Celebrating 20 Years in Bridging Finance with Damien Simonfi

On Friday 24 Jan, we sat down with CEO Damien Simonfi who celebrated 20 years of providing bridging finance solutions.

From solving complex financial challenges for his clients, to building strong partnerships and an enthusiastic team, here’s to two decades of making the impossible, possible!

Where did your career in bridging finance begin?

Ausec Finance, 2005. Queensland.

What did the bridging finance landscape look like when you first began your career?

We didn’t have computers, but everything else is exactly the same. Lending is still lending. The only thing that is probably a little bit different was everything was manual so we had to write things down with pens and paper.

Looking back on 20 years, what has been the most rewarding moment of your career?

People. I mean, it sounds cliché, but my staff, our investors, brokers and relationships – just doing life together. It means a lot to me that somebody from 10 years ago could call me and ask if I was still doing what I was doing and the answer is “absolutely, the identical thing!” – which is really great.

What was the best prank you have played on your staff?

We went paintballing once and had two teams. I decided as a joke to turn on both teams at different times!

After 20 years, what’s your secret to keeping yourself and the team motivated and excited in a faced-paced business?

It is really important to engage with everybody in the company. Whether it is our investors, or staff, or our brokers, it is important to bring everybody along for the journey and being the best at what we do in our little niche.

Can you describe your career in three words?

We find solutions!

What’s one myth about bridging finance you’d love to bust once and for all?

For a borrower, it is no more expensive to take out a first registered mortgage then it is a second registered mortgage – but all of our competitors charge more for a second registered mortgage. It should all come down to the loan to value ratio and it doesn’t increase because you’re a second mortgage – it’s always the same. As I mentioned, all of our competitors charge more for it so we just don’t.

What changes have you seen in the way brokers approach bridging finance as borrower needs have evolved?

They are definitely more savvy and faster! Technology is moving really, really quickly and everyone is just doing things really fast. I think brokers are now better at understanding the product for their clients and they package things up very nicely. It saves a lot of manual work for them.

Do you see technological advancements like AI (artificial intelligence) integration impacting the advancement of traditional lending and bridging finance?

Yes. Everything is getting faster and faster. We would be dinosaurs if we weren’t cutting edge. Our Solutions Architect, Ahron, is currently working on the integration of AI to support our business. We are right on top of it and it’s really exciting.

Looking ahead, what do you hope to see in the bridging finance industry and where do you hope to be?

I would like to think that it’s going to be exactly the same but we are just going to be even better at it. There will, of course, be even more technology available. I can’t see the company growing in size, but I think that, hopefully, with any luck we we will have the same staff. We just absolutely love our people!