How a Finance Broker Saved This Farmer $140K They Didn't Know They Were Missing

WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.151 --> 00:00:08.878
We had this huge storm come and it ripped off our bunker tar and then it dumped 50 mil of rain straight on this grain that we just put in the bunker.
2
00:00:08.998 --> 00:00:15.803
My sort of mistake as a farmer's wife is, I don't acknowledge that that is a massive stress for my farmer.
3
00:00:16.023 --> 00:00:19.426
All I'm thinking is, oh my gosh, what's that doing to our bottom line?
4
00:00:19.706 --> 00:00:23.247
She called me off to the side and said, Matt, can you instigate a meat?
5
00:00:23.307 --> 00:00:30.689
The husband didn't love that, I don't think, and I probably copped a little bit directly myself for suggesting that and going through it.
6
00:00:30.989 --> 00:00:32.870
But we picked up about $140,000.
7
00:00:33.210 --> 00:00:34.530
What's our crane sale strategy?
8
00:00:34.570 --> 00:00:35.751
What's the mark of cattle doing?
9
00:00:35.831 --> 00:00:37.091
I've been making stronger.
10
00:00:37.411 --> 00:00:42.616
Fertiliser ordered, just blew up the last header on the field in the middle of the wheat.
11
00:00:43.016 --> 00:00:46.499
If it's 7pm on a Saturday and you're feeling that stress, just call or text.
12
00:00:46.900 --> 00:00:51.944
Going to sleep, knowing you've spoken to someone, you're just about being another person in the cog.
13
00:00:51.964 --> 00:00:57.169
Whoever it might be that is advising you, we're just a part of that chain.
14
00:00:57.509 --> 00:01:00.372
If we can add 1% of comfort to a day, we're happy.
15
00:01:06.447 --> 00:01:08.490
Welcome to Hard Ground.
16
00:01:10.013 --> 00:01:11.255
Welcome to Hard Ground.
17
00:01:19.403 --> 00:01:20.964
Is your bank really working for you?
18
00:01:21.544 --> 00:01:22.784
And how would you actually know?
19
00:01:23.664 --> 00:01:32.488
In this episode of Hard Ground, we sit down with Adam Rakowski and Matt Costello from Autos Financial to explore something that every Australian business owner should be thinking about.
20
00:01:33.148 --> 00:01:39.030
From negotiating better interest rates and navigating financial pressures to protecting the future of family businesses.
21
00:01:39.670 --> 00:01:42.933
these two men offer a different perspective on banking and finance.
22
00:01:43.554 --> 00:01:45.956
But this conversation goes well beyond dollars and cents.
23
00:01:46.457 --> 00:01:52.983
So we explore their personal stories, the importance of integrity, and why having the right people in your corner can make all the difference.
24
00:01:53.583 --> 00:01:56.146
So welcome Adam and Matt to Hard Ground.
25
00:01:56.586 --> 00:02:01.191
Adam and Matt, nice to have you both on the Hard Ground podcast.
26
00:02:02.172 --> 00:02:02.752
Thanks, Josh.
27
00:02:02.792 --> 00:02:03.253
Thanks, Steph.
28
00:02:03.273 --> 00:02:03.913
Great to be here.
29
00:02:04.053 --> 00:02:04.494
Thank you.
30
00:02:05.101 --> 00:02:11.325
So, guys, Matt, I've had a bit to do with you, mate.
31
00:02:11.445 --> 00:02:13.046
So it's good to see you again, Adam.
32
00:02:13.086 --> 00:02:14.287
First time meeting you, mate.
33
00:02:14.848 --> 00:02:24.194
This is going to be a really interesting conversation because, you know, like we were sort of saying before, the area of brokerage and finance, stuff like that can be interesting.
34
00:02:24.514 --> 00:02:27.897
can be just facts and figures and straight lines and straight talk.
35
00:02:28.338 --> 00:02:35.263
However, really what we want to try and do here inside this conversation is sort of get to know who you guys are.
36
00:02:35.423 --> 00:02:44.651
So first of all, I suppose what I'd like you both to do is just a little bit of an introduction as to who you are and what your roles are.
37
00:02:44.711 --> 00:02:48.214
So Adam, would you kick us off there, mate?
38
00:02:49.335 --> 00:02:49.816
Yeah, I'd love to.
39
00:02:49.976 --> 00:02:50.336
Thank you.
40
00:02:53.261 --> 00:02:54.242
I'm 46 years old.
41
00:02:54.262 --> 00:03:00.084
I'm a career banker, so I kind of followed a pretty common path out of uni.
42
00:03:00.444 --> 00:03:04.026
Did a commerce degree, worked at Macquarie Bank for 15 years.
43
00:03:04.066 --> 00:03:11.068
My old man worked there and like many people, I'm not sure at the time of what path to follow.
44
00:03:11.228 --> 00:03:12.789
I followed a path into Macquarie.
45
00:03:13.594 --> 00:03:14.555
Great place to work.
46
00:03:14.575 --> 00:03:17.338
So we're talking 2001 to 2016.
47
00:03:18.499 --> 00:03:22.143
Very, I guess, people-friendly organisation.
48
00:03:22.323 --> 00:03:28.529
It might sound weird for a bank, but at the time, it had a saying called freedom within boundaries.
49
00:03:28.629 --> 00:03:34.235
So it was very big on letting people learn and grow, ask questions and...
50
00:03:34.935 --> 00:03:36.036
Very non-hierarchical.
51
00:03:36.277 --> 00:03:49.252
So I guess, you know, I was there 15 years and my wife was expecting, we had our first child on the way and I, in a moment of reflection, just thought, you know, I love the human side.
52
00:03:49.272 --> 00:03:55.619
So for me, the whole part of the journey, which I love, is the client interaction and being available to people and solving their problems and being...
53
00:03:56.239 --> 00:04:00.744
an ear for them and being sort of part-time psychologist, not just a banker.
54
00:04:00.764 --> 00:04:05.268
And, you know, Macquarie, like all organisations, you were dragged away from the client.
55
00:04:05.668 --> 00:04:12.235
So, you know, left in 2016 to start Autist Financial, where we currently are, and Matt...
56
00:04:12.916 --> 00:04:15.399
you know, drives our angry finance division.
57
00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:19.625
And so, yeah, you know, we love the human side.
58
00:04:19.865 --> 00:04:25.432
It's a huge part of what we do, not just amongst the team, you know, with our clientele.
59
00:04:26.213 --> 00:04:29.378
If I got remarried tomorrow, I'd have 30 clients
60
00:04:29.758 --> 00:04:30.239
at the wedding.
61
00:04:30.479 --> 00:04:31.920
It's kind of the approach we take.
62
00:04:31.940 --> 00:04:32.620
We're very close.
63
00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:34.402
And I love that part of it.
64
00:04:34.422 --> 00:04:45.450
I'm energized even, you know, today as a 46 year old to, to, to, you know, every day to get in there and, you know, for our clients being, being the trenches, which I know Matt, Matt and I sort of share that, that ethos.
65
00:04:46.431 --> 00:04:46.631
Right.
66
00:04:46.671 --> 00:04:47.131
Amazing.
67
00:04:47.151 --> 00:04:54.297
So it's sort of in your blood a bit, Andrew, like it's, it sounds like it's like you were born into it and, and,
68
00:04:55.037 --> 00:05:08.219
Yeah, well, you know, and I'll let Matt talk, but, you know, for me, you know, I went to a good school in the big smoke, so to speak, but, you know, at the time, my parents couldn't afford it, and I was fortunate that my grandma...
69
00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:10.160
you know, put me through a school.
70
00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:31.052
And, you know, my boys go there today and, you know, I look at the amazing sort of, you know, grounding it gave me, but probably the biggest thing which we carry, again, carry through in our day-to-day interaction with everyone that we talk to is just treating everyone with respect and having basic manners and, you know, self-awareness and having empathy.
71
00:05:31.112 --> 00:05:35.175
And I know it sounds crazy to say out loud these days, but, you know, in this crazy world we live in,
72
00:05:35.996 --> 00:05:49.178
these things are seen as like positives and as they should be but for us it's just the foundation of being a human before you get to the actual doesn't matter what you do for it for a day job and our world as you mentioned is a bit um or it can be clinical
73
00:05:50.115 --> 00:05:54.640
I think our job is to, first and foremost, just listen and be there for people and solve their problems.
74
00:05:54.680 --> 00:06:01.186
I mean, you know, Autist Financial, you know, I'm not very creative, guys, but, you know, it means rebirth in Latin.
75
00:06:02.027 --> 00:06:09.635
But if I could have called it Robin Hood Finance as a bit of a joke, I would ask because that's kind of the view that we laugh about as a team.
76
00:06:09.655 --> 00:06:09.795
But...
77
00:06:10.996 --> 00:06:12.758
You know, the banks are important, no doubt.
78
00:06:12.778 --> 00:06:16.761
Without our relationships with the banks, we couldn't do things, you know, for clients.
79
00:06:16.781 --> 00:06:20.865
But at the same time, the balance, I reckon, is pretty out of kilter.
80
00:06:21.746 --> 00:06:35.558
You know, you need people advocating for the client at all times because if not, sadly, banks being, you know, big organisations do tend to take more than they give, and that's not a shot at them.
81
00:06:35.618 --> 00:06:36.859
It's just the way it works.
82
00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:37.300
So, again...
83
00:06:37.820 --> 00:06:40.962
The human side has always been for me the energising factor.
84
00:06:41.042 --> 00:06:47.827
It's why I get out of bed and, again, why Matt and I got along so well, even though we've only known each other for three or four years.
85
00:06:48.348 --> 00:06:49.428
It does make a lot of sense.
86
00:06:49.468 --> 00:07:06.901
And even though it is, like you were sort of saying, even though it does seem like it can be straight talk most of the time, it is actually quite heavily personal because really when it comes down to it, the bottom line is that our security of our businesses and the way that we operate really does depend a lot on how
87
00:07:07.781 --> 00:07:17.011
really the banks and how we're able to fund all of these sorts of operations, no matter if you're in agriculture or in any other sector or industry in the country.
88
00:07:17.091 --> 00:07:18.953
So it's extremely important.
89
00:07:19.133 --> 00:07:25.539
And it does mean getting into the lives of people because this is what we're doing.
90
00:07:25.639 --> 00:07:26.861
We're all in this rat race together.
91
00:07:27.962 --> 00:07:29.764
And, you know, talking to you, Matt, about
92
00:07:30.604 --> 00:07:43.571
when we were in Dubbo together and talking about how you're driving around the countryside, talking to these business owners or these farmers and about where they're at and what they're going through.
93
00:07:43.812 --> 00:07:53.317
And that was quite interesting as an insight as to actually, it's just another angle or another thing.
94
00:07:54.697 --> 00:08:03.886
I suppose, way into people's lives and they're ready to sort of, ready to be open and start talking about some of the things that have got going on.
95
00:08:04.446 --> 00:08:07.649
And there's a lot going on at the moment, especially in the ag industry.
96
00:08:08.069 --> 00:08:11.553
So, you know, can you sort of shed a bit more light on that, Matt?
97
00:08:12.487 --> 00:08:22.714
Yeah, Josh, and you probably got a flavour then from Adam's passion and why it was an easy decision for me to come across and work with him given how much he puts the client first.
98
00:08:22.754 --> 00:08:31.159
But no, I think, Josh, Steph, when we had a coffee together in Dubbo a couple of months ago, I think I was probably 1,200 kilometres into a week or two on the road.
99
00:08:31.219 --> 00:08:36.963
And to be honest, when you talk about being invited into people's homes and stuff,
100
00:08:38.133 --> 00:08:59.329
you know, as a, I don't like using the word just as a banker, you put a few different hats on, but it's sort of a humbling experience because very quickly people open up, not only just their financial statements to you, but more broadly their whole family dynamic, the relationships they have with their agronomist or their neighbour, the generational aspect that comes with it.
101
00:08:59.349 --> 00:09:06.475
And before you know it, you've been told a lot of information and sort of that, particularly in our world, the rural agricultural lending space,
102
00:09:08.350 --> 00:09:11.272
You are trusted upon so much information.
103
00:09:11.292 --> 00:09:19.218
And with that, at least from my perspective and Adam and our broader orders team, it's a good pressure.
104
00:09:19.358 --> 00:09:20.900
You want to execute for your clients.
105
00:09:20.920 --> 00:09:25.963
You want to do the right thing by them consistently and to ensure that they are getting the best service.
106
00:09:25.983 --> 00:09:30.927
And, you know, when Adam and I met, one of my best mates referred me to Adam just when we bought our home.
107
00:09:31.568 --> 00:09:32.849
Hadn't met Adam face-to-face.
108
00:09:32.949 --> 00:09:37.012
But I remember I was travelling late at night and I...
109
00:09:37.850 --> 00:09:42.494
As you always do, you sort of put your own personal affairs to the side until you got your own work things done.
110
00:09:42.514 --> 00:09:45.336
And Adam responded within one minute about 9.52.
111
00:09:45.376 --> 00:09:49.599
And I think I apologised to him going, sorry for the late night email or text message.
112
00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:50.660
And Adam was working away.
113
00:09:51.948 --> 00:10:03.532
That was even before we decided to end up working together that there was that, I suppose, respect going, okay, I felt bad messaging late, but he's responsive is what I would like to think that I would be known for as well.
114
00:10:03.612 --> 00:10:14.035
So, no, I'm from the central west of New South Wales, originally being in sort of ag, market intelligence, advisory work, marketing.
115
00:10:14.635 --> 00:10:17.197
I was at Rabo Bank for 10, 12 years.
116
00:10:17.778 --> 00:10:22.482
When I was there, the old man said to me one time, he goes, Matt, it'd be a shame if you're at a bank and you didn't learn anything about banking.
117
00:10:22.562 --> 00:10:24.664
So I then jumped across into banking.
118
00:10:25.565 --> 00:10:31.350
Not sure if I learned much since, but wore a few different hats, great organisation to work with, great people.
119
00:10:32.451 --> 00:10:34.673
Took me to New Zealand, across Australia,
120
00:10:36.076 --> 00:10:42.200
New South Wales, I got to time I ran into a drought in Forbes and a mice plague, which was great for the experience and the grey hairs.
121
00:10:42.700 --> 00:10:43.981
I remember that very well.
122
00:10:44.261 --> 00:10:46.782
We all remember that bloody hell.
123
00:10:46.963 --> 00:10:54.947
It was a crazy period of time for about two or three years, but, you know, I got to see firsthand, I suppose, you know, you learn a lot.
124
00:10:54.967 --> 00:10:59.470
People say the old school bankers, you learn a lot through a drought and the bad and all the difficult times and then, you know,
125
00:10:59.710 --> 00:11:03.333
You see the good, the resilience in farming families and how they come out of it the other side.
126
00:11:03.393 --> 00:11:08.197
So it's – and it's now been about two years the day that I've been with Autis.
127
00:11:08.217 --> 00:11:09.357
So that's gone really quickly.
128
00:11:10.278 --> 00:11:11.759
What are you seeing out there, Matt?
129
00:11:11.999 --> 00:11:15.462
Like what are you seeing when you're going out and about and you're looking at these?
130
00:11:15.782 --> 00:11:21.547
What's the sort of sentiment that you're getting around the health of the businesses and the state of the industry?
131
00:11:22.392 --> 00:11:23.453
Great question, Josh.
132
00:11:23.493 --> 00:11:29.060
I think, I suppose if there's one word at the moment, at least the last six to 12 months, it's volatility.
133
00:11:29.380 --> 00:11:32.904
And I think that's across all financial markets.
134
00:11:33.725 --> 00:11:38.590
It's in the residential housing market, which Adam sort of specialises in.
135
00:11:39.251 --> 00:11:42.515
It's in agriculture across countries.
136
00:11:44.127 --> 00:11:45.608
you know, almost most facets.
137
00:11:45.628 --> 00:11:48.670
You've seen commodity prices fluctuate.
138
00:11:49.411 --> 00:11:56.096
I better ask you, Josh, how much the chemical fertiliser price has moved around and how hard that's been to manage cash flow issues with clients.
139
00:11:57.937 --> 00:11:59.518
You've got seasonal challenges.
140
00:11:59.538 --> 00:12:10.766
At the start of the year, it was looking really, really, I suppose, worrying going into sowing and then we got a nice turnaround, but now we're getting a dry pinch.
141
00:12:10.786 --> 00:12:11.527
There's talk of El Nino.
142
00:12:11.547 --> 00:12:11.667
Yeah.
143
00:12:13.067 --> 00:12:16.792
You know, it's kind of a little bit of the uncertainty.
144
00:12:16.872 --> 00:12:23.760
We're probably thinking at least one, if not two, interest rate rises in the next, you know, this side of Christmas time.
145
00:12:23.920 --> 00:12:25.142
So, again, people are...
146
00:12:26.938 --> 00:12:37.464
People are just trying to, I suppose, control the controllables, which is a bit of a cliche, but I think it's important when there are so many macro themes present, you know, globally and seasonally.
147
00:12:37.484 --> 00:12:38.584
Going around the world.
148
00:12:38.785 --> 00:12:39.285
Exactly.
149
00:12:39.405 --> 00:12:41.926
So, and that's what we're trying to help clients with.
150
00:12:42.006 --> 00:12:50.091
I suppose a lot of the work I've been helping with lately has just been cash flow management, re-budgeting with clients to go, okay, what we thought was,
151
00:12:51.192 --> 00:12:54.435
particularly your cropping guys, you know, it's, we thought this would happen.
152
00:12:54.455 --> 00:13:01.521
We didn't expect prices to move where they have, or we bought a bit extra, thinking there wouldn't be the supply there.
153
00:13:02.262 --> 00:13:04.745
So it's just sort of helping clients in the short term.
154
00:13:06.225 --> 00:13:16.973
It's nice to see the livestock guys getting a really turnaround in prices for them, given there's been some, I suppose, more five-year challenges there pricing-wise.
155
00:13:16.993 --> 00:13:17.734
So they're doing well.
156
00:13:17.774 --> 00:13:29.883
But, yeah, it's just sort of trying to keep people focused on what they can control inside their farm gate or in the post-farm gate businesses we advise on, just sort of looking at what they can control, risk management strategies, et cetera, et cetera.
157
00:13:30.303 --> 00:13:31.503
I have a question for you both.
158
00:13:33.464 --> 00:13:42.547
In what you do, do you get to experience maybe the difference that that makes for farming families on the ground?
159
00:13:42.567 --> 00:13:47.069
Like do you get to see the evidence of that and maybe if you do, do you both have an example?
160
00:13:47.829 --> 00:13:50.610
Not only for families but also to like because it's the other side as well.
161
00:13:50.630 --> 00:13:51.971
Yeah, and yours too, Adam.
162
00:13:51.991 --> 00:13:53.291
The commercial aspect as well.
163
00:13:53.411 --> 00:13:58.553
I mean for both of you, yeah, real life, you know, sort of in layman's terms, like what does it actually mean?
164
00:13:58.573 --> 00:13:58.673
Yeah.
165
00:13:59.521 --> 00:14:05.564
when you talk about what you do and what the service that you provide for people, how does that actually come back and what do you see?
166
00:14:05.584 --> 00:14:07.064
Well, great question.
167
00:14:07.224 --> 00:14:14.147
I might sort of answer by first sort of giving a bit of a flavour to relate to how Matt and I, I guess,
168
00:14:16.488 --> 00:14:35.864
get along so well because it's important to the question, you know, my sort of whilst I wouldn't profess to be an agri-finance expert like Matt is, you know, my love for sort of I've got that sort of family, of course, is the thoroughbred industry.
169
00:14:35.964 --> 00:14:40.508
So I've got a fair few racehorses and I'm sort of dabbling in breeding.
170
00:14:41.688 --> 00:14:44.711
But that all came about when I was a young bloke at the bank.
171
00:14:44.731 --> 00:14:47.413
I was 24 and I was given a portfolio to manage.
172
00:14:47.433 --> 00:14:51.736
And the biggest client in that portfolio was a very large, thoroughbred family.
173
00:14:51.796 --> 00:14:58.861
It's a huge family business, you know, a corporate business that run like a small private company.
174
00:14:59.521 --> 00:15:03.484
And I was exposed to probably the first corporate that I'd ever been exposed to.
175
00:15:03.504 --> 00:15:04.265
So I was very fortunate.
176
00:15:04.305 --> 00:15:08.128
I had this picture in my head, this big hierarchical family structured family.
177
00:15:09.548 --> 00:15:10.989
no honesty, that kind of jazz.
178
00:15:11.009 --> 00:15:31.897
And it was, like, amazingly refreshing where I had the patriarch of the family at the time treat me like I was anyone else, you know, and I was driven around, you know, up near Scone and Meriwold, shown everything, treated like I was effectively the, you know, Queen Elizabeth coming here.
179
00:15:32.017 --> 00:15:33.437
It was just phenomenal.
180
00:15:33.697 --> 00:15:34.138
And I think...
181
00:15:35.307 --> 00:15:48.921
Yeah, my passion for it really comes down, and again, I mentioned my upbringing, you know, I guess coming from a pretty, you know, modest background, but having the good fortune to be exposed to what you'd call people have rather than have not.
182
00:15:48.941 --> 00:15:54.026
But it was just that grounding in just humanity, you know, whether...
183
00:15:54.686 --> 00:16:00.588
And in that industry, as you know, and agglies like this, you know, you kind of have this, it's obviously a tough industry.
184
00:16:00.608 --> 00:16:01.849
You know, you've got to be bloody resilient.
185
00:16:02.169 --> 00:16:07.511
And I've seen sort of some of the worst with a few of my clients.
186
00:16:07.551 --> 00:16:13.073
And whilst Matt mentioned residential is my focus, a lot of our clients at Autis have –
187
00:16:14.874 --> 00:16:15.654
have everything.
188
00:16:15.674 --> 00:16:22.056
They've got farms, we look at their sort of off-farm stuff, what involves buying homes in the city.
189
00:16:22.516 --> 00:16:25.137
But we are entrenched in their lives.
190
00:16:25.157 --> 00:16:27.158
So to your question around do we see it?
191
00:16:27.278 --> 00:16:32.680
We definitely do see it because we as a business are very client focused.
192
00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:37.181
We've got 40 odd staff but it's like be on the road at all times in front of the client.
193
00:16:40.302 --> 00:16:44.287
Josh's apprehension, sadly, at the moment, and people want to be heard.
194
00:16:44.787 --> 00:16:52.836
And that's really important because you can't always solve the problem, but you can definitely listen and give perspective and give comfort.
195
00:16:52.876 --> 00:16:56.299
And it sounds weird as a finance person, but that's our job.
196
00:16:56.339 --> 00:16:57.961
It's a human, it's a really human job.
197
00:16:57.981 --> 00:16:58.201
So...
198
00:16:59.042 --> 00:17:08.705
We do, in a really small way, you know, play a role there to make sure that people just stay on track and they feel like they have options.
199
00:17:08.766 --> 00:17:11.747
There's nothing worse than that feeling of desperation.
200
00:17:11.887 --> 00:17:15.208
And particularly when all the headlines, sadly, these days are obviously negative.
201
00:17:16.028 --> 00:17:19.289
So, you know, we immerse ourselves in those client experiences.
202
00:17:19.369 --> 00:17:20.909
We go and visit properties.
203
00:17:20.949 --> 00:17:23.070
We look at what they're buying.
204
00:17:23.170 --> 00:17:25.150
We go and look at the kit they're trying to buy.
205
00:17:25.170 --> 00:17:26.650
We understand why they're doing it.
206
00:17:26.710 --> 00:17:31.372
And it's – we're not – you know, COVID was tough for us because we couldn't do that.
207
00:17:32.292 --> 00:17:34.592
And we just love being out there.
208
00:17:34.612 --> 00:17:37.073
The more we're sort of on the road, actually –
209
00:17:38.214 --> 00:17:40.417
showing that we actually genuinely care about what they're trying to do.
210
00:17:40.437 --> 00:17:48.870
And it's really important because people these days don't... One of them necessarily see you face-to-face, but that's kind of our natural thing.
211
00:17:48.890 --> 00:17:49.010
So...
212
00:17:50.602 --> 00:17:56.725
There are so many examples I could give you, but we very much make a point of we'd love to meet you face-to-face.
213
00:17:56.845 --> 00:18:07.711
And that, again, sounds odd to say that as being a point of difference, but it actually is because people these days treat you as a number, which is sad because for us, like I said, it's family.
214
00:18:07.791 --> 00:18:08.311
It actually is.
215
00:18:08.331 --> 00:18:09.072
Like, you kind of...
216
00:18:10.032 --> 00:18:12.173
You know, Matt has equity in Autis.
217
00:18:12.334 --> 00:18:14.235
We have aided our team that have equity.
218
00:18:14.275 --> 00:18:15.215
That's another key piece.
219
00:18:15.275 --> 00:18:22.900
You know, you want to feel and share the clients, highs and lows, and they see that in how you act and how you talk.
220
00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:24.661
And so, yeah, look.
221
00:18:24.902 --> 00:18:37.730
Yeah, and I think that piece, Steph, is really interesting that Adam just touched on because we run a model where, I suppose, a little bit different to the average advisor broker that we are...
222
00:18:39.388 --> 00:18:40.629
salary employees.
223
00:18:40.929 --> 00:18:46.371
We aren't driven to be transactional in nature, which is massively important.
224
00:18:47.612 --> 00:19:01.878
So Steph, to give you an example, there's probably a few, but there's a couple with, in a dry condition, you've been with a bank for five years, we've had a client recently, and we pretty much advise them just to stay where you are.
225
00:19:02.178 --> 00:19:03.279
Get through the dry period.
226
00:19:03.299 --> 00:19:05.880
There's no point refinancing you now because
227
00:19:06.879 --> 00:19:13.987
The bank had been great to them and they had a bank manager who understood their business, which is what you want.
228
00:19:14.668 --> 00:19:26.381
You don't want to – and while we were adding value in other aspects, we knew for their best interest, at least for the short term, is to stay with the current lender because if things turned when you were at a new bank –
229
00:19:27.382 --> 00:19:33.025
they wouldn't have, you wouldn't have in simple terms, the runs on the board to then go in and advocate for them as heavily.
230
00:19:33.125 --> 00:19:35.747
Oh, you know, the Boroskies have been with us for 10 years.
231
00:19:35.767 --> 00:19:36.867
They've never missed a beat.
232
00:19:36.887 --> 00:19:37.988
This is their first hiccup.
233
00:19:38.088 --> 00:19:40.169
They need a bit of working capital, et cetera, et cetera.
234
00:19:40.249 --> 00:19:42.431
So that was one where we said, guys...
235
00:19:43.631 --> 00:19:45.552
And to be fair, they almost fell off the chair.
236
00:19:45.572 --> 00:19:48.693
I think they were initially thinking we'd be going, well, let's do this, do that.
237
00:19:48.893 --> 00:20:04.377
And because, and that's sort of where you see the good and the bad in our industry, where because a lot of other businesses are incentivised heavily to be transactional, it can often not put the client's best interests first, which is the complete opposite of what we're trying to do.
238
00:20:04.397 --> 00:20:06.158
Obviously, we're a business, we want to make money.
239
00:20:06.661 --> 00:20:08.762
But you've got a different motivation behind.
240
00:20:09.082 --> 00:20:10.962
And it's a long-term view, Steph, exactly that.
241
00:20:11.043 --> 00:20:15.964
Because, you know, at some point that will come around and the circumstances will change and we'll be there.
242
00:20:15.984 --> 00:20:21.186
Like, well, I've been working with a business for a couple of years, haven't been paid a dollar, which is fine.
243
00:20:21.906 --> 00:20:28.128
There will be an opportunity there to monetise that at some point, but right now it's more of an advisory role we're doing.
244
00:20:28.168 --> 00:20:29.009
We're helping...
245
00:20:30.349 --> 00:20:34.732
I won't bore the details, but we're just in there with them regularly touching base.
246
00:20:34.752 --> 00:20:38.395
And again, we know the goodwill will come from that and there'll be an opportunity off the back of it.
247
00:20:38.435 --> 00:20:48.942
So in Agri particularly, but Autis, I suppose, is an ethos of what we're trying to achieve is just to be on the client side of the table first and foremost.
248
00:20:50.364 --> 00:20:59.660
supporting them, whether that be an interest rate discussion, a property purchase, a succession play, the off-farm son or daughter who doesn't want to come back,
249
00:21:00.566 --> 00:21:03.507
Yeah, and that's why I love the ag, as you can probably tell them, the face line up.
250
00:21:03.527 --> 00:21:08.828
There are so many different angles to lending and what we do and advising, not just the lending the dollars.
251
00:21:09.408 --> 00:21:09.628
Yeah.
252
00:21:10.068 --> 00:21:12.849
So I want to get into those nuts and bolts a bit more.
253
00:21:13.089 --> 00:21:25.672
So just for those who don't know what Autos Financial is, okay, can you please just more briefly, what is a brokerage and what is Autos Financial specifically regarding that?
254
00:21:25.992 --> 00:21:33.178
So Autos Financial, as I've mentioned, we're a large finance brokerage debt advisory business.
255
00:21:33.898 --> 00:21:36.060
We're an intermediary.
256
00:21:36.280 --> 00:21:43.726
So obviously, historically, a lot of, especially in Agri, a lot of clients would go to their bank direct.
257
00:21:44.027 --> 00:21:50.212
So over hundreds of years, and often, of course, back in the day, you'd have branches in every area.
258
00:21:51.192 --> 00:21:55.577
open branches, big branches that were well staffed by people in many regional centres.
259
00:21:56.437 --> 00:21:59.440
And as many farmers know, that's been shut down.
260
00:22:00.121 --> 00:22:02.763
And probably the trend, sadly, is that that'll keep going that way.
261
00:22:03.644 --> 00:22:07.047
And, of course, it's very challenging to work that way.
262
00:22:07.067 --> 00:22:08.389
So, you know, over the last 30 or 40 years,
263
00:22:10.410 --> 00:22:15.972
more and more people, not just for residential properties, for commercial farms.
264
00:22:17.293 --> 00:22:28.317
They've gone to brokers, which are sort of an independent third party, where, of course, for us, we can go to 70 lenders in theory, depending on...
265
00:22:29.157 --> 00:22:30.078
where someone works.
266
00:22:30.478 --> 00:22:41.383
And it's quite a unique model where unlike a conveyance or someone that's providing a service, we are 99 times out of 100 paid by the bank.
267
00:22:41.704 --> 00:22:47.126
So from the client's point of view, there's no cost to engage, which is quite refreshing because
268
00:22:48.707 --> 00:22:51.268
We like to prove ourselves, I suppose.
269
00:22:51.308 --> 00:22:53.828
And again, being a human game, trust is the first thing.
270
00:22:53.868 --> 00:23:02.390
And you can't expect, in my opinion, to be putting your hand out in any way, shape or form if you're not even having that initial trust.
271
00:23:02.410 --> 00:23:09.732
So as Matt mentioned, we're quite often just having a conversation, being a sounding board.
272
00:23:10.212 --> 00:23:15.873
But there are 20,000 brokers in the country, Josh, ranging from one-person operations to
273
00:23:16.593 --> 00:23:17.934
up to firms like ours.
274
00:23:17.954 --> 00:23:23.497
So we've got 45-odd staff and growing and big regional footprint for us.
275
00:23:23.517 --> 00:23:34.283
So to give you an idea, we've got people on the ground in Albury, up on the Sunshine Coast, in Colwack, in regional Victoria, in Perth.
276
00:23:35.363 --> 00:23:38.205
So, you know, we obviously go where our clients are.
277
00:23:38.905 --> 00:23:43.828
And if we don't have people there, like I said, we just jump on the plane and jump in the car.
278
00:23:43.908 --> 00:23:46.149
You know, I've been to Mildura before.
279
00:23:46.209 --> 00:23:47.750
I didn't realise how far I was.
280
00:23:47.790 --> 00:23:51.472
But, you know, we are different because...
281
00:23:52.687 --> 00:23:57.933
95% of our peers, what they do, they have people working for themselves under a brand.
282
00:23:58.534 --> 00:24:07.565
And there's nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't align well, particularly with the agri-world, because you can't say to four or five of those people,
283
00:24:09.626 --> 00:24:11.967
you five come with me out to Gunnedah tomorrow.
284
00:24:11.987 --> 00:24:13.788
We've got a client with a big issue.
285
00:24:13.808 --> 00:24:16.609
We need to lock in for four days on farm and work it out.
286
00:24:17.189 --> 00:24:19.710
You know, they don't work for the business.
287
00:24:19.730 --> 00:24:21.211
They work for themselves under a brand.
288
00:24:21.331 --> 00:24:25.613
So for us, again, when I started, it was really big that we're going to be a business.
289
00:24:25.673 --> 00:24:29.154
Initially, it was very small, but that's because we are aligned with our client.
290
00:24:29.234 --> 00:24:34.777
We can literally pick up one, two, 10, 20 people if we have to and go to the client.
291
00:24:35.808 --> 00:24:41.831
And when you talk the language, you talk the talk, again, in finance, sadly, there's a lot of smoke and mirrors.
292
00:24:42.832 --> 00:24:50.256
Those simple things matter when you actually can align with your chat by saying, you know, the eight of us here are here for you and only for you.
293
00:24:50.276 --> 00:24:54.678
And if it takes one day or 10 days, that's the genuine approach.
294
00:24:55.399 --> 00:24:59.681
So, you know, we are unique in that we are an advisory business.
295
00:24:59.721 --> 00:25:01.142
That's why I say advisory.
296
00:25:01.302 --> 00:25:05.264
We are there first to win the trust of the clients and,
297
00:25:05.544 --> 00:25:15.936
And if it takes 1, 2, 10, 20 years to become a client, then that's perfectly okay with us because we want to have that trust and we want to have a good relationship.
298
00:25:15.956 --> 00:25:17.478
We want them to be our friends.
299
00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:19.840
That's the approach.
300
00:25:20.241 --> 00:25:22.744
And I think it's really important because you get honest feedback
301
00:25:23.544 --> 00:25:27.746
What made you want to have that ethos?
302
00:25:27.786 --> 00:25:33.488
What were you grounded in to operate in such a different way from so many others in your field?
303
00:25:34.248 --> 00:25:35.349
Good question, Stefan.
304
00:25:35.409 --> 00:25:45.732
I was asked a similar question in front of 220 Commonwealth Bank staff and as Matt can tell you, I'm very spontaneous.
305
00:25:45.832 --> 00:25:47.753
I can be given my wedding speech.
306
00:25:47.773 --> 00:25:51.575
My wife helped me write it and I indulged her and listened
307
00:25:53.381 --> 00:25:57.326
going rogue in the moment and speaking, I guess, truthfully.
308
00:25:57.366 --> 00:26:01.791
I think it probably comes from, and I know Maddie's very similar, from self-awareness.
309
00:26:01.811 --> 00:26:02.312
Like, I think.
310
00:26:02.332 --> 00:26:04.274
I was going to say, because you thought you were Polak.
311
00:26:05.015 --> 00:26:06.437
I am Polish.
312
00:26:06.497 --> 00:26:07.077
I am Polish.
313
00:26:07.097 --> 00:26:07.758
Are you really?
314
00:26:07.798 --> 00:26:09.280
Yeah, you listen to that.
315
00:26:09.300 --> 00:26:09.821
Yeah, yeah.
316
00:26:09.901 --> 00:26:10.782
No, I was.
317
00:26:10.922 --> 00:26:12.644
Yeah, I mean, you were just, Josh is starting.
318
00:26:12.664 --> 00:26:13.105
I was born in.
319
00:26:13.585 --> 00:26:14.406
I was born in Warsaw.
320
00:26:14.426 --> 00:26:15.667
I can't speak too much Polish.
321
00:26:15.767 --> 00:26:17.048
Really?
322
00:26:17.168 --> 00:26:19.409
You both finished with the ski at the end of it.
323
00:26:19.429 --> 00:26:20.090
So there you go.
324
00:26:20.110 --> 00:26:20.630
That's right.
325
00:26:20.650 --> 00:26:21.311
Yes, that's right.
326
00:26:22.091 --> 00:26:22.772
It's a giveaway.
327
00:26:22.912 --> 00:26:23.633
Skiers.
328
00:26:24.073 --> 00:26:24.893
Just self-awareness.
329
00:26:24.913 --> 00:26:32.679
Like I think I'm good at not many things, but I'm pretty good at going hard at things I love to do.
330
00:26:32.719 --> 00:26:33.300
And I think that...
331
00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:39.484
For me, it was just recognising that my skill was human skills.
332
00:26:39.825 --> 00:26:41.106
And I think... Social intelligence, I think.
333
00:26:41.186 --> 00:26:41.466
Yeah.
334
00:26:41.866 --> 00:26:46.890
And, look, I had the good fortune at Macquarie, to give Macquarie, like, a big rap.
335
00:26:47.110 --> 00:26:50.372
At the time, again, it was... Osmosis was a big thing.
336
00:26:50.433 --> 00:26:51.273
You were taken...
337
00:26:51.814 --> 00:26:54.716
Whether you were the junior on your first day and you said nothing...
338
00:26:55.256 --> 00:26:59.399
in a meeting, you were allowed to come along and you'd sit there and listen to people talk.
339
00:27:00.620 --> 00:27:02.722
It was also a very safe environment.
340
00:27:02.742 --> 00:27:12.150
Like it was very safe to question your boss, for example, and you weren't scared to do so because you weren't going to get scolded.
341
00:27:12.530 --> 00:27:15.913
And I think that was also important in the time you don't realise, but it was very safe to...
342
00:27:16.793 --> 00:27:28.977
And I reckon if the two of you walked into a room back then at Macquarie and you asked to say who's the boss and rank people in order of title, it would be very challenging to do so because there wasn't an obvious cue.
343
00:27:29.618 --> 00:27:36.760
And, Ian, it sounds crazy to say that that is how we're different, but it is a huge part of what we do.
344
00:27:36.900 --> 00:27:42.302
And we didn't make this up, but it's, you know, Craig Bellamy from The Melbourne Storm does this.
345
00:27:42.322 --> 00:27:45.083
When we want to hire someone, we first and foremost...
346
00:27:45.743 --> 00:27:49.844
ask questions of the people that they work with, you know, their neighbours.
347
00:27:49.864 --> 00:27:52.424
We go pretty rogue and we take them to the local cafe.
348
00:27:53.325 --> 00:27:56.745
Do they say thank you to the waitress or waiter?
349
00:27:56.785 --> 00:27:57.666
Do they say please?
350
00:27:57.686 --> 00:28:04.647
It might sound crazy, but we can handle people doing their best and making a mistake for a client.
351
00:28:04.727 --> 00:28:08.548
What we can't handle is the client saying, Adam, Matt,
352
00:28:10.168 --> 00:28:17.296
He or she wasn't listening to me, had no eye contact, was playing on their phone, was rude.
353
00:28:18.097 --> 00:28:20.839
Because that stuff, you can't teach human skills.
354
00:28:20.859 --> 00:28:25.124
So we really want people to trust us.
355
00:28:25.144 --> 00:28:29.228
So, again, it wasn't – it should be celebrated, Steph.
356
00:28:29.689 --> 00:28:30.650
It should just be the –
357
00:28:32.131 --> 00:28:36.073
the expected thing as a human being that you treat people.
358
00:28:36.153 --> 00:28:41.276
And this is why, again, going back to agri, it's a bit more of how it is.
359
00:28:41.316 --> 00:28:42.336
You know where you stand.
360
00:28:42.957 --> 00:28:44.037
It's honest conversations.
361
00:28:44.117 --> 00:28:44.758
It's clarity.
362
00:28:44.778 --> 00:28:50.441
There's no BS, which in my part of the equation, I obviously work with people,
363
00:28:51.392 --> 00:28:53.173
a bit more corporate stuff occasionally.
364
00:28:53.513 --> 00:28:54.053
I don't love that.
365
00:28:54.193 --> 00:29:05.296
I don't like being in a meeting with 30 lawyers and my side of the table, 30 lawyers, and people arguing over, you know, a bullet point or a semicolon, which is why I left, right?
366
00:29:05.316 --> 00:29:12.498
So that's, again, why Matt and I get along and why for us or for me, agri was an obvious choice.
367
00:29:12.538 --> 00:29:15.039
People were saying, Adam, you know nothing about it.
368
00:29:15.299 --> 00:29:15.759
Exactly.
369
00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:16.639
But I know who does.
370
00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:17.740
And, again, I...
371
00:29:18.820 --> 00:29:22.183
Through Matt, I've met Ben Larkin, who works with us.
372
00:29:22.223 --> 00:29:24.905
Again, another incredible human being up from Taree.
373
00:29:26.205 --> 00:29:27.807
But just a good bloody human.
374
00:29:27.827 --> 00:29:30.508
I've known Ben for a year and I trust my kids with Ben.
375
00:29:31.349 --> 00:29:33.010
I'm full of these weird analogies.
376
00:29:33.030 --> 00:29:36.853
Those kind of things are the way I look at things.
377
00:29:37.153 --> 00:29:42.337
If I wasn't here, could I trust my two young boys to this person?
378
00:29:43.426 --> 00:30:07.227
it's very unusual and we ask interview questions that are a bit unusual about their lives and how they see things so i like i like the um i like the the sort of just the observations of the people and sort of saying how they interact with the world around them and and sort of being able to examine that understanding as to sort of what they see is important or what they don't um the the the sort of i suppose
379
00:30:08.427 --> 00:30:15.169
what we're sort of looking at is a conversation around trust, especially when you, when we sort of look at, you know,
380
00:30:16.195 --> 00:30:18.957
farmers in particular, we're not the most trusting bunch.
381
00:30:19.898 --> 00:30:27.182
We sort of very – well, you might probably back me up on this, but we sort of – the proof has to be in the pudding.
382
00:30:27.202 --> 00:30:27.703
It takes time.
383
00:30:27.863 --> 00:30:28.103
It does.
384
00:30:28.123 --> 00:30:28.764
It takes time.
385
00:30:28.804 --> 00:30:29.184
It does.
386
00:30:29.344 --> 00:30:31.025
And it really does.
387
00:30:31.045 --> 00:30:37.389
It's sort of like we resonate with those we come to recognise as being genuine in their approach to –
388
00:30:39.511 --> 00:30:48.461
We're pragmatic and understanding, but at the same time, it's like the old style was you just went to the bank, you went to the bank manager, and you got what you got, and that was that.
389
00:30:49.142 --> 00:30:52.646
And like you said, branches were all over the place, and how...
390
00:30:53.847 --> 00:30:55.988
as some of those systems sort of failed and things like that.
391
00:30:56.028 --> 00:31:01.452
And what we've seen is that, like I said, little small branches are all closing up, becoming more and more centralized.
392
00:31:02.092 --> 00:31:11.537
And it's quite fascinating to sort of see how this conversation of brokerage is just starting up.
393
00:31:11.677 --> 00:31:19.482
In fact, I was talking to a chap who used to work, you know, who used to work for one of the tech companies over in Tamworth and I was having a conversation with him.
394
00:31:19.802 --> 00:31:20.743
he'd actually quit.
395
00:31:20.763 --> 00:31:21.403
I just phoned his number.
396
00:31:21.423 --> 00:31:23.345
I said, I'm having a problem with my unit.
397
00:31:23.605 --> 00:31:24.606
Can you give me a hand?
398
00:31:24.626 --> 00:31:26.407
He said, no, I'm actually starting up with a brokerage.
399
00:31:26.567 --> 00:31:28.269
And I was like, wow, that's really interesting.
400
00:31:28.569 --> 00:31:36.695
And then I spoke to another mate of mine, and he had had a very bad experience with a brokerage, and he was down near Grafton.
401
00:31:37.296 --> 00:31:39.778
And it was sort of like there's this, you know,
402
00:31:40.678 --> 00:31:42.339
it's being spoken more about.
403
00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:49.043
It's definitely something that's come onto my radar, and especially after having met you guys and starting to talk about it more.
404
00:31:49.083 --> 00:31:51.165
It's like, well, this is really interesting because...
405
00:31:51.205 --> 00:31:52.886
It's like we didn't even consider it as an option.
406
00:31:52.926 --> 00:31:54.267
No, we never know exactly.
407
00:31:54.287 --> 00:31:56.248
Like a lot of us don't even know that it exists.
408
00:31:56.268 --> 00:31:59.510
You just accept that it is what it is and that's what you're going to get.
409
00:31:59.530 --> 00:32:06.194
So we sort of roll with those punches and then see where it takes us, not recognising that, hey, actually...
410
00:32:06.872 --> 00:32:08.352
There's something more you can do.
411
00:32:08.392 --> 00:32:09.273
There's something more.
412
00:32:09.313 --> 00:32:11.233
How do you even navigate this?
413
00:32:11.293 --> 00:32:23.937
It's like we put on little cotton paws and make sure that we, I remember when I was a kid, when the bank manager was coming, Dad had us paint the old front shed, back shed.
414
00:32:25.578 --> 00:32:28.259
I can't say that it made it look good because it's terrifying.
415
00:32:29.080 --> 00:32:29.280
Yeah.
416
00:32:29.720 --> 00:32:44.608
No, Josh, that observation though from a brokerage and a positive is not uncommon in ag because the stats show that about 80% of the residential market loans written are by brokerage businesses, brokers, whereas in commercial agri,
417
00:32:45.268 --> 00:32:47.269
It's more like 20% to 30% max.
418
00:32:48.550 --> 00:33:08.560
And because of the model which has been so reliant upon face-to-face, long-term, 20-year relationships with your bank manager, whatever shirt they wear, there hasn't really been a market for, well, as big a market for agri-brokers or agri-advisors because they've been historically very well serviced in their local communities.
419
00:33:08.621 --> 00:33:09.741
Now, that local looks different.
420
00:33:09.761 --> 00:33:10.722
Some people might be in...
421
00:33:11.993 --> 00:33:18.059
Dubbo want to be banked out of Sydney or in, you know, northern Victoria want to be out of Melbourne.
422
00:33:18.159 --> 00:33:20.821
But generally speaking, you've got a local presence there.
423
00:33:20.861 --> 00:33:28.248
And so that's not surprising, Josh, that comment, even explaining to one of my friends who I helped with a farm loan,
424
00:33:29.189 --> 00:33:32.674
He just didn't understand the process and what my role was.
425
00:33:32.734 --> 00:33:42.706
And then coming out of it, he's like, oh, man, I wish we had done this earlier because I didn't realise that you, and I use the analogy probably not the right one, you end up being the punching bag or the buffer because you're shielding.
426
00:33:44.767 --> 00:33:45.987
Yeah, Matt, can you explain?
427
00:33:46.007 --> 00:33:52.410
Because when you were in Dubbo, you mentioned, you know, gaining points and I asked you what that meant.
428
00:33:52.870 --> 00:33:54.611
And is that the term that you used?
429
00:33:55.511 --> 00:33:58.472
Yes, yeah, yeah, in an interest rate perspective you mean?
430
00:33:58.492 --> 00:34:02.094
Yeah, yeah, but I wonder what is it that gives you guys
431
00:34:02.914 --> 00:34:10.216
a different kind of clout than what someone like that a farming family could negotiate on their own behalf.
432
00:34:10.736 --> 00:34:15.137
Where do you get that negotiating power with the banks and why will they come your way?
433
00:34:15.797 --> 00:34:17.338
Yeah, it's great.
434
00:34:17.638 --> 00:34:18.318
Shout out Steph.
435
00:34:18.418 --> 00:34:24.720
I suppose the reality is that Adam said before, you've got when you work independently, you're the advocate for the client, which means you're going to take
436
00:34:25.585 --> 00:34:38.018
their needs and their structure or their, I suppose, business requirements needs to lenders that you think would best fit the bill.
437
00:34:38.278 --> 00:34:39.019
And if you're a...
438
00:34:40.515 --> 00:34:43.418
If you've been with a similar bank, then they might have only one product.
439
00:34:43.839 --> 00:34:46.542
Or I suppose that you don't know what you don't know.
440
00:34:46.742 --> 00:34:48.243
That's probably the simplest way I can put it.
441
00:34:48.263 --> 00:34:49.305
You don't know what you don't know.
442
00:34:49.425 --> 00:34:56.833
And if, you know, Steph, you're busy helping Josh with marketing and then Josh has got his head underneath the track to trying to fix it.
443
00:34:56.853 --> 00:34:58.835
And he's also trying to work out how to sell his grain.
444
00:34:58.855 --> 00:34:59.576
And he's also...
445
00:35:00.353 --> 00:35:03.954
We spoke the other day, Josh, you're in the shed trying to clean out your grain.
446
00:35:03.974 --> 00:35:04.235
You're going.
447
00:35:04.275 --> 00:35:05.195
You know, you're doing...
448
00:35:06.115 --> 00:35:06.455
Still going.
449
00:35:06.475 --> 00:35:08.196
I do a lot of things, don't you?
450
00:35:08.316 --> 00:35:14.298
Yeah, all the different things that the couple does, the family unit does.
451
00:35:14.439 --> 00:35:15.059
I'm big on it.
452
00:35:15.119 --> 00:35:18.420
It's the family unit, the off-farm working, the teacher, whatever you're doing.
453
00:35:19.040 --> 00:35:19.601
You don't know.
454
00:35:19.681 --> 00:35:25.803
And so I think, Steph, we were talking that a client and friend of mine said, oh, Matt, I approached my lender.
455
00:35:26.003 --> 00:35:28.124
I managed to negotiate a better...
456
00:35:28.584 --> 00:35:33.170
call it a 25 basis point, 20 basis point, 0.2% interest rate saving.
457
00:35:33.991 --> 00:35:36.735
Got told that it was, you know, inverted commas, the best.
458
00:35:37.931 --> 00:35:59.936
he could get best in in in market etc etc long story short i got involved and we managed to save in like another further 85 basis points or almost a one percent additional saving and at the time he's like well matt i said well you don't know but again being experienced in whatever you might be in terms of lending you know where the market's at you know a client's
459
00:36:01.369 --> 00:36:07.792
overall risk profile and what drives the bank's decision-making, what they're prepared to go to.
460
00:36:07.812 --> 00:36:16.696
You know that, speaking to Adam or our commercial team, that X bank might have some more capital to deploy or they might be a bit more hungry.
461
00:36:16.736 --> 00:36:25.520
You might know Bank X is actually wanting to just call the brakes on lending because they might be a bit exposed to certain sectors or areas and regions.
462
00:36:25.580 --> 00:36:27.681
And so I don't...
463
00:36:27.841 --> 00:36:29.302
If Josh told me or Steph, you...
464
00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:35.982
You're actually allowed to say, it's because you can say, well, this lender over here can give me this deal.
465
00:36:36.002 --> 00:36:38.603
Do you guys want to match it or are we switching lenders?
466
00:36:38.683 --> 00:36:42.805
Is that kind of how you... Yeah, we get approached to say, can you act on our behalf?
467
00:36:43.025 --> 00:36:43.746
And that's what we do.
468
00:36:43.806 --> 00:36:47.807
So it's not just... Yeah, right.
469
00:36:47.827 --> 00:36:48.868
Yeah, that's cool.
470
00:36:48.968 --> 00:36:51.228
And it's probably not just interest rates per se.
471
00:36:51.289 --> 00:36:51.929
It's also...
472
00:36:52.649 --> 00:36:53.049
Terms.
473
00:36:53.189 --> 00:36:54.910
Terms, structure.
474
00:36:55.590 --> 00:36:57.551
X-Bank wants us to repay principal.
475
00:36:57.811 --> 00:37:00.252
Well, we don't have the cash flow to do it.
476
00:37:00.272 --> 00:37:01.633
That's going to put us under pressure.
477
00:37:01.793 --> 00:37:06.535
Or it might be something as similar as like, I'm helping a family at the moment.
478
00:37:06.655 --> 00:37:13.458
They've got effectively three generations in play and helping structure alone that...
479
00:37:13.815 --> 00:37:20.942
brings on the youngest son to get into a farm through the parents guaranteeing a loan.
480
00:37:21.562 --> 00:37:27.968
And I knew a lender that would probably be a bit more open to that because they looked at the bigger picture of the whole family unit.
481
00:37:27.988 --> 00:37:29.290
So it's not just the...
482
00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:31.761
the pricing discussion.
483
00:37:31.941 --> 00:37:38.405
And it's also then about, okay, well, I like to ask questions in the positive because, you know, we rely upon banks.
484
00:37:39.165 --> 00:37:41.106
We have great relations with the banks.
485
00:37:41.146 --> 00:37:54.154
If you've got a fantastic bank manager who understands your business, who you know is proactive in engaging with you, who's open to have discussions around repricing deals or restructuring loan, amazing, fantastic.
486
00:37:54.694 --> 00:37:55.975
But if you've had a turnover of,
487
00:37:56.735 --> 00:38:12.525
expect managers or you don't know who to call or you think they're not understanding your business or what you're looking to do, whatever the analogy or scenario might be, then it's sort of worth doing because then we just act on your behalf and we know where the market's at.
488
00:38:12.685 --> 00:38:13.305
That's the hard part.
489
00:38:13.325 --> 00:38:14.186
You don't know what you don't know.
490
00:38:14.206 --> 00:38:17.188
If Josh said to come and pull apart a header, I couldn't do it.
491
00:38:17.908 --> 00:38:21.651
So we just do what we do because we do every day and that's what we love and we're passionate about it.
492
00:38:22.011 --> 00:38:26.634
And we just take that pressure off the client to enable them to focus on their farming and running their business.
493
00:38:26.654 --> 00:38:32.618
And let's face it, nowadays, you're not running small, tiny operations.
494
00:38:32.638 --> 00:38:38.943
They're multi-million dollars, in some cases, billion-dollar balance sheets, numerous staff,
495
00:38:40.295 --> 00:38:43.041
succession, expansion, policy.
496
00:38:43.061 --> 00:38:44.003
Like there's a lot going on.
497
00:38:44.063 --> 00:38:45.366
There's a lot of moving parts.
498
00:38:45.887 --> 00:38:46.849
There's so many.
499
00:38:46.889 --> 00:38:47.090
Yeah.
500
00:38:47.310 --> 00:38:49.014
One point to add as well, which I think is important.
501
00:38:49.675 --> 00:38:50.758
You know, we've had the good fortune
502
00:38:52.115 --> 00:38:55.116
Our approach, our human approach sort of seems to have worked.
503
00:38:55.176 --> 00:38:56.316
So, yeah, we are growing.
504
00:38:57.016 --> 00:38:59.637
We are a very big business and not that that was the plan.
505
00:38:59.677 --> 00:39:00.257
This is the beauty.
506
00:39:00.277 --> 00:39:06.478
Like, you know, we never had a plan to be big because I thought big meant, you know, like a bank.
507
00:39:06.498 --> 00:39:09.179
But, you know, we're not at all that way.
508
00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:16.121
And so when, you know, when Steph, a farmer, comes to us, whether it's big or small, it doesn't matter.
509
00:39:16.201 --> 00:39:20.862
When we go on their behalf to the bank, the bank treats us like all our clients are going to them.
510
00:39:22.423 --> 00:39:26.147
Being big is actually not better.
511
00:39:26.167 --> 00:39:37.362
We're not better than anyone per se, but it is better in that if it's a half a mil overdraft and we're going to one of the big four banks, we might have a billion dollars.
512
00:39:38.003 --> 00:39:39.604
across all that clientele with that bank.
513
00:39:39.685 --> 00:39:41.666
They treat us very differently, sadly.
514
00:39:41.686 --> 00:39:42.527
They shouldn't, right?
515
00:39:42.547 --> 00:39:42.987
They shouldn't.
516
00:39:43.608 --> 00:39:44.108
But they do.
517
00:39:44.128 --> 00:39:52.655
They go, well, crikey, we've got to keep Adam and Matt happy and give them the best possible deal because it's not just PharmaX here.
518
00:39:53.055 --> 00:39:55.838
If we don't treat their client with respect,
519
00:39:57.610 --> 00:40:00.814
the other 2,000 clients they've got in that sector potentially.
520
00:40:00.874 --> 00:40:11.808
So that I think is also, you know, one of the benefits of being larger is that we can, if we need to, exert our influence that way.
521
00:40:11.828 --> 00:40:12.429
And like I said,
522
00:40:13.892 --> 00:40:15.094
The banks aren't bad, right?
523
00:40:15.374 --> 00:40:16.716
We can't do what we do without them.
524
00:40:16.776 --> 00:40:18.138
And again, back to the human bit.
525
00:40:18.178 --> 00:40:28.774
We treat the banks very well because we couldn't possibly sit in front of the two of you or a client and say we can solve this if the bank's going to hang up on our phone call.
526
00:40:29.795 --> 00:40:38.501
In fact, we probably treat the banks better than anyone, I'd argue, and I would hope that if our bankers that we deal with, they were getting married, then they'd invite us.
527
00:40:38.661 --> 00:40:44.144
And that's kind of, again, to tie back why it works, because we are good to everyone.
528
00:40:44.345 --> 00:40:47.507
And I think this idea of bank bashing, I understand it, don't get me wrong.
529
00:40:49.078 --> 00:40:50.599
But again, there are great people in banks.
530
00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:53.541
There are great people in many professions that are viewed dimly.
531
00:40:53.601 --> 00:40:56.942
And so we get to know who's the best, quite frankly.
532
00:40:57.943 --> 00:41:06.067
And when we hear someone maybe isn't the best, but the bank is the right person, in a very human way, in a respectful way, we...
533
00:41:07.368 --> 00:41:31.025
try and get our client to stay with the bank because you know farmers don't love changing but getting them a better person within the bank and that's again another example of that where the size steph does help and why we're different and we kind of replace the bank manager because that's the other thing you know a lot of the good bankers retire or they get moved along or they get removed from the client and our whole thing is that again like i mentioned before i'm 47 actually i'm
534
00:41:34.307 --> 00:41:38.871
Seven of our key people, yeah, they love equity in the business, right?
535
00:41:38.891 --> 00:41:39.792
So this is the key thing.
536
00:41:40.512 --> 00:41:50.780
Bankers change and that's the number one thing we hear, both with farmers and all our other commercial clients, is I had the best person and she left and now I've got a person who doesn't know my business.
537
00:41:51.060 --> 00:41:51.261
Yeah.
538
00:41:51.521 --> 00:41:53.422
That's the number one gripe.
539
00:41:53.682 --> 00:42:00.568
And again, sorry, Matt, you're not going anywhere, but when you have equity and skin in the game, like you would both know, you're not going to be a business.
540
00:42:01.208 --> 00:42:04.512
You have that heart is there and it's a different kind of feeling.
541
00:42:04.833 --> 00:42:14.283
And that's why we're different because, again, sadly, too many of our peers and contemporaries who run great brokerages, you know, we're very close to competitors.
542
00:42:14.303 --> 00:42:17.186
They don't share the same ethos around, I guess, sharing.
543
00:42:17.287 --> 00:42:18.768
You know, I think that's our biggest thing.
544
00:42:19.849 --> 00:42:21.631
I genuinely believe that our eight...
545
00:42:23.453 --> 00:42:26.516
best people are the best, best humans.
546
00:42:26.596 --> 00:42:27.497
I genuinely believe that.
547
00:42:27.537 --> 00:42:30.599
And I think that is where I think we are different.
548
00:42:30.619 --> 00:42:32.901
And I think that just comes down to experiencing it, right?
549
00:42:32.961 --> 00:42:33.882
We don't put it out there.
550
00:42:33.902 --> 00:42:35.463
We're not a marketing business.
551
00:42:35.523 --> 00:42:39.727
We rely on, again, on the trust and we'll prove ourselves over time.
552
00:42:39.747 --> 00:42:42.689
But that's why I think it really works.
553
00:42:42.749 --> 00:42:47.213
It's just, you know, what you preach, you actually put into practice.
554
00:42:47.273 --> 00:42:51.197
And, again, Matt and I are very different, but we're very similar.
555
00:42:52.497 --> 00:42:58.199
I think the skin in the game ethos is definitely one of the most successful styles of businesses that I've ever seen.
556
00:42:58.219 --> 00:43:07.723
When you look at really successful businesses that have people that trust and want to be a part of the game, they are a part, truly a part.
557
00:43:08.363 --> 00:43:09.283
And you're right.
558
00:43:09.443 --> 00:43:12.604
I think that puts their heart and soul into it as well.
559
00:43:14.325 --> 00:43:34.892
I had a question because it's something that I think is a pretty major scenario for a lot of fellas out here, is that a lot of our families have been with the one bank manager for all their lives for a long, long time, and trust and loyalty through the relationships.
560
00:43:35.652 --> 00:43:58.291
result in that um they might not have anything necessarily wrong but they they can see that like the pressures of farming are increasing what we're seeing we're seeing you know major pressure starting to pinch in all directions whether their policies whether it's weather whether it's internals whether it's markets whether it's you know global change etc um like what we're seeing is there's a there's a
561
00:44:00.833 --> 00:44:16.566
I think what I'd like to know is if you're one of these farmers who, or one of these operations that sort of like, okay, I know I've got my bank manager over here, but like it would be great to have another set of eyes on what it is that I'm doing.
562
00:44:16.746 --> 00:44:27.555
Is that something that you would like consider or help someone like, you know, Joe Blow farmer from down the road is thinking what, maybe I could have another second set of eyes on this.
563
00:44:27.775 --> 00:44:35.697
And how do you deal with their hesitation in that with feeling disloyal to the bank manager or the bank that they've been with for 40 years or something?
564
00:44:35.957 --> 00:44:39.359
Yeah, it's, Josh, absolutely, that's what we do.
565
00:44:39.379 --> 00:44:43.680
And then, Steph, what you've just come to the top with is exactly what we face.
566
00:44:43.720 --> 00:44:56.924
You know, there's been numerous examples where, and again, it's not a criticism, it's just a reality where we've been engaged and we've helped restructure or reprice or something and they've decided to stay with their lender, which, again...
567
00:44:58.097 --> 00:45:00.337
you know, is completely reasonable.
568
00:45:00.357 --> 00:45:08.479
There is the loyalty part that comes with what agri people live and breathe their day-to-day life.
569
00:45:08.499 --> 00:45:14.680
You know, they've kept the same agronomist business or they've kept the same John Deere brand.
570
00:45:15.240 --> 00:45:19.461
They haven't changed to Case or someone else because that's what their grandfather did.
571
00:45:19.541 --> 00:45:20.742
And so, like, that is a reality.
572
00:45:20.762 --> 00:45:22.462
It's also a great trait because that's what...
573
00:45:22.982 --> 00:45:24.744
I love dealing with farmers.
574
00:45:24.964 --> 00:45:26.205
You know where you stand with them.
575
00:45:26.505 --> 00:45:33.050
It means if you also do a good job, hopefully, they're not going to keep pricing you away or finding different other people to work with them.
576
00:45:33.090 --> 00:45:44.920
But what we tend to find, Josh, is as our own trusted referral network increases in our space, it's...
577
00:45:46.031 --> 00:45:50.354
It's just to provide, we just call it like, you know, we're not too creative, financial health check.
578
00:45:50.535 --> 00:45:54.398
It's just going, all right, Josh and Steph, where you at?
579
00:45:54.658 --> 00:45:58.521
You know, when was the last time you had someone independently look at your things?
580
00:45:58.581 --> 00:46:02.944
And, again, it's not to say that the banks are trying to not do things or mislead.
581
00:46:02.964 --> 00:46:05.746
You know, like when I was out in Forbes, I had 60-odd o'clock.
582
00:46:05.766 --> 00:46:09.830
Like you're just trying to keep up every day just with the volume coming at you.
583
00:46:09.870 --> 00:46:14.793
And the resourcing is a challenge in the banks, obviously, with costs and what I'm trying to do.
584
00:46:15.934 --> 00:46:19.315
The reality is they're not necessarily not doing anything, but they're not proactively doing things either.
585
00:46:19.355 --> 00:46:26.078
Whereas we come in and go, you know, in all honesty, we're pretty good at what we do in terms of we've seen most things.
586
00:46:26.158 --> 00:46:30.800
We can have a look and go, and this is often the answer, Josh, Steph, you guys are fantastic.
587
00:46:30.820 --> 00:46:32.361
You've just told me you're not unhappy.
588
00:46:32.601 --> 00:46:38.243
You've got a bank manager who knows you well, and you're actually on a really good rate, structure, everything.
589
00:46:39.643 --> 00:46:40.004
Stay.
590
00:46:40.204 --> 00:46:42.084
You're in a great set of hands.
591
00:46:42.204 --> 00:46:43.105
But on the flip side...
592
00:46:43.920 --> 00:46:44.740
I don't know who to call.
593
00:46:45.400 --> 00:46:47.081
I'm paying 2% over the market.
594
00:46:48.401 --> 00:46:55.763
I've had to cook scones six times the last two years because I bought the new bank manager out and I've got to show them my farm and tell them the same story again and again.
595
00:46:57.003 --> 00:47:06.366
That's when you go, all right, let's have another look at things because you go, well, and then you then find out actually, well, we are paying, we thought we were on a good rate.
596
00:47:06.466 --> 00:47:09.546
And again, going back to you don't know what you don't know, that's the reality.
597
00:47:09.566 --> 00:47:11.427
So Josh, absolutely, for any of you...
598
00:47:12.610 --> 00:47:23.739
You know, the audience, I know you guys connecting to a lot of people's homes on farm and off farm, we are more than happy and willing and wanting to just have a look.
599
00:47:23.879 --> 00:47:31.104
And if that leads somewhere, even if it's just a reassurance that you are on a good structure, that's worth just as much.
600
00:47:31.465 --> 00:47:34.187
So that part of it is really important.
601
00:47:34.207 --> 00:47:37.409
And then again, it just becomes a relationship part of getting to know us.
602
00:47:38.150 --> 00:47:41.052
You know, I've had clients for five, ten years.
603
00:47:46.875 --> 00:47:53.438
it'll just naturally kind of evolve as it takes place, just going to that character piece that we deal with, you know, loyalty.
604
00:47:53.518 --> 00:47:56.339
It usually comes down, in all honesty, if there's a trigger event.
605
00:47:57.080 --> 00:48:09.065
All right, we're buying a farm or we're selling a farm or we've now committed to first roll out of a succession place we play, which is my son wants to buy an apartment.
606
00:48:10.117 --> 00:48:18.261
or we want to buy an investment property or something, a catalyst for change, then I think it's always, all right, front of mind, you know, let's have a look at it.
607
00:48:18.581 --> 00:48:27.825
Often it comes, Josh and Steph, at a time when things are challenging or I'm running out of money or cash is tight or the bank's actually said no to me.
608
00:48:28.786 --> 00:48:32.888
My sort of advice or suggestion there would be, it's almost should be the opposite.
609
00:48:32.908 --> 00:48:37.670
When things are good, when you've got your head in the right space for it,
610
00:48:38.568 --> 00:48:42.570
to then start to go, all right, well, let's, we've just had a, we've got through harvest.
611
00:48:42.770 --> 00:48:43.370
We're in February.
612
00:48:43.390 --> 00:48:44.350
We've had a little break.
613
00:48:44.370 --> 00:48:45.351
We're going to the beach.
614
00:48:46.471 --> 00:48:49.112
Let's just have a, let's just have a bit of a refresh, stop take.
615
00:48:49.132 --> 00:48:52.774
I know it's not exactly the most exciting things to do, to look at it all.
616
00:48:52.814 --> 00:49:03.198
But again, that's where us and your advisor would be, all right, let's have a, let's just spend a day or half a day, or even for us, we do a lot of legwork to summarise things.
617
00:49:03.238 --> 00:49:07.740
So to make it as easy as possible to digest financial chat,
618
00:49:08.296 --> 00:49:14.419
Well, I think what you're referring to there, Matt, is you're creating or helping to create certainty.
619
00:49:15.119 --> 00:49:29.866
And, you know, I speak to a lot of women in ag and who are not necessarily involved in the farm, but they definitely married into a very volatile industry, maybe without even understanding.
620
00:49:30.326 --> 00:49:32.427
I know I didn't when I married into farming.
621
00:49:32.947 --> 00:49:33.688
Steady as a rock.
622
00:49:35.923 --> 00:49:54.595
But I love that you're saying that even for a health check of your finances, because one of the things I think that affects me as a farmer's wife is when I just don't know, when I just, I have no security in understanding what the outcome of the year is going to be, or are we in the best place?
623
00:49:55.095 --> 00:50:01.119
Or is it going to be a struggle for us to send our kids to boarding school or put food on the table, even if we're in a drought?
624
00:50:01.139 --> 00:50:01.619
Yeah.
625
00:50:01.899 --> 00:50:05.900
That kind of, that's actually what you're selling really.
626
00:50:06.040 --> 00:50:20.305
It's like not, and not use that word selling very broadly because I think what you do beautifully is create that trust and help your, um, families know that you're, you're really wanting the best for them in that way.
627
00:50:20.486 --> 00:50:24.147
And, and like from a wife's perspective, that's invaluable to me.
628
00:50:24.887 --> 00:50:41.042
to just know that I know that my husband is fully across and aware of where the farm is tracking, where it's heading and actually, hey, we are in the best place we can be, whether that's with you guys or with the bank or whatever, but we've had a reassurance and just a coming back and a
629
00:50:45.626 --> 00:50:46.567
It's very important.
630
00:50:46.847 --> 00:50:47.348
Clarity.
631
00:50:47.368 --> 00:50:47.708
So much.
632
00:50:47.788 --> 00:50:49.269
It stands for a lot.
633
00:50:49.289 --> 00:50:57.196
Because, yeah, you get in the whirlwind of the hodgepodge of everything else, like you were sort of marking off, like, okay, what's our grain sale strategy?
634
00:50:57.236 --> 00:50:58.917
What's the market of cattle doing?
635
00:50:58.957 --> 00:51:07.084
I'll make sure I've got fertiliser ordered and such and such just blew up the last header on the field in the middle of the wheat.
636
00:51:07.625 --> 00:51:13.169
I mean, like I remember, Josh, it's also what, as the wives in the family, we are the...
637
00:51:14.310 --> 00:51:17.553
You know, we're the sounding board for the stress that happens.
638
00:51:18.133 --> 00:51:23.578
And when, you know, when Josh will come home, I remember maybe it was last year or the year before, it all blows into one.
639
00:51:23.938 --> 00:51:28.402
But, you know, we had this huge storm come and it ripped off our bunker tarp.
640
00:51:28.822 --> 00:51:30.924
And then it dumped how many inches?
641
00:51:31.164 --> 00:51:31.765
50 mil.
642
00:51:31.805 --> 00:51:35.768
50 mil of rain straight on this grain that we just put in the bunker.
643
00:51:35.788 --> 00:51:36.469
4,000 pounds of grain.
644
00:51:37.677 --> 00:51:47.669
And like my sort of mistake as a farmer's wife is I don't acknowledge that that is a massive stress for my farmer.
645
00:51:48.050 --> 00:51:51.835
All I'm thinking is, oh, my gosh, what's that doing to our bottom line?
646
00:51:52.255 --> 00:51:54.278
Am I going to be able to do the groceries?
647
00:51:55.057 --> 00:52:05.301
It's funny how it's like, I can be so, you know, far removed from the reality of what he's just been through all of harvest, all that hard work, everything he's done.
648
00:52:05.321 --> 00:52:09.243
And then he says that, and all I'm thinking is, oh, my certainty is gone.
649
00:52:09.723 --> 00:52:11.624
My security, what's, what's going to happen?
650
00:52:11.644 --> 00:52:11.744
Yeah.
651
00:52:12.404 --> 00:52:21.067
So what you guys are doing, I love that because there's up and down all the time in farming and that's just something that's part of what we do.
652
00:52:21.887 --> 00:52:27.649
If I know that financially we're on the right track, it's like I can take a breath.
653
00:52:28.009 --> 00:52:38.132
Yeah, well, Steph, I think that's an absolutely such an accurate statement because it's such a partnership and, you know, there's probably a couple of things I'd add there.
654
00:52:39.766 --> 00:52:48.632
Agriculture, unless you've got a true mixed farming operation, but you guys cropping, it is a stressful period.
655
00:52:48.652 --> 00:52:49.993
Your cash flow is so lumpy.
656
00:52:51.114 --> 00:52:52.615
You make it in a period of time.
657
00:52:53.196 --> 00:52:54.677
You build all year up to that.
658
00:52:55.645 --> 00:53:19.628
Christmas Day and you hope that Santa turns up or Santa doesn't turn up in the form of rain or hail or whatever and that's what you're building you're trying to keep things in motion to that point in time I remember through that drought period the wife of a farmer they had never really done budgets before and they hadn't had to which was which was nice at their stage in life where they hadn't really had to do it but I could just tell that
659
00:53:20.228 --> 00:53:30.551
The stress of the husband on the wife was really, really eating away at the wife to the point where she called me off to the side and said, Matt, can you instigate a meeting?
660
00:53:30.591 --> 00:53:35.572
And that, I don't think the father, the husband didn't love that, I don't think.
661
00:53:35.612 --> 00:53:40.313
And I probably copped a little bit directly myself for suggesting that and going through it.
662
00:53:41.373 --> 00:53:47.879
But we picked up about $140,000, we don't remember that number, in things that they hadn't budgeted for.
663
00:53:47.919 --> 00:53:52.343
So what we were proposing to give them working capital to get through was actually going to run out.
664
00:53:52.683 --> 00:54:00.310
And so at that point there was a bit of an okay moment from the husband, but then I could see the wife just almost go, oh, okay.
665
00:54:01.117 --> 00:54:16.154
This is why we're doing this because all you could imagine the private conversations over a cup of coffee or over dinner was the stress that she was wearing is trying to look after the books, but not also being able to influence the direction of the business.
666
00:54:16.234 --> 00:54:16.434
So,
667
00:54:17.255 --> 00:54:38.008
That acknowledgement of the stress that the wife takes, whether that be just keeping the off-farm job ticking over to have that weekly or monthly cash flow, I've never underplayed that because that importance between either your role directly working on the farm, whether that may look like, or the off-farm role of just getting some income assurity, particularly in those challenging times, is...
668
00:54:38.728 --> 00:54:39.529
So significant.
669
00:54:40.370 --> 00:54:49.198
And it's the reason why we encourage, and again, my wife hates me for this, we encourage 24-7 communication.
670
00:54:49.839 --> 00:54:56.245
I know I've got ADHD like you wouldn't believe, and if I want an answer or if I feel a bit of angst,
671
00:54:56.895 --> 00:54:58.016
I want an answer there and then.
672
00:54:58.156 --> 00:55:14.708
And like, you know, if I could show you my phone, guys, I probably get 30, over the weekend, 30 forms of communication, I would say, via WhatsApp, text, email, where a client has had a conversation with their partner or family and work comes up as it does.
673
00:55:14.748 --> 00:55:17.531
And, you know, again, times aren't great at the moment, so it's not unusual.
674
00:55:18.151 --> 00:55:20.713
And they've got a question and it could be a positive thing.
675
00:55:20.873 --> 00:55:21.874
Oh, you know, we're thinking
676
00:55:24.580 --> 00:55:28.082
this idea that you have to wait till Monday, nine o'clock, it is crazy.
677
00:55:28.102 --> 00:55:29.963
And again, it's like anything in life.
678
00:55:30.783 --> 00:55:36.665
You know, I'm not the best at communicating with my wife, but you know, I've learned over time that you're better off getting off your chest and you know, clarity is important.
679
00:55:36.685 --> 00:55:41.708
And so for us as clients, we encourage them to, if it's 7pm on a Saturday and you're feeling that stress,
680
00:55:42.826 --> 00:55:43.967
Just call, text.
681
00:55:45.068 --> 00:55:55.896
And, you know, even if we can't solve the question there and then it requires a convo at the bank, going to sleep knowing you've spoken to someone, it's like trying to call Telstra.
682
00:55:55.936 --> 00:56:04.883
It's just the apprehension around when you've got a feeling in this world where you're juggling, to Matt's point, family, business, you know, everything.
683
00:56:05.444 --> 00:56:09.047
Sometimes being able to just connect with someone in your own time
684
00:56:09.995 --> 00:56:11.296
is so important.
685
00:56:11.316 --> 00:56:13.158
And again, it might sound weird.
686
00:56:13.178 --> 00:56:21.586
You're not going to put it in a flyer, but we strongly encourage that people reach out to us whenever they feel like it.
687
00:56:21.846 --> 00:56:27.471
And again, with farmers, we have a lot of doctors and people working at 4am.
688
00:56:27.611 --> 00:56:29.553
I get people, we have a few horse trainers.
689
00:56:29.573 --> 00:56:33.336
I get messages at 4am saying, Adam, this is what I'm thinking.
690
00:56:34.097 --> 00:56:35.819
I'm like, yeah, absolutely, I'm awake, that's fine.
691
00:56:35.839 --> 00:56:37.220
And if I'm not, I'll answer when I wake up.
692
00:56:37.281 --> 00:56:40.864
And, you know, because we love it, again, we love this side.
693
00:56:41.004 --> 00:56:41.745
This is important.
694
00:56:42.506 --> 00:56:44.628
People get across, especially in the tougher times.
695
00:56:44.668 --> 00:56:53.317
You know, being hurt is half the battle with the banks because they're just set up in a different way to what they were, again, 10, 20 years ago.
696
00:56:53.337 --> 00:56:55.920
But the problems are the same for all of us and they're getting worse.
697
00:56:57.041 --> 00:57:03.725
That's the other part of it is super important for people to know, that you should be able to speak to your person.
698
00:57:04.305 --> 00:57:07.547
That's why I say psychologist or psychiatrist is a bit of a joke, but it's true.
699
00:57:07.567 --> 00:57:16.293
You're just about being another person in the cog, like the accountant, whoever it might be that is advising you.
700
00:57:16.413 --> 00:57:18.534
We're just a part of that chain that...
701
00:57:19.214 --> 00:57:23.318
So if we can add 1% of comfort to your day, we're happy.
702
00:57:23.738 --> 00:57:24.739
Yeah, it's about caring.
703
00:57:24.799 --> 00:57:25.839
It's as simple as that.
704
00:57:26.240 --> 00:57:27.140
Yeah.
705
00:57:27.160 --> 00:57:32.665
I was just going to say, Adam, like you're training horses, why don't you just buy yourself 1,000 hectares and grow some wheat, mate?
706
00:57:32.685 --> 00:57:33.165
That'll lump.
707
00:57:33.305 --> 00:57:36.928
Give me time, Josh.
708
00:57:36.948 --> 00:57:37.549
Give me time.
709
00:57:37.629 --> 00:57:38.789
Roll those dice, mate.
710
00:57:39.916 --> 00:57:40.936
Oh, gambling, gambling.
711
00:57:40.956 --> 00:57:41.877
You get addicted.
712
00:57:42.137 --> 00:57:44.118
Love it.
713
00:57:44.498 --> 00:57:46.799
We don't know why we do it.
714
00:57:46.839 --> 00:57:48.659
Yes, so true.
715
00:57:49.179 --> 00:57:55.962
But it's sort of, I think that relates into this, the question that I'd like to ask both of you is,
716
00:57:57.104 --> 00:58:00.186
And just sort of have a bit of consideration.
717
00:58:00.246 --> 00:58:04.289
It's a question that we ask on hard ground.
718
00:58:04.589 --> 00:58:20.880
And it is like first for you, Adam, based on the type of work you've been doing and your background around, like you just said, a lot of it's got to do with psychology, care, the humanity associated with it.
719
00:58:22.861 --> 00:58:24.182
What are you grounded in
720
00:58:24.964 --> 00:58:27.125
and how do you know you can trust it?
721
00:58:27.385 --> 00:58:33.988
Yeah, again, I think I'm fortunate that a lot of it just comes from the innate, the way that I was raised.
722
00:58:34.048 --> 00:58:41.492
And again, I'm Polish as I mentioned, and I was born in Poland.
723
00:58:43.660 --> 00:58:45.201
in communist era.
724
00:58:45.601 --> 00:58:51.406
Um, and you know, my grandfather actually was the prime minister at the time.
725
00:58:51.546 --> 00:58:53.107
So my grandfather was the prime minister.
726
00:58:53.487 --> 00:58:54.368
Um, Wow.
727
00:58:54.408 --> 00:58:55.949
Communist.
728
00:58:56.029 --> 00:58:56.650
Communist.
729
00:58:56.810 --> 00:58:57.070
Yeah.
730
00:58:57.370 --> 00:58:58.431
It's good.
731
00:58:58.791 --> 00:58:59.132
That one.
732
00:58:59.392 --> 00:59:04.276
Um, thankfully it was very, it was thankfully it was very, um, you know, peaceful.
733
00:59:04.356 --> 00:59:05.497
It wasn't like in Romania.
734
00:59:05.917 --> 00:59:08.899
Um, but you know, the reason why I raised it, my parents were 21 when they had me.
735
00:59:10.360 --> 00:59:18.043
And it wasn't a great place, if you remember the history back at school, obviously the Soviet Union was sort of...
736
00:59:18.363 --> 00:59:19.304
So it was...
737
00:59:21.624 --> 00:59:32.129
The tanks were going to roll into Warsaw where I was born and my parents were 21, I can only imagine having a child at that age, let alone being... And it was like, we've got to leave because we don't know.
738
00:59:33.949 --> 00:59:45.161
As my old man says, toss the coin, head Chicago, tail Sydney, because a lot of polls are in Chicago and obviously here in Ashfield, in Sydney, where I am, a lot of polls.
739
00:59:45.201 --> 00:59:52.349
And, you know, thankfully it was tails because I don't know if you've been to Chicago in January, guys, but it's about minus 100.
740
00:59:52.369 --> 00:59:52.509
Yeah.
741
00:59:53.830 --> 01:00:01.076
But, you know, and, you know, my old man drove taxis at night, went to Sydney Uni during the day.
742
01:00:01.136 --> 01:00:04.559
My mum was a maid at the Regent Hotel, which is now the Four Seasons.
743
01:00:04.639 --> 01:00:10.003
And, you know, I was – and I guess, again, I was raised in a super normal way.
744
01:00:10.023 --> 01:00:14.106
And that was just part of who I was.
745
01:00:14.186 --> 01:00:19.731
And, like, it was just a human thing that I – you know, if nothing else, I want to be able to go to sleep at night.
746
01:00:20.411 --> 01:00:23.313
knowing that I've done things the right way.
747
01:00:24.053 --> 01:00:30.077
And in business, of course, you're taught that in corporate and at a bank that it's the other way.
748
01:00:31.037 --> 01:00:45.446
And being self-employed, I suppose, the beauty of it, which is why I left the bank, is whilst it was an amazing place to work and I've got tons of friends still there, I love the place.
749
01:00:45.466 --> 01:00:47.988
I wouldn't be talking to you two without what I learned at Macquarie.
750
01:00:48.948 --> 01:00:52.351
But it was still not human enough for me.
751
01:00:52.552 --> 01:01:03.301
And so Autos is grounded in just those human, the basic human principles, which unfortunately in business just don't exist to the level that they should.
752
01:01:04.402 --> 01:01:05.543
And that's the beauty of our business.
753
01:01:05.563 --> 01:01:08.966
We can do the best by the client every time.
754
01:01:09.787 --> 01:01:15.212
Of course, you know, one, the banks, of course, do, I believe, the same.
755
01:01:15.932 --> 01:01:20.156
But it's not the same when you've got one eye behind your back, so to speak.
756
01:01:20.316 --> 01:01:24.580
You know, we have no plan.
757
01:01:26.041 --> 01:01:27.903
There's no end game for us, you know,
758
01:01:28.643 --> 01:01:31.125
My favourite show is Breaking Bad, guys, because I didn't know.
759
01:01:31.145 --> 01:01:35.508
But when it was written, there was no actual screenplay that they followed.
760
01:01:35.528 --> 01:01:40.772
So they wrote each episode as it came to them, and there was no actual endgame.
761
01:01:40.812 --> 01:01:46.396
And I think a lot of businesses these days, certainly in our world, oh, we're going to get to 400 people, we're going to sell.
762
01:01:46.416 --> 01:01:47.777
And there's an endgame.
763
01:01:47.817 --> 01:01:52.040
And before you know it, you're kind of making decisions which don't suit...
764
01:01:53.379 --> 01:02:01.704
the clientele, because there's an end game, it's a bit like politics, we won't go there, but like we have no finite term to solve any problem other than the client's problem today.
765
01:02:02.525 --> 01:02:09.009
And so in very basic terms, all our people are doing the best for the clients now and for the next 20 years.
766
01:02:09.869 --> 01:02:14.312
If we have a crazy idea, it's good for everyone for 20 years from now, we're doing it.
767
01:02:14.472 --> 01:02:19.015
We're not trying to, there's no imperative on us to hit a target tomorrow or the next month.
768
01:02:19.115 --> 01:02:19.475
And that's...
769
01:02:19.975 --> 01:02:20.675
just how we are.
770
01:02:20.695 --> 01:02:25.897
And if that means that my accountant says you're leaving money on the table, then bloody well, so be it.
771
01:02:26.498 --> 01:02:28.478
So that's kind of it.
772
01:02:28.659 --> 01:02:29.739
It's really the human side.
773
01:02:30.059 --> 01:02:30.979
Everything else follows.
774
01:02:31.000 --> 01:02:34.681
It doesn't matter if it's agri or resi or commercial.
775
01:02:34.921 --> 01:02:36.162
We do everything, quite frankly.
776
01:02:36.582 --> 01:02:37.122
It doesn't matter.
777
01:02:37.162 --> 01:02:39.083
It's the same principle that I think...
778
01:02:40.023 --> 01:02:41.904
you know, where we hope we stand out.
779
01:02:41.924 --> 01:02:49.768
And again, why Matt and I get along so well, despite the fact, you know, I didn't know him three years ago and hopefully you couldn't tell.
780
01:02:49.808 --> 01:02:52.449
But we just share that simple principle.
781
01:02:52.469 --> 01:02:53.330
You probably agree.
782
01:02:53.690 --> 01:03:01.894
Well, I've very, very much enjoyed talking to you both today and found the conversation really compelling.
783
01:03:01.914 --> 01:03:02.635
So thank you both.
784
01:03:02.655 --> 01:03:04.255
Thanks so much for the conversation.
785
01:03:04.456 --> 01:03:08.177
And I hope this won't be the last time we have a conversation.
786
01:03:08.197 --> 01:03:08.718
It'll be great.
787
01:03:09.638 --> 01:03:09.879
Yeah.
788
01:03:09.979 --> 01:03:12.020
We're going to go deeper.
789
01:03:12.220 --> 01:03:14.102
Go deeper next round.
790
01:03:14.142 --> 01:03:22.089
So, all right, guys, thank you so much for your time and we will catch you next time on Hard Ground.
791
01:03:23.288 --> 01:03:26.229
Farming families across Australia are under increasing pressure.
792
01:03:26.610 --> 01:03:32.252
There's rising costs, financial uncertainty, succession challenges, and the weight of keeping a family business just going.
793
01:03:32.332 --> 01:03:34.393
The margin is shrinking constantly.
794
01:03:34.774 --> 01:03:35.334
And the problem?
795
01:03:35.694 --> 01:03:38.696
Well, it's too often families don't know where to turn or who to trust.
796
01:03:38.956 --> 01:03:40.817
And that's why we created R81 AgConnect.
797
01:03:41.677 --> 01:03:52.341
We're bringing together experienced professionals across finance, legal, accounting, and business advisory, connecting farming families with real people who can help them find real solutions.
798
01:03:52.821 --> 01:03:58.663
Because our mission is to restore strength and resilience to the Australian family farm.
799
01:03:59.023 --> 01:04:04.905
R81 AdConnect, real problems, real people, real solutions with people who just give a damn.