it to be daunting. We want to be able to show you that you can build a property portfolio and get the right lending done through us, but also in a way that is going to help you grow. Yeah, you know, and that's what we have.

Speaker 1: 9:45

You know we have a lot of clients that come to us, where you know they might be in their 40s and you know they've got the perception that they're never going to buy their home.

Speaker 2: 9:54

Right, they're never going to buy a home.

Speaker 1: 9:56

They're never going to buy an investment property. Yeah, and after an initial conversation with us, you know like that myth is debunked. Yeah, you know they're buying their first home in the next two weeks. Yeah, which is what we want.

Speaker 2: 10:07

I think that's powerful, because sometimes it's just an education for people and they just don't have it, and they maybe haven't spoken to the right person about how to make that happen as well, right, yeah?

Speaker 1: 10:18

exactly, and that's the thing. You know. We still get a lot of clients that come in where they've gone to see their bank or maybe another broker that hasn't really understood what their goals are yeah, and that plays a massive impact on what they're trying to achieve, you know. So when they come and see us and the first thing we do is purely just go to understand what their goals are, yeah, and then we work backwards. You know, this is the goal, this is what we need is purely just go to understand what their goals are, yeah, and then we work backwards. You know this is the goal, this is what we need to do to get to it.

Speaker 2: 10:49

Yeah, I love that, it's super important. Yeah, and this kind of leads into the next question I'm going to ask, and we've kind of touched on it but what makes you, I guess, stand out from your competitors?

Speaker 1: 11:02

This is what we do day in. You know, we live and breathe the education piece behind how to build clients their property portfolios. We work with experts like yourself. You know in your field, I think.

Speaker 2: 11:19

I didn't pay him to say that either. He did Lots of money. 50 bucks, I'll take 20. 20 bucks is 20 bucks, exactly, exactly.

Speaker 1: 11:28

You know, collaboration, I think, is a key foundation. Yeah, um, in any business.

Speaker 1: 11:34

And when you find the right people that you work with, yeah, you're just setting yourself up for success yeah, just having that team around you is so important, because it can take you yeah, it can take you to steps far above where you thought you could exactly, but when, when your team is working together, you know you've got a good buyers, agent, broker, accountant, conveyancer, whatever it is, if we're all working together. Yeah, you've seen it, the process is seamless. Yes, it's done without even having to think about it. You know, because we've all got that same vision, yeah, and we all represent each other's business really well.

Speaker 2: 12:08

100 yeah, I say to a lot of clients it's like I can do about 90% of everything for you, working with the broker, working together cohesively with that team. There's some things you're still going to need to do, yeah, but as soon as you've got that team around you, the transaction isn't as scary and it's not as hard as you think it is.

Speaker 1: 12:28

That's right.

Speaker 2: 12:29

So it's just important.

Speaker 1: 12:30

And that's why they come to us right. Yeah, we're meant to be taking that fear away from them, the anxiety we want them to feel relaxed and we handle all that hard stuff behind the scenes.

Speaker 2: 12:40

I take all the gray hair for them.

Speaker 1: 12:42

Yeah, exactly. I mean, like you think about it, do you know how many clients we've had that things happen behind the scenes?

Speaker 2: 12:52

shit's going everywhere and you know they would not know anything. That's happened and that's the thing a lot of people don't understand just the little bits and pieces that you have to organize and maintain and make sure it's happening behind the scenes to keep everything flowing smoothly. Yeah, it's um. Yeah, it's a. It is a big process if you're trying to do it yourself and you don't have that team around you for sure.

Speaker 1: 13:09

Yeah, it just is. You know, I think a lot of people you know they're in their job, they're experts at their role. Yeah, you know, they come to us because we're the experts in what we do.

Speaker 2: 13:21

Yeah, you know, and that's what they need to feel, when they come to us and everyone thinks they can do it on the side, Like you're working 40 hours a week and I can buy a property the largest asset of my life just casually I'll look online and call an agent. It doesn't work like that. You simply can't. You can't do it the same way as having that team of professionals around you for sure.

Speaker 2: 13:42

Yeah exactly yeah. So what's your core service offerings Like? Tell me you obviously got the mortgage space, but tell me a little bit more about, I guess, the asset management, what you can help, yeah, across the board with, not just like the, the home lending, investment lending, sort of things yeah, so we've got.

Speaker 1: 14:04

We've got, obviously, that core part, and then we've got our asset finance part. Yep, so we focus on you know, business owners, self-employed clients that are looking, you know, get a vehicle under their business, consolidate some business debt, you know, release some funds for some business funding, expand their business.

Speaker 2: 14:24

And we also offer other options as well, you know, for self-managed super funds or trust lending, company lending and also commercial yeah, so there's so many different aspects yeah that you can help with right yeah and that's something and on a future episode we're going to talk about, I guess, some scenarios where we've helped clients with, like, the self-managed super fund side of things and that's just another dimension of lending and being able to expand your asset base right, absolutely people have no idea about no, no, and that's the interesting part.

Speaker 1: 14:57

You know there's there's so much different ways that you can build wealth with property. Yeah, um, so it'll be good to yeah deep dive into how we've helped others yeah, 100.

Speaker 2: 15:07

Where do you see neo in 18 months and you can't answer? On an island, somewhere drinking a pina colada or some shit.

Speaker 1: 15:14

On an island somewhere drinking pina coladas.

Speaker 2: 15:17

If you like pina coladas.

Speaker 1: 15:20

Is this why you're a buyer's agent? Because your singing's not good, yeah yeah, probably Probably.

Speaker 2: 15:26

It's not my forte, that's for sure.

Speaker 1: 15:29

You know, we've been doing this for just over 12 months now. Yeah, we've already got a team of four. Yeah, um, it's finding the right balance of, you know, growing our business, expanding, leveling up, um, but also maintaining that service. So, yeah, you know, if we can find, you know, one or two more brokers, um, and a few more support staff over the next 18 months, I think that will be putting us in the right position for growth. Yeah, but it just comes down to, you know, making sure that, you know, every so often, we're reviewing our processes, reviewing what we're doing, making sure that we've got the right level of, you know, income, growth and everything to make sure that we've got the right level of income growth and everything to make sure that we do expand.

Speaker 1: 16:15

Hopefully we're buying a next office in 18 months to have a more just, a larger office where we can really expand. But we want to expand the right way, we don't want to just do it for the sake of it.

Speaker 2: 16:31

Yeah, and that's what I'm doing at the moment as well. And yeah, I've spoke about this to a few people recently. It's like for me I don't want to be the biggest yeah I still want it to be batik. Grow the team, but do it, I guess, more organically and not just flick a switch overnight and you double and if and if expanding means dropping the level of service you provide, it's not worth it.

Speaker 1: 16:51

No 100%.

Speaker 2: 16:52

Yeah, I'd rather keep it batik and really focus on providing that service throughout the piece. Yeah, and it's crucial to bring on those people that align with the culture, absolutely. And what you're doing. We spoke about this a little bit before.

Speaker 1: 17:05

Yeah, culture is a key foundation piece to making sure that you can grow and you can expand. If everyone in your team already is achieving what we need to, then it just sets us up for growth as well.

Speaker 2: 17:21

And if you can get that culture piece right, the staff, the team right, you're naturally going to provide that service back to the client. Of course, I think yeah, to provide that level of service to your client, you have an obligation to make sure that culture is right and we've worked in industry, where it is more corporate, and there's some, you know, there's some shit that goes on and it's probably not.

Speaker 2: 17:43

It's not the right fit for the culture or it's like we've been doing this for the last 20, 30 years. This is how we do it and it's too hard to change. There's always ways to improve. Yeah, we need to continue doing that. Yeah, absolutely 100%. It's always changing, especially in what you're doing in the finance industry. There's so many different things that change all the time.

Speaker 1: 18:06

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 18:06

And it might not be like a big change, but it's just rate changes.

Speaker 1: 18:18

So you need to look at different lenders or whatever it is. Changes, policy changes, um, you know, new elections. You know that has some impacts as well, yeah, on how we lend. So, yeah, you know, it's just always, it's always important that we're on top of it yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2: 18:25

What do you like most about being a business owner?

Speaker 1: 18:30

honestly as much as being your own boss. You think that you're going to be working a lot less and you've got a lot more time.

Speaker 2: 18:36

It's a fucking myth. Let me tell you.

Speaker 1: 18:40

I don't think I've ever worked so hard, but you know every minute of work you're putting in it's benefiting yourself. It's benefiting the people that you're doing it for your family, your kids yeah, and you know that when you're creating something that you know you get a five-star Google review. Yeah, you get an email on settlement day from someone you know thanking you. Yeah, you know it's the little stuff. Yeah, you know the jobs that we do are, you know, finding people properties, but beyond that, we're helping them achieve something bigger. You know, and that's the one thing that makes me really happy to do what I do as a business owner and that's why I got into this space 100.

Speaker 2: 19:22

We want to go on a journey with them yeah, that's what one of the I guess philosophies I have is. I want a client to be able to look back in 20 years time and say I'm so glad that I work with casey Casey and he's been able to help me achieve this. He can't sing, but he can find an opportunity. I can dance, though have you seen me dance?

Speaker 2: 19:43

You definitely cannot dance or box 100% loss rate Undefeated on the bag, exactly. I think that's something important as a business owner as well, and I started the business to ultimately have some more freedom. But I think those early years and it's like fuck, I'm nearly four years deep and I'm still working a lot right now. Yeah, but it's to deliver a level of service and as time goes on, that is going to change once the team builds. But it's like you don't decide to become a business owner and in six months time you're working three hours a day. That's not how it works. You have to put in a lot of work at start and, yes, you're getting far more out of it than if you were to do the same amount of work in a salary role, but it's not just an instant.

Speaker 1: 20:30

We are those high achievers.

Speaker 2: 20:34

We want to be able to.

Speaker 1: 20:36

you know, make a difference, make an impact. And I mean there are people out there that you know are self-employed and want to have that lifestyle business. But I think we're just on a different trajectory. You know we want to achieve success, bigger, better things, year in, year out. Yeah, and you would have seen in your like being four years how much it's evolved over time.

Speaker 2: 20:55

Yeah, 100%. And yeah, building out the team's great, but it's still doing more volume than what we were doing to start, but still maintaining that level of service. And that probably leads into my next question, which is what is one of the biggest challenges as a business owner, and there's a fucking lot of them yeah, yeah, where do I start? Okay, it's my psychology is this a therapy session?

Speaker 1: 21:22

I'm giving this shit for free well, I think it's, you know, balancing balancing business growth, um, and, like what I said before, balancing the growth with keeping the service level, yeah, um there, you know there's always going to be challenges that are thrown our way. You know, we've seen over the years with covid and you know, rate hikes and cost of living and inflation and all those things. But I think if you're open to adapting and changing your business model, yeah, you've got to be swift, you, you've got to be swift.

Speaker 1: 21:54

You've got to be ready to move in the direction that the market's moving, because if you don't, you're going to get stuck, you're going to get lost, and then your clients are going to feel it as well. Yeah, you know, oh, yeah, yeah, so it's definitely, it's a balancing act, it's walking that tightrope and not dropping anything it's a balancing act, it's walking that tightrope and not dropping anything.

Speaker 2: 22:16

Yeah, yeah, and not breaking my wall yeah, sorry, wall. So I won't say who the lender was, but someone that I worked for that company. There was a period of time where they weren't keeping up with automation technology at the time and they were really behind the ball. Yeah, and although they provided really behind the ball yeah, and although they provided really competitive rates because of their, their processes and not keeping up with where things were going, it was you saw a loss of business because they were going elsewhere with other lenders where that could be kind of kept up.

Speaker 2: 22:50

Um. So yeah, I think that's you're always needing to pivot right.

Speaker 1: 22:55

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:56

And keep up.

Speaker 1: 22:57

Exactly, and I think it goes to what we said before. Right? Do you want to have a really hard time, you know, with a lender?

Speaker 2: 23:05

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 23:06

You know, and to get the best rate, that's probably going to be only a 0.05% cheaper interest rate. Yeah, that's going to restrict your lending.

Speaker 2: 23:15

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 23:15

It's not going to help with growth. Difficulty managing your funds online yeah. Or do you want to trust that we're going to give you a balance of a really good interest rate, good products, good offset accounts with it? Yeah, but also be able to grow your portfolio as well? Yeah, and everyone's different. Sometimes they just want to have that one property, which is yeah which is fine as well.

Speaker 1: 23:39

You know which is fine, but um, I think that's why you use those professionals, so you can weigh up your options for you and then you can make that informed choice yeah, 100.

Speaker 2: 23:49

I had a client recently, um, so they they wanted the lowest rate, right, keep repayments low. But because of the increased expenses and stuff, if they went out and got a little bit of a high rate but they were able to cash out like 100k, right, yeah, they've got this buffer there who gives a fuck if your rate is half a percent higher, because you've now you've cashed out, you'veised some of that equity portion for the finance piece which can absorb some of that, and now you've got some liquid cash for a worst-case scenario on a rainy day, right. So it's that knowledge piece, and just don't get always focused on the rate.

Speaker 1: 24:30

And you know you look at half a percent dollar-wise what's that going to be? $100 a month, yeah, and if you're able to access equity and buy a really good investment property, you know that $100 a month that you're saving now is that really going to trump building hundreds of thousands worth of growth in a property?

Speaker 2: 24:49

It's crazy hey.

Speaker 1: 24:50

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:51

It's like we had a client a little while ago. It's like let's push that budget just 10K higher. Yeah, didn't want to do it, but it's like if we break that down 30 years and that 10K extra, I'll give you that fucking $5 per week.

Speaker 1: 25:07

Right, that's right yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:09

So it's just those little mindset shifts as well, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 25:14

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:16

Cool man. Well, it's been awesome having you on the podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoyed it for your first podcast. Yeah, it's been good, and yeah, it's good to talk about who you are, where you're from, and just talk about business-related stuff, as well. Because it's not always sunshine and rainbows.

Speaker 1: 25:36

No, it's not.

Speaker 2: 25:37

It's hard. That's why a lot of people don't do it. But when we get to work together.

Speaker 1: 25:39

It is sunshine and rainbows Exactly All the time.

Speaker 2: 25:42

All the time Cool. Well, thanks for coming on, man.

Speaker 1: 25:45

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 25:46

And yeah.

Speaker 1: 25:47

Thanks, mate.

Speaker 2: 25:48

I.