Joe Shephard
Founder of FinTalent, and the recruiter who runs every one of its searches.
Joe Shephard is the founder of FinTalent, a Melbourne executive search firm that recruits only for mortgage and finance broking businesses. He runs every search himself and has made 54 placements across six roles, from mortgage brokers and credit analysts to heads of lending. FinTalent's average time to fill is 27 days.
- Based
- Level 1, 50 Queen St, Melbourne
- Works
- Nationally, with placements in every state
- Model
- Retained executive search
- Average fill
- 27 days
- Guarantee
- 120 days
Before FinTalent
Joe spent two and a half years recruiting in lending before he started FinTalent in October 2024. From April 2022 to March 2024 he was a recruitment consultant at Hays, recruiting lending professionals for the banks. From March to September 2024 he was at LMG, recruiting brokers, credit analysts and client service managers for Loan Market, LMG and the Plan, Fast and Choice brokerages. That's where the broker space opened up for him, and he seriously considered becoming a broker himself. He chose to be one of a handful of recruiters making a difference in broking, rather than one of 22,000 brokers trying to stand out.
Placements by role
- 20 Mortgage brokers
- 14 Credit analysts
- 8 Commercial finance brokers
- 2 Heads of lending
- 8 Senior client service managers
- 2 Credit managers
You'll be dealing with me, not a call centre. FinTalent is me (for now) and the best RecTec on the market.
Case studies
- Marquee Group. A growing Melbourne residential and commercial brokerage that needed to scale, and quickly.
- ZEP Finance. Two roles solved in a single hire.
- Strategic Portfolio Partners. Filled in 42 days, after an offer walked.
- Lagos Financial. One interview rewrote the brief.
- 28Watt. Rebuilt the seat, not the shortlist.
- Fortifi Finance. No capacity to train. Now there is a pipeline.
- Strategic Mortgage Brokers. One brief. Two brokers. No second search.
Writing
- How long does it take to hire a mortgage broker? The full timeline
- Australian mortgage broker statistics: loans up 17%, brokers up 9%.
- Offshore loan processing vs a local hire, and what stays onshore.
- Credit analyst vs loan processor: what's the difference in a brokerage?
- ASIC's mortgage broker reference check says nothing about volume
- In broker salary and commission deals, the first $2m can pay nothing.
Get in touch
Email joe@fintalent.com.au or connect on LinkedIn.
Hiring into a brokerage?
Tell me the seat and the business. You'll get a straight read on the market, and on whether you need a recruiter at all.