Them Lam
Them Lam writes and comments as a mortgage distribution executive who focuses on how brokers navigate regulatory change, build sustainable businesses, and use data to drive performance. He contributes practitioner analysis to The Adviser, drawing on more than 25 years in financial services and a long tenure working with mortgage brokerages through Australian Finance Group. His coverage sits at the point where policy settings, lender appetite and broker workflow meet, turning industry shifts into concrete steps for broker businesses.
SMSF lending changes and the LRBA ban
Lam’s most prominent authored piece in The Adviser dissects the ban on new limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs) for residential property in self-managed super funds and what it means for brokers active in that niche. He frames the change not as a technical superannuation tweak but as an immediate pipeline and advice issue, stressing that brokers must treat the transition window as a live operational problem rather than a distant policy conversation.
In that article he highlights the hard deadline for new residential LRBAs to be contracted by 10 August 2026, warning that the opportunity effectively closes after that date with no indication of a reopening. His guidance focuses on concrete actions: knowing exactly which SMSF deals sit where in the process, identifying which clients can realistically meet cut-offs, and being explicit with clients about timing and lender behaviour.
The tone is direct and operational, written for brokers who are already in the SMSF space and need to defend their current pipeline while repositioning clients for a world without new residential SMSF borrowing.
Broker business growth and new brokerage set-ups
Beyond SMSF lending, Lam is a recurring voice in The Adviser on how brokers start and grow their own firms.
In a guide to starting a brokerage, he draws on almost 15 years of helping brokers build successful businesses, positioning himself firmly on the side of the broker-owner rather than the end consumer. That piece presents him as someone who has seen multiple brokerage models up close and is focused on sustainable growth rather than quick volume, with an emphasis on giving brokers clarity about what it takes to run their own operation.
Across this kind of content he comes across as a practitioner explaining business-building from the aggregator’s vantage point, grounded in day-to-day broker experience rather than abstract management theory.
Workflow, data and analytics for high-performing brokers
Lam’s commentary regularly returns to workflow and analytics as levers for high performance in brokerages. In coverage on optimising brokerage workflow, he stresses that understanding business fundamentals through analytics is critical for high-performing brokers and firms, underscoring the need to know the numbers behind the business rather than managing by instinct. Related material on using data and analytics to “unlock your competitive advantage” aligns him with a view that brokers should treat their data as a strategic asset, using it to refine processes and sharpen their value proposition. Across these pieces he pushes brokers to think about file flow, resourcing and productivity in structured terms, making analytics a day-to-day management tool rather than a back-office reporting task. The effect is a body of guidance that ties together workflow discipline and data literacy as core skills for modern brokerages.
Distribution strategy, lender panels and broker market share
Lam’s executive roles at Australian Finance Group give his published comments a strong distribution and market-structure lens. As chief distribution and marketing officer, a role created in mid-2026, he oversees distribution across AFG and its subsidiaries and connects sales and marketing functions to support growth for both the group and its brokers.
Earlier positions across sales, strategic partnerships and aggregation provide a background in dealer-group strategy, lender relationships and recruitment. In The Adviser’s reporting on broker market share, he characterises record broker share as validation that the broker channel is the primary choice for consumers seeking guidance in uncertain conditions, signalling a focus on the broker’s advisory role rather than pure product comparison. His comments on lender panel changes, including the addition of HSBC Australia and specialist lender Bizcap, highlight demand for broader commercial finance options and a desire to align panel composition with evolving broker and client needs.
Taken together, these contributions show a consistent interest in how distribution strategy, lender choice and market share interact to shape the broker proposition on the ground.
Across his appearances in The Adviser, Lam speaks and writes as an aggregator executive translating market and regulatory shifts into operational guidance for brokers, with particular depth on SMSF lending changes, brokerage setup, workflow and data-driven performance. His coverage is distinguished less by traditional reporting craft and more by the perspective of a long-serving industry practitioner who moves easily between policy detail, lender strategy and the day-to-day realities of running a brokerage.
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Adelaide Miller
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