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The novel challenges of the pandemic years are about to be replaced by a more familiar type of market turbulence, says Cameron Perry, director of Perry Finance and Melbourne Finance & Equity Group.
Perry Finance thrived through the storm to become one of MPA’s Top Commercial Brokers in 2022. Perry seems to be in his element and ready for whatever is over the horizon.
“The pace of change is pretty rapid at the moment, so you do have to make a bit more effort to keep up with what’s going on,” he says.
Providing the right advice in 2022 would be crucial as credit criteria rapidly evolved and lenders started to manoeuvre.
“I think a good broker can add a lot of value in a rising interest rate environment,” he says.
The last time rates were rising was nearly a decade ago. Perry says there was a lot of work done at the time around whether fixing rates was a better option. Different hedging options, some quite complicated, were also common and clients would need a steady hand to guide them through unfamiliar territory.
“We haven't had to have those conversations [recently], but I think moving forward that will become a factor again in commercial property,” he said.
“Clients will really have to think about what happens if rates go up by two or three percent and what that means for their investment, and how can they hedge against that.”
Perry Finance focuses on commercial property loans, development finance and some residential loans, but has a particular niche in commercial property lines and SMEs.
Melbourne had faced a tough year in 2020 with lengthy lockdowns, but things had gradually improved in 2021 as people got used to new ways of operating at arm’s length. Being able to move around more freely had added fuel to the fire later in the year.
“We’ve seen a lot more commercial investment, particularly from the back end of last year as we came out of lockdowns,” he said.
“There was a bit of pent-up demand when we did open up and it really became very busy.”
Cameron Perry
Director, Perry Finance
Chief Executive Officer, Melbourne Finance & Equity Group
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
Profile
Milestones
2020
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Receive an excellence award
2020
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2019
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
TeD Talk Speaker
2019
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2018
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
title of milestone
2018
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2020-2021
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Received Lexology Client Choice Award (Labour and Employment – Canada)
2020-2021
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2014-2022
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Received Best Lawyer in Canada Award (Employment and Labour Law)
2014-2022
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2014-2022
2020-2021
2018
2019
2020
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
Profile
Milestones
2022
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Smart Mortgage was recognised
as Best Performing Team
(first half of financial year 2022)
2022
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2020
–present
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Manager, broker division
at Finni Mortgages
2020–present
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2020–
present
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
MPA Top 10 Commercial Brokers, 2020
MPA Top Commercial Brokers, 2022
2020–present
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2018–2019
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Melbourne Finance & Equity Group
(MFEG) property development
brand offering created in 2018
Started trading in 2019
MPA Top 10 Commercial Brokers, 2019
2018–2019
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2004
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Launched Perry Finance commercial
and property development lending
2004
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2004
2018–2019
2020–present
2020–present
2022
Cameron Perry
Director, Perry Finance
Chief Executive Officer,
Melbourne Finance & Equity Group
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
2022
2020–present
2020–present
2018–2019
2004
2022
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Smart Mortgage was recognised as Best Performing Team (first half of financial year 2022)
2022
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2020–present
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Manager, broker division at Finni Mortgages
2020–present
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2020–present
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
MPA Top 10 Commercial Brokers, 2020
MPA Top Commercial Brokers, 2022
2020–present
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2018–2019
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Melbourne Finance & Equity Group (MFEG) property development brand offering created in 2018
Started trading in 2019
MPA Top 10 Commercial Brokers, 2019
2018–2019
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2004
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Launched Perry Finance commercial
and property development lending
2004
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Career Accolades
2020
2019
2018
2020-2021
2014-2022
2020
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Receive an excellence award
2020
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2019
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
TeD Talk Speaker
2019
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2018
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
title of milestone
2018
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2020-2021
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Received Lexology
Client Choice Award
(Labour and Employment – Canada)
2020-2021
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2014-2022
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Received Best Lawyer in
Canada Award
(Employment and Labour Law)
2014-2022
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Career Accolades
Milestones
Milestones
perryfinance.com
au.linkedin.com/in/cameron-perry-1347a329
info@perryfinance.com
03 9900 6227
Level 14/333 Collins Street Melbourne Victoria 3000
Director, Perry Finance
Chief Executive Officer,
Melbourne Finance & Equity Group
Cameron Perry
Read on
2019–present
2018–present
2020–present
2018–2019
2004
2019–present
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Commenced at The Knox School in Victoria, 2019
Mentor, 2019–2020
Senior School Lead Mentor, 2021
Interim Head of House, 2021
Head of Languages, 2022
2019–present
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2018–present
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Head of Faculty in English and Languages at St Patrick’s College Townsville
2018–present
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2020–present
Year 5 Teacher
MPA Top 10 Commercial Brokers, 2020
MPA Top Commercial Brokers, 2022
2020–present
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2018–2019
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Melbourne Finance & Equity Group (MFEG) property development
brand offering created in 2018
Started trading in 2019
MPA Top 10 Commercial Brokers, 2019
2018–2019
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2004
human resources | key media
Launched Perry Finance commercial and property development lending
2004
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Milestones
Perry funded a lot of land transactions, land acquisitions, and subdivisions. The firm could draw on a range of funding options which helped smooth things over when some lenders chose to pull back for a period as COVID hit confidence.
“We have a good range of lenders across the spectrum [and] we try and fill certain niches with at least a couple of lenders for each scenario,” he says.
Getting deals over the line had been tough in 2021 partly due to the amount to time they took to finalise. Valuations needing onsite inspections clogged workflows, while the need to physically sign documents slowed things further. Lawyers couldn’t meet face to face and tech solutions to address these issues were unfamiliar.
Worse, commercial broking was at the back of the pack when it came to adapting to this brave new world. But things were finally beginning to change.
“It’s starting to come through some of the lenders accepting digital signatures and using DocuSign and tools like that,” says Perry.
He was particularly happy with an increase in repeat business as this showed that customers valued the firm’s service.
While Perry could recognise where the market was going and felt comfortable navigating through the perils of a rising interest rate environment again, some other players may take time to adjust.
“That seems pretty apparent with the banks and a lot of the other parties that are involved in a loan,” he says.
He points to staffing issues and proper management of the timeframes it took to complete a transaction.
“It’s an ongoing challenge that hopefully will be addressed over the next year or two.”
But for him, a changing tide is not a problem.
“Whenever there’s change, it obviously brings challenges, but it always, always also brings opportunities.”