Editor-at-large Shayne Currie spent the last two weeks on the NZ Herald-MTF Great New Zealand Road Trip, travelling the length of the country meeting extraordinary New Zealanders.
Specialist lender MTF has grown its loan book from $670 million only a few years ago to more than $1.1 billion today. Its chief executive speaks on New Zealanders’ financial literacy and resilience – and economic hope.
For MTF chief executive Chris Lamers, the secret to professional success is personal.
He and his specialist lending company – with 54 franchises around the country – are unashamedly reinforcing old-school lending principles, largely abandoned by the banks, for market competitiveness.
With a different business model, in the sense each local franchisee is responsible for determining a loan, MTF’s set-up is not dissimilar to the days when a local bank manager knew you personally.
“If you go in and see Dave in Nelson, Dave is the one who’s lending the money, and who will make the decision,” says Lamers.
“That means that you’ve got this really strong connection to the community. You want to do a good loan, because you’re probably going to see that person or their friends and family at the supermarket or the local footy club.
“It also means you’re really close to what’s happening in people’s lives. In Timaru, for example, they’re going through some terrible closures of major employers there. Our teams are working closely with those people [regarding] how they get the next job and how we support them for a period of potential unemployment. It has a massive impact on the town.”
The Smithfield freezing works in Timaru, which employs 600 people, is to close by the end of the year. Photo / Stephen Jaquiery
He describes the past 18 months for New Zealanders as “economically challenging”, with significant impacts.
“What people have gone through and continue to go through is really difficult, but I’ve been impressed by how hard and how resilient Kiwis are to difficult situations.
“Sitting down and talking to people can resolve most problems.”
MTF measures itself on a number of fronts, but two stand out from a customer perspective – its net promoter score (what customers think of them) sits at +80 on a scale which ranges anywhere between -100 and +100.
The industry average is +8, and retail banks tend to be in the negative zone, says MTF.
The other area is loan arrears. For MTF, that sits below 1%, less than half the industry average, which the company again puts down to its close connections locally.
Lamers is optimistic that New Zealand is coming through this economic cycle.
“This October, for us, was better than last October. We’re seeing more people willing to spend money. Let’s be honest, that’s what grows an economy.
“We’re seeing people with a bit more confidence and businesses, in particular, are starting to say, ‘We can see the light at the end of the tunnel’.
“I think we’ve developed a mindset of saying, ‘Survive until ‘25′ – we probably still have another six months where it’s going to be difficult. But come April, May next year, if the current signs continue, New Zealand should be pretty much on the way to recovery.”
MTF – named by the Otago Daily Times last year as Dunedin’s business of the year – has a proud heritage in the South Island, but has also rapidly expanded throughout New Zealand since its formation in 1970 as a finance lender helping car dealers and their customers.
It now has more than 70,000 customers and a lending book of more than $1.1b – up from $670m only three years ago.
Lamers, who is targeting a customer base of more than 100,000 in the short term, uses a sailing analogy to explain his company’s growth, and his own approach since joining the firm in mid-2022.
“MTF was a really well-built yacht sailing around the harbour. All I did was hoist the spinnaker and take it out to sea to see how fast this thing could go.
“So a bit of belief and a bit of excitement and an audacious challenge... it might sound simple, but goes an awful long way to creating success.”
Road trip final
He believes a simple question such as “What could we achieve?” isn’t focused on enough by some businesses.
“We’ve got amazing people in the national office, amazing people in our franchises, awesome dealers we work with. And it was just saying, ‘Let’s go’.”
While car loans make up 85% of its lending base, MTF has a diversified product offering – including personal and business loans, and mortgage advice.
It has recently rebranded itself to help highlight that broader offering.
Lamers has an interesting observation about how younger generations are financially responsible.
“I know this is not a common wisdom in some ways, but the evidence that I see, and certainly what our research shows us, is that each generation, in many ways, is getting more financially conservative.
“We hear all about this ‘must have it now’ generation. But the amount of responsibility we see from younger people [demonstrates] they are quite considered about where they spend their money and how they plan for the future.
“In terms of having a life plan, they are way, way ahead of what I was at that age, and what my friends were at that age.”
While many people might be critical of younger generations, “I think they’ve got challenges that older generations didn’t have – and a lot of nous that older generations maybe didn’t have as well.”
Disclaimer: MTF sponsored The Great New Zealand Road Trip – this interview was conducted and produced editorially independently.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.
