Wizard brokers stick together

John Lloyd, formerly Wizard’s Takapuna licensee, says the new group will be called Viva Home Loans and about 20 of the between 35 and 40 former licensees have indicated they will join it.

"It’s early days, but we’ve got about half on board," Lloyd says.

All the other major mortgage broking groups have been in touch, interested in the Wizard licensees’ experience and their client relationships but many want to stay together, he says.

Lloyd says he’s been in business more than eight years and his Takapuna branch was Wizard’s biggest in New Zealand, "probably twice as big as the next one." Most of the licensees planning to join Viva have been in business more than five years, he says.