Balmain funding the future with brokers

IN Partnership with

In a landmark partnership with Simplicity, Balmain’s decades of commercial property experience and nearly $4 billion in capital will be available to the wider finance broker market for the first time in 2025

BALMAIN HAS been a leading name in Australian commercial lending for decades. In fact, with eight offices in Australia and New Zealand, 120 staff and $4–5bn in commercial property loans written every year, the group is one of the market’s largest private credit providers. And yet, Balmain has distributed its products via its own loan writers and select broker relationships. That is, until now. At the beginning of 2025, Balmain announced a landmark strategic partnership with Marketplace Finance, the purpose-built online broker channel distribution platform owned and operated by the award-winning team at commercial brokerage Simplicity Loans & Advisory. The deal will see Balmain’s attractive commercial property offering made available direct to brokers through the

Simplicity Loans & Advisory is a boutique brokerage and property advisory business with offices in Sydney and Melbourne. It was established with a view to forming and maintaining client relationships built on trust by providing high-quality financial and debt advice in unison. The group has settled over $4 billion in commercial finance since its inception in late 2017. Our ultimate goal is to help our clients achieve their personal and financial goals. Simplicity will always work in the best interests of the client, ensuring the alignment of all parties to a common goal.

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Balmain by the numbers

Year Balmain was founded

1979

“There are many brokers that play in Balmain’s space, so this is great news – another powerful arrow in their quiver for capturing commercial property clients heading into 2025”

Jean-Pierre Gortan, Simplicity Loans & Advisory

Marketplace Finance platform. Marketplace Finance will provide Balmain with a dedicated distribution and service channel for broker introducers submitting deals to Balmain for their clients. Simplicity Loans & Advisory co-founder Jean-Pierre Gortan says the deal represents a significant opportunity for commercial finance brokers through the year 2025 and beyond. “Balmain offers a very competitive product,” he says. “There are a lot of brokers that play in the commercial property space that will hear this as very good news for them, because it’s essentially another arrow in the quiver for their clients heading into 2025.” Balmain Commercial head of origination Henry Holm elaborates: “Commercial broking is in Balmain’s DNA. The group has a deep understanding and respect for the broker-borrower relationship,” he says. “Balmain is excited to grow its existing engagement with the broker sector through Simplicity and Balmain Select.”

Balmain retains a strong appetite for new commercial property deals, and its products are well recognised in client circles. While it has a history of funding a wide range of deals, Balmain is best known for providing construction and development loans with competitive terms. Balmain is also an active lender in the land bank and subdivision space. “We’ve done a number of test transactions with Balmain,” Gortan says. “This was a very positive shared experience. They are well priced, well structured, can fund most loan sizes, and they are commercial in respect of sensible loan terms and covenants. Balmain also has ‘no presales’ construction products, which clients often prefer.”

Gortan says having Balmain available will lead to more financial opportunities for brokers. “Being a broker myself, over the years I’ve lost a lot of business to Balmain; their products are market leading and represent tough competition. So now, being able to distribute these products in front of our customers increases both our win rate and our closure rate … this means that deals get done, and we get paid!”

The Marketplace Finance pricing structure will see brokers offered fixed embedded commissions and ongoing trail income, marking an uplift in experience for commercial brokers. In essence, Balmain has already built broker commissions and trail into its finance facility establishment fee. “Typically, private and non-bank lenders don’t allow for any commissions to be embedded within their fee structure; this means that you then have to charge the customer, which can become a very difficult sell,” Gortan explains. “That has always been a bit of a bugbear for brokers.” The guaranteed commission structure, combined with the service on offer through the Marketplace Finance platform, promises to reshape the way brokers engage with commercial lending – providing a stronger and more economical pathway to growth for all stakeholders.

“Commercial broking is in Balmain’s DNA. The group has a deep understanding and respect for the broker-borrower relationship. Balmain is excited to grow its existing engagement with the broker sector through Simplicity and Balmain Select”

Henry Holm, Balmain Commercial

Gortan says the offering will be open to the wider broker market, including the 5,000 brokers already on its Marketplace Finance platform. Brokers will only need to have a commercial deal that fits the product’s criteria to gain access to Balmain, as long as they are registered with the platform. “Because we’re a volume business, we’ve digitised the entire process. We know that there’s likely to be a good level of enquiry, so after brokers have provided their details through our digital lodgement platform, they can effectively immediately start referring transactions to Balmain,” Gortan says. The agreement with Marketplace Finance also answers any

Gortan says he is expecting commercial brokers will experience a “bit of a purple patch” in 2025. “My view is a lot of people have kind of had their hands in their pockets for the last four years. 2024 represented a little bit of the initial kick of what’s going to be a very active 2025 and 2026.” The quality of Balmain’s products and its appetite for growth mean commercial property will only get more relevant for brokers, whether they are specialists in this market or looking to expand into it. “Balmain is confident in the outlook of fundamentals for the Australian real estate sector,” says Holm. “We’re looking to grow our exposure to quality borrowers and construction assets across the country.” Gortan is confident enough to put a figure on expected business. “We see the potential for introducing somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion through this channel, and Balmain has both the product and the capacity to make this a reality,” he says. “If a broker isn’t across what’s happening in this space, they risk getting left behind.”

Guaranteed commission income just part of the deal

Commercial property opportunity to return in 2025

Published 17 Mar 2025

Value of originations since 1979

$45bn+

Number of offices in A&NZ

Number of staff in A&NZ

120

Value of current commercial loans

$4–5bn

Source: www.balmain.com.au

Strong fundamentals for Australian real estate

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Dec 2021

Mar 2022

Jun 2022

Sep 2022

Dec 2022

Mar 2023

Jun 2023

Sep 2023

Dec 2023

Mar 2024

No. of dwelling commencements

Australian population growth %

2.3

2.43

2.54

2.45

2.31

2.1

1.78

1.28

0.55

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

A new home for construction and development deals

questions brokers may have had about channel conflict; Gortan says the new channel, called Balmain Select, comes with the assurance that Balmain will respect the relationship between the broker and their customer.

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