Women are still underrepresented in broking, but across residential, asset finance and commercial lending, more are stepping forward and building businesses that are steady, sustainable and deeply connected to their clients.​ This International Women’s Day, we’re spotlighting two of them: Deb Purvis from Purvis AgriFinance and Nikki Berzin from Cherry Lending & Finance. Their journeys are different, but both show what happens when experience, community and determination come together at the right time.​

The lending landscape keeps shifting, but brokers still have strong opportunities if they know where to look. As we move into FY2025/26, four industries continue to show steady demand and room for growth. Healthcare, Construction, Agribusiness and Professional Services.

See how Mercury Nexus helped The Finance Family remove friction from day-to-day work and made growth feel manageable behind the scenes.

2025 was a cautious year for asset and equipment finance. Most SMEs focused on protecting cashflow, upgrading what they needed to stay operational, and holding off on anything that felt discretionary. Demand held steady overall, but the story changed state by state. Queensland and Western Australia stood out, helped by major infrastructure work and growing confidence as the 2032 Brisbane Olympics came closer. Some of the softness in the market was expected. Earlier asset write off incentives had already pulled a lot of demand into previous years, and many businesses waited for a post-election or post rate cut lift that never came. Inflation stayed sticky and rate stability took longer than anyone hoped. Even so, interest in sustainable equipment kept growing. EVs, solar and energy efficient machinery all saw steady uptake as ESG requirements and government incentives continued to expand.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved beyond buzzword status and is now woven into the tools we use every day. For brokers, this isn’t about chasing trends - it’s about staying competitive, gaining operational efficiencies in order to build stronger client relationships, and protecting the trust that underpins their business.

A short, broker-friendly guide with the essentials, aligned to the Australian Government’s advice and backed by our cyber security partner, Mimecast.