Four Decades of Australian Home Lending, Professional Standards and Innovation
40 Years Executive Mortgage Experience
- Professional Mortgage Education
- Mortgage Technology
- Risk-Based Pricing
- Institutional Funding
Mortgage House has participated in Australian home lending since 1986. Its leadership team combines extensive experience across mortgage lending, housing finance, credit, loan processing, customer communication, technology, wholesale funding, treasury and residential mortgage-backed securities.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ken Sayer has led Mortgage House through successive generations of mortgage lending, professional education, technology, risk-based pricing and institutional development.
Managing Director Sarah Roberts leads organisational strategy, operating performance and customer-focused transformation.
General Manager Sean Bombell brings more than three decades of mortgage-industry experience across housing finance, mortgage operations, wholesale funding, pricing and customer outcomes.
Ed Freilikh leads finance and capital-markets activities including treasury, funding, liquidity and securitisation.
Together, the leadership team reflects a consistent Mortgage House principle: deep mortgage knowledge, capable people, disciplined lending processes, appropriate technology and accountable decision- making.
Leadership Built Across Generations of Australian Mortgage Lending
Australian mortgage lending has changed considerably over the past several decades.
The industry has moved through building societies, banks, mortgage managers, wholesale-funding structures, securitisation, non-bank lending, digital mortgage processing and increasingly software-defined financial services.
Mortgage House’s leadership team contains experience across many of these periods. That depth matters. A lending organisation must understand more than loan products. It must understand:
- Customers
- Property
- Credit
- Lending policy
- Loan processing
- Communication
- Funding
- Risk
- Technology
- Regulation
- Operational resilience
- Long-term financial sustainability
Mortgage House’s leadership history brings these disciplines together.
Ken Sayer
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Founder of Mortgage House with extensive experience across Australian mortgage lending, professional standards, technology, customer service, risk-based pricing, funding and strategic innovation.
Sarah Roberts
Managing Director
Leads Mortgage House strategy, organisational development, operating performance and customer-focused transformation, supported by extensive mortgage-industry experience and executive education at Wharton.
Sean Bombell
General Manager
Brings more than three decades of mortgage-industry experience spanning Australian housing finance, wholesale funding, mortgage operations, pricing and customer outcomes.
Ed Freilikh
Head of Finance and Capital Markets
Leads Mortgage House finance, treasury, institutional funding, liquidity and capital-markets activities, including residential mortgage-backed securities.
Ken Sayer — Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Ken Sayer is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mortgage House and has participated in multiple generations of Australian mortgage lending. His experience spans home lending, commercial finance, mortgage technology, customer service, distribution, professional development, risk-based pricing, institutional funding and strategic business development.
Under Ken’s leadership, Mortgage House progressively developed an operating philosophy in which employee competence and mortgage technology were treated as complementary investments.
This became particularly visible during the early 2000s when Mortgage House was simultaneously:
- Developing e-mms
- Improving structured mortgage-processing technology
- Strengthening information and fraud controls
- Improving customer communication
- Requiring relevant home-loan staff to undertake formal mortgage-lending education
The philosophy can be expressed simply: better-trained people supported by better systems.
Raising Professional Standards in Mortgage Lending
In April 2004, Mortgage House publicly documented an initiative requiring its home-loan sales, processing and communications staff to complete the Diploma of Mortgage Lending.
The programme was introduced under Ken Sayer as part of an effort to strengthen professionalism and mortgage-industry competence. The nationally accredited Diploma developed specialised knowledge in areas including:
- Credit analysis
- Mortgage financing
- Mortgage lending law
Participants were required to complete six modules and formal assessment requirements.
At the April 2004 graduation ceremony, Mortgage House had 19 graduates, representing more home-loan employees graduating at the ceremony than any other mortgage organisation represented. Mortgage House National Sales and Home Loan Distribution Manager Greg Stevens achieved: Dux of New South Wales and Dux of Australia for the Diploma of Mortgage Lending programme.
The significance extends beyond the qualification itself. Mortgage House was deliberately raising the capability of people responsible for selling mortgages processing mortgages and communicating with mortgage customers.
Why the Diploma Initiative Matters
A home loan is not simply a product sale. It can involve:
- Substantial financial commitments
- Credit analysis
- Security over property
- Documentation
- Lending law
- Customer circumstances
- Processing controls
- Long-term financial consequences
Mortgage House’s 2004 requirement recognised that mortgage knowledge mattered across the customer journey. Sales staff needed to understand the product. Processing staff needed to understand the transaction. Communications staff dealing with borrowers also needed to understand the lending environment.
The principle remains relevant: customers should be supported by people and systems that understand the financial product being discussed.
Developing People and Systems Together
December 2003
E-mms 2.0: Mortgage House publicly documents the continued development of its electronic mortgage management platform.
April 2004
Mandatory Mortgage Education: Relevant home-loan sales, processing and communications employees required to undertake formal Diploma-level mortgage education.
May 2004
Structured Mortgage Processing and Fraud Controls: Mortgage House publicly describes technology intended to improve information capture, processing speed and fraud prevention.
Mortgage House was strengthening human capability and technology capability at the same time.
From Mortgage Knowledge To e-mms
Mortgage House’s professional-development initiatives occurred alongside significant investment in mortgage technology.
In the early 2000s, Mortgage House publicly documented the continued development of e-mms — its electronic mortgage management system.
e-mms was designed to support mortgage operations across multiple stages of the lending lifecycle rather than operating merely as an online application form.
Historical materials describe functionality supporting areas such as:
- Lead management
- Information capture
- Mortgage origination
- Application processing
- Workflow management
- Post-settlement activity
This development represents an important step in Mortgage House’s progression towards increasingly software-supported and software-defined mortgage operations.
Why Professional Knowledge and Technology Belong Together
Technology can process information quickly. Professional education can improve understanding. Neither is sufficient by itself. Mortgage House’s early investment in both areas reflects a broader objective:
- Capture customer information correctly
- Understand the mortgage being discussed
- Apply lending rules consistently
- Communicate clearly
- Identify exceptions
- Reduce unnecessary manual administration
- Retain accountability
This provides the bridge between Mortgage House’s early operating model and its present technology strategy.
Sean Bombell
More Than Three Decades Across Australian Mortgage Lending
Sean Bombell is General Manager of Mortgage House and brings more than three decades of experience in the Australian mortgage industry. His experience spans housing finance, mortgage operations, wholesale funding, pricing, customer outcomes and institutional lending. Sean’s connection with housing finance began before his own formal mortgage career.
His early exposure came through his stepfather and the world of Australian building-society housing finance. This provides a potentially important historical connection between an older generation of Australian housing finance and the contemporary non-bank mortgage market.
Understanding an Earlier Generation of Housing Finance
Before today’s modern mortgage market developed, building societies played an important role in helping Australians finance home ownership. Terminating building societies were member-based housing- finance organisations created for a finite purpose. Members contributed to a common structure from which housing finance could progressively be provided.
Once the society had fulfilled its purpose and obligations, it ultimately terminated. Building societies therefore form part of the historical development of Australian home lending. Modern mortgage lending subsequently evolved through:
- Permanent building societies
- Banks
- Mortgage managers
- Wholesale funding
- Mortgage brokers
- Non-bank lenders
- Securitisation
- Digital lending platforms
Sean’s early exposure to this older form of housing finance provides context for the breadth of his mortgage-industry experience.
Sean's Family Mortgage Lineage
Sean’s introduction to housing finance began through his stepfather, who was involved at a significant level in Australia’s terminating-building-society sector. This exposed Sean early to the broader mechanics of housing finance. Behind a mortgage sit:
- Funding
- Credit
- Security
- Documentation
- Pricing
- Customer obligations
- Loan servicing
- Portfolio performance
This early exposure developed into Sean’s own professional career spanning more than three decades of Australian mortgage lending.
Why Sean's Background Matters
Sean’s mortgage career creates a useful bridge between different generations of Australian housing finance. At one end sits the building-society tradition. At the other sits modern non-bank mortgage lending supported by:
- Wholesale funding
- Product and pricing systems
- Loan servicing
- Institutional funding
- Securitisation
- Increasingly digital mortgage operations
This gives Sean perspective across:
- Where mortgage funding originates
- How loans are structured
- How customers are serviced
- How pricing operates
- How wholesale-funding models work
- How lending businesses scale
- How mortgage markets change over time.
Sean and Mortgage House
Sean joined Mortgage House during an important phase in its institutional development. His role was closely connected with building and developing wholesale-funding capability and expanding Mortgage House’s product and customer offering.
Over time, his responsibilities have broadened across Mortgage House operations, pricing-related decisions and enterprise governance. Sean should therefore be positioned not merely as an operational General Manager but as an executive whose experience spans housing finance, wholesale funding, mortgage operations, pricing, customer outcomes and institutional development.
What Does Sean's Experience Mean for Customers?
More than three decades in mortgage lending gives Sean experience across multiple:
- Lending cycles
- Funding structures
- Interest-rate environments
- Distribution models
- Property-market conditions
- Customer expectations
The practical objective is not to preserve old lending methods. It is to understand why previous systems developed, retain what remains valuable and apply that knowledge to modern lending. For customers this should support:
- Products grounded in mortgage experience
- Pricing informed by disciplined financial management
- Operational decisions informed by lending knowledge
- Clearer processes
- And a lender capable of adapting as markets and technology change
Sarah Roberts
Sarah Roberts is Managing Director of Mortgage House and leads organisational strategy, operating performance, organisational development and customer-focused transformation. Her leadership combines extensive mortgage-industry experience with structured executive development in organisational scaling and strategy.
In 2019 Sarah attended Wharton Executive Education’s Scaling Ventures: Developing the Playbook for Profitable Growth programme. Wharton subsequently published a case study examining Sarah’s experience and the management principles she applied to Mortgage House.
Wharton Executive Education
Wharton Executive Education provides important independent evidence of Sarah Roberts’ approach to organisational development. The Wharton case study discusses principles including:
- Stronger use of data
- Meaningful management metrics
- Alignment between strategy and organisational structure
- Alignment between strategy and organisational structure
- Continuous improvement
- Disciplined talent decisions
- Maintaining customer experience during growth
- Identifying constraints before they restrict scale
These principles remain highly relevant to Mortgage House’s continuing transformation. Technology can scale transactions. An organisation also requires capable people, appropriate structure, meaningful data, accountability, customer focus and continuous improvement.
Sarah’s leadership narrative should therefore connect organisational scale with customer outcomes rather than treating growth as an objective in isolation.
Scaling Without Losing the Customer
Growth should not make a financial-services organisation less understandable or less accountable. Sarah’s leadership approach connects scale with:
- Data
- Organisational structure
- People
- Operational discipline
- Continuous improvement
- Customer experience
The objective is not simply a larger Mortgage House. The objective is an organisation capable of supporting more customers while maintaining service quality, clarity and accountability.
Ed Freilikh
Ed Freilikh leads Mortgage House’s finance and capital-markets activities, including treasury, wholesale funding, liquidity and securitisation. These capabilities support Mortgage House’s ability to originate and fund Australian residential mortgages. A mortgage lender requires more than customer demand and lending products.
It also needs reliable access to funding. Mortgage House’s institutional funding and securitisation capability therefore forms an important part of its operating resilience.
What Are Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities?
Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities, commonly called RMBS, are one way lenders can access institutional funding. Eligible home loans can form part of portfolios supporting securities purchased by institutional investors.
For customers, the important principle is simpler: diversified institutional funding can support a non-bank lender’s capacity to continue participating in the Australian home-loan market.
Mortgage House completed its first RMBS transaction in 2019 and subsequently developed a substantial securitisation programme. Current RMBS figures must always include an “as at” date and a defined owner responsible for refreshing them.
Institutional Timeline
1986
Mortgage House commences operations as a Mortgage Broker
Expansion Into Mortgage Management and Origination
Launched as a Mortgage Manager / Mortgage Originator
1998
Early 2000s
Professional Capability and Technology Investment
Mortgage House invests in mortgage knowledge, processing systems, information management and customer communication.
E-mms 2.0
Mortgage House publicly documents continued development of its electronic mortgage management system.
December 2003
2004
$2 Billion Origination Milestone
Mandatory Diploma of Mortgage Lending
Relevant home-loan sales, processing and communications employees required to undertake formal mortgage-lending education.
April 2004
May 2004
Structured Mortgage Processing and Fraud Controls
Mortgage House publicly describes technology intended to improve information capture and processing integrity.
Launch of Mortgage Trust Warehouse Funded By CBA
2007
2007
Own Funding Programme
Mortgage House develops its own funding capability.
Established Rate-for-Risk Pricing
Mortgage House has an established risk-based pricing methodology considering Loan-to-Value Ratio and other approved lending characteristics.
Early 2010s
2010
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank established as preferred white label funder
Mortgage Trust warehouse refinanced by Westpac
2015
2018
$3 Billion FUM for the group
MH 2019-1 Debut $300m issuance
2019
2019
First Mortgage House RMBS
Transaction Mortgage House enters the residential mortgage-backed securities market.
MH 2020-1 $400m
2020
2021
March: $600m MH 2021-1 private placement
August: $600m MH 2021-2 public issuance
Feb: $500m MH 2022-1 RMBS issuance
September: $750m MH 2022-2 RMBS
2022
2023
March: $500m MH Osmium 2023-1
Dec: Clean up call MH 2019-1
Feb 2024: $750m MH Osmium 2024-1
May 2024: $750m MH Prime 2024-1
Sept 2024: $750m MH Osmium 2024-2
Dec 2024: $750m MH Prime 2024-2
2024
2025
June 2025: $1bn MH Osmium 2025-1
Oct 2025: $1bn MH Prime 2025-1
April 2026: $750m MH Osmium 2026-1
2026
Current Evolution
Software-Defined and Explainable Pricing
Historical Rate-for-Risk methodology evolves into deterministic, version-controlled, explainable and auditable digital pricing infrastructure.
Recognising That Different Lending Scenarios Carry Different Risk Characteristics
Not every mortgage has the same lending characteristics. Relevant differences may include:
- Amount borrowed
- Property value
- Loan-to-Value Ratio
- Property type
- Postcode
- Credit characteristics
- Borrower circumstances
- Employment
- Loan purpose
- Other approved lending factors
Mortgage House has used risk-based approaches to mortgage pricing since the early 2010s.
The underlying principle is straightforward: different lending scenarios may appropriately produce different pricing where approved lending and pricing rules justify the difference. This provides a more disciplined approach than assuming every mortgage automatically represents identical risk.
What Is LVR?
Loan-to-Value Ratio, usually called LVR, compares the amount being borrowed with the value of the property offered as security. For example, borrowing a larger proportion of a property’s value may represent different lending characteristics from borrowing a substantially smaller proportion.
LVR may therefore be relevant to:
- Product eligibility
- Lending policy
- Mortgage insurance requirements
- Risk assessment
- Pricing
From Pricing Methodology to Governed Digital Infrastructure
Mortgage House’s historical Rate-for-Risk philosophy is evolving from a pricing methodology into governed digital pricing infrastructure. Rate-for-Risk Engine 2.0 is designed around:
- Deterministic pricing
- Approved policy
- Version-controlled rules
- Effective-dated pricing logic
- Explainability
- Quote versioning
- Immutable evidence
- Controlled optimisation
- Auditability
- Exception-driven human intervention
The fundamental principle is: AI does not invent the customer’s interest rate. Approved lending and pricing logic determine the result. AI may assist in explaining the result in clear language.
Current Pricing Architecture
The developing pricing architecture can process approved scenario information including factors such as:
- Employment tenure
- Credit score
- Existing debts and arrears
- Property type
- Australian postcode
- Loan purpose
- Loan-to-Value Ratio
- Other approved product and eligibility factors
The deterministic pricing engine can then determine matters including:
- Product eligibility
- Applicable interest rate
- Applicable fees
- Relevant risk fees
- Pricing tier
- Risk band
Where approved rules are satisfied, the target operating model is a quotation produced without unnecessary routine manual intervention.
Why Did This Price Apply?
A strong pricing system should retain the explanation behind a material outcome. This may include:
- Why a product applied
- Which inputs affected eligibility
- Factors influencing pricing
- Relevant fees
- Risk adjustments
- Constraints
- Changes between quotation versions
The deterministic pricing engine can then determine matters including:
- Product eligibility
- Applicable interest rate
- Applicable fees
- Relevant risk fees
- Pricing tier
- Risk band
Where approved rules are satisfied, the target operating model is a quotation produced without unnecessary routine manual intervention.
Preserve History Rather Than Overwrite It
When relevant information changes, the previous quotation should not simply disappear. Rate-for-Risk Engine 2.0 is designed around quotation versioning. A quotation history should be capable of preserving:
- Original scenario
- Subsequent changes
- Recalculated price
- Applicable rule-set version
- Reason for recalculation
- Authenticated user or system event
- Explanation artefact
- Audit evidence
This reduces reliance on institutional memory and strengthens dispute readiness.
Helping Customers and Brokers Understand Legitimate Options
Where approved policy permits, the developing architecture may support controlled scenario comparisons. Examples can include:
- The effect of a different LVR
- Approved rate-and-fee trade-offs
- Repayment implications
- Debt-restructuring scenarios
- Longer-term cost comparisons.
These are scenario explanations. They are not guarantees of approval, savings, a specific rate or a particular lending outcome.
Sustainable Pricing Matters
Mortgage pricing also needs to recognise the economics required to sustain lending. Governed pricing may therefore consider:
- Cost of funds
- Capital requirements
- Hedge cost for relevant fixed-rate lending
- Operating costs
- Risk premium
- Required margin
- Portfolio sustainability.
This reduces reliance on institutional memory and strengthens dispute readiness.
Experience Across Generations of Australian Housing Finance
Mortgage House’s leadership reflects experience across multiple generations of Australian mortgage lending.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ken Sayer provides continuity across Mortgage House’s lending, professional-development, technology and innovation history.
In the early 2000s, Mortgage House was simultaneously developing e-mms and strengthening formal mortgage education for employees involved in sales, processing and customer communication. This demonstrated an early operating philosophy that remains relevant today: better-trained people supported by better systems.
Managing Director Sarah Roberts brings organisational scaling, operating discipline, data-led management, continuous improvement and customer-experience leadership, reinforced through executive education at Wharton.
General Manager Sean Bombell brings more than three decades of direct mortgage-industry experience, with early exposure to an older generation of Australian housing finance and extensive experience spanning mortgage operations, wholesale funding, pricing and institutional lending.
Ed Freilikh provides finance, treasury, institutional funding, liquidity and capital-markets capability supporting Mortgage House’s continuing participation in Australian residential lending.
Mortgage House’s development therefore connects: Australian housing-finance heritage with professional mortgage knowledge with e-mms and mortgage technology with risk-based pricing with institutional funding and increasingly with governed, software-defined and explainable financial services.
The objective is not to discard the knowledge built over previous generations. It is to encode the strongest elements of that knowledge into more consistent systems. Technology performs repeatable work. Policy governs. Evidence preserves why decisions occurred. Experienced people remain accountable for governance and exceptions. Customers receive clearer, more understandable outcomes.