Welcome to The Adviser's What's Making Headlines podcast, your go-to source for the week's biggest stories in finance and real estate, distilled into bite-sized insights.

Join host Annie Kane and commercial writer Ben Squires as they review the news of the week.

This week, they discuss:

• The growing volume of lenders forecasting a rate hike in February.
• The flurry of regulatory action taken against lenders and brokers.
• The top brokers listed in the Elite Broker Ranking – Asset Finance, partnered by Optimise Aggregation.

And much more!

As more mortgage brokers look to elevate their performance and build sustainable, scalable businesses, broker coaching is emerging as one of the most in-demand support tools in the industry.

In this episode of In Focus, sponsored by Success & Broker, we sit down with broker-turned-coach Ruan Burger to explore why coaching has become a critical component of broker growth – and what it actually looks like behind the scenes.

Burger shares how he transitioned from elite broker to business coach, the common challenges he helps brokers overcome, and the importance of building a brokerage that aligns with your life, not the other way around.

Tune in to discover:

• What today's brokers really need help with – and why demand for coaching is rising.
• The most common "hidden problems" in broker businesses (and how to spot them).
• How social proof, client experience, and strong internal processes can transform a brokerage.

And much more!

Felix Katzen stumbled into the world of asset finance by accident, but he's been hitting the ground running, rapidly growing his brokerage, and expanding out his team.

In this episode of Elite Broker, Annie Kane sits down with Katzen – founder of Katzen Financial Group – to unpack his journey from contractor to business owner, how he rebuilt lender accreditations from scratch, and the high-volume, rapid turnaround model that defines his business today.

Tune in to find out:

• How he's grown his brokerage into a busy commercial outfit in just 18 months.
• How he manages 40 loans a month.
• His approach to hiring and building culture in a new brokerage.

And much more!