Lendi founders Mark Kalajzich and Martin Lam to leave in shake-up

The departures come as a blow to the group, which ruled off a merger with Aussie Home Loans last year and has embarked on a sweeping integration and technology roll-out plan.

Mortgage broking group Lendi – which includes Aussie Home Loans – is losing two of its four founders, with the company linking the shake-up to different management approaches.

In an email to staff, chief executive David Hyman revealed Mark Kalajzich and Martin Lam would be leaving.

“As with many partnerships in life, however, founders’ approaches do vary over time,” the email said. “When this happens, change is the right path to take to ensure alignment into the future.”

The memo did not clarify whether the two would retain their respective stakes in Lendi.

A spokeswoman said the company had begun an executive search to “identify the leadership structure” that would help deliver Lendi’s technology and platform ambitions.

“Lendi Group is committed to transforming the home-loan industry,” she said.

Mr Kalajzich, the chief product officer, will exit Lendi – which is backed by the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and Macquarie Group – next month. Mr Lam will oversee the delivery of a program called Aussie Ready before leaving on June 30.

Lendi chief executive David Hyman. Picture: Lendi via NCA NewsWire

The departures come as a blow to Lendi, which ruled off the merger with Aussie Home Loans last year and has been embarking on a sweeping integration and technology roll-out plan. Under the initial deal terms, CBA was to continue to hold a large minority stake in the combined group and provide funding for the Aussie Select-branded home-loan product.

The latest departures follow a lengthy list of exits from Aussie Home Loans since the merger. They included head of people Lynda Harris and several of the HR team; head of product Barry Saoud, who joined Pepper Money; and head of marketing Sascha Hunt and some of her team.

Ms Hunt joined Alex Bank as chief growth officer.

Mr Hyman’s email also said: “While each of the founders have defined roles within the business, I want to reiterate that we have all been equally invested in the (Lendi) platform. (Co-founder and chief operating officer) Sebastian (Watkins) and I will not only be heavily involved in this transition, but we are committed as ever to ensure the successful rollout of this industry-leading technology to the Aussie network.”

It is unclear if Lendi is profitable given the company does not lodge accounts with the corporate regulator. At the time of the merger, investment bankers were touting Lendi as a potential candidate for a sharemarket listing if the integration progressed smoothly.

The mortgage-broking industry has experienced a round of consolidation over the past 18 months. REA Group last year completed the acquisition of listed company Mortgage Choice, combining it with its Smartline unit. News Corp, which publishes The Australian, is an REA shareholder.

The industry is grappling with a slowdown in mortgage volumes, given the Reserve Bank has lifted interest rates seven times to 2.85 per cent this year, and further increases are expected. Housing finance commitments tumbled 18.5 per cent over the year ended September 2022, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.

Lendi’s annual conference last month was said to include a spate of guest speakers, including National Australia Bank’s executive for broker distribution, Phil Waugh, and Australian tennis champion Ash Barty.

The Lendi spokeswoman said the group had $33.6bn in loan settlements – 6.3 per cent market share – and 35 per cent year-on-year growth. She said the Lendi digital platform had access to more than 25 lenders and 2500 different home-loan options.

“Within weeks, Aussie brokers will start rolling on to Lendi Group’s technology platform being used by the Lendi and ­Domain Home Loan channels that are some of the most productive in the industry, which has supported above-market productivity,” the spokeswoman said.

When the Aussie Home Loans deal was announced, Mr Hyman said Lendi was prioritising the firm’s independence despite having three banks as shareholders.