Choose AFG when Suite360's reporting and learning tools suit your brokerage and its tailored agreement leaves you better off. Choose Connective when its membership model and included Mercury Nexus platform give you the stronger return for your settlement volume and existing trail book.
Choose Between AFG and Connective
AFG and Connective are separate mortgage aggregators. They arrange lender access and broker support, with different commercial agreements and technology packages. The proposed AFG acquisition of Connective did not complete, so an old merger announcement does not describe a combined membership.
AFG’s current corporate disclosures describe its own aggregation and lending businesses. Its Suite360 package brings together BrokerEngine Plus, business analytics and learning resources. Connective combines membership plans with Mercury Nexus, its client and deal platform.
| Decision | AFG | Connective |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial fit | A tailored proposal priced for your business | Maximiser retains all upfront and trail, while Variable changes upfront retention with monthly volume |
| Daily platform | Suite360, including BrokerEngine Plus and Analytics | Mercury Nexus included in membership |
| Useful deciding condition | The quoted package and Suite360 workflow justify its total deductions | The retained commission outweighs membership and per-writer charges |
| Exit decision | Assess continuing trail and data rights in the agreement | Published trail-book ownership and no-lock-in position, subject to the agreement’s payment process |
A brokerage with steady settlements and a substantial trail book has more commission exposed to a percentage deduction. A new brokerage with uneven settlements has less income over which to spread fixed charges. Those differences can reverse the cost result.
Compare the Full Cost of Both Proposals
Compare the money the brokerage keeps after every aggregator deduction. Use the same settlements, gross commission and staffing assumptions for AFG and Connective. Compare upfront and trail retention separately.
Connective’s membership pricing distinguishes its fixed-fee Maximiser plan from Variable’s volume-based upfront split. Loan-writer charges apply separately. Credit representatives also pay licence supervision charges and participate in group professional indemnity insurance. AFG’s technology page directs businesses to a tailored quote.
The following illustration uses two loan writers operating under their own Australian credit licence. Annual settlements of $30 million at an assumed 0.65% upfront rate produce $195,000. Add an assumed $90,000 in gross trail receipts for total commission of $285,000. Every amount excludes GST.
The AFG terms below are fictional quote assumptions, not AFG’s published fee schedule. Connective’s base charges use its published Maximiser model. The optional-service allowance is hypothetical for both businesses.
| Annual calculation | Illustrative AFG quote | Connective Maximiser example |
|---|---|---|
| Gross upfront and trail | $285,000 | $285,000 |
| Commission retained | Assumed 95% of each: $270,750 | 100% of each: $285,000 |
| Membership or platform charge | Assumed $300 monthly: $3,600 | $880 monthly per group: $10,560 |
| Two loan writers | Assumed $50 each monthly: $1,200 | $150 each monthly: $3,600 |
| Optional services | Assumed $1,200 | Assumed $1,200 |
| Commission after these costs | $264,750 | $269,640 |
Connective leaves $4,890 more in this example. That is a result of the stated assumptions, not a prediction of your AFG quote. Raising the assumed AFG retention to 97% adds $5,700 and reverses the result.
For a Variable proposal, calculate retention month by month because annual settlement volume can hide quieter months in lower tiers. Add credit representative charges where relevant, insurance and any transition costs. Treat GST consistently across both proposals and your accounting position.
Repeat the calculation with lower settlements and the same trail book. Then repeat it with one extra loan writer. These changes show whether the cheaper agreement depends on growth your brokerage has not yet achieved. Use the AFG fee guide and Connective commission guide for their separate schedules.
Match Platforms and Support to Your Files
Suite360 and Mercury Nexus both cover client work and reporting, so the choice depends on the package your staff will use. AFG describes Suite360 as a suite spanning customer management, compliance, analytics and learning. BrokerEngine Plus handles client records and lodgement, while Analytics reports across application, contact and commission data.
Connective describes Mercury Nexus as its included client and business platform. It combines a client portal with application lodgement and compliance workflows. Its reporting covers pipeline and business performance. Connective also documents custom workflows and integrations through an open API.
For a brokerage managing several staff, compare who owns each file and what administrators can edit. A usable client record needs the documents and notes the next staff member needs. A lodgement workflow must carry those details into the application without leaving compliance evidence behind.
AFG places training in Learn and searchable support material in Help. Within Mercury Nexus, guided workflows prompt staff to capture the compliance record as the client file progresses. Neither description establishes faster support or better file quality.
Lender access is a separate decision from software. An advertised panel counts lenders in the network. Your accreditation determines which lenders and product categories you can actually use. A residential accreditation does not establish commercial or asset-finance access.
For each lender your brokerage relies on, obtain the accreditation path and any experience requirements in the proposal. Identify the person who handles lender access, the file-support contact and the compliance reviewer. Include paid support or mentoring in the annual cost comparison.
Protect Trail and Data When You Leave
Continuing trail and usable client records can outweigh a small annual fee saving. Connective’s pricing page states that members own their trail book and can leave without a lock-in penalty. Turn those published positions into specific agreement terms about payment and departure.
For both agreements, identify the notice period and who receives trail after departure. Record any continuing administration charge and the conditions that can suspend payment. Separate existing trail from upfront on applications that settle after you leave.
Pending settlements need a named lodgement owner and a payment destination. Keep a list of every open application and agree who completes the file. Check whether onboarding payments or service discounts become repayable when membership ends.
Data ownership also needs an export process. Specify which client records, documents and compliance notes the brokerage receives, in what format and before which access cutoff. A spreadsheet of client names does not preserve the whole file.
Keep your final commission statements and a loan-reference record for the departing book. Track My Trail reads both AFG and Connective reports. Its Missing Trail Analysis identifies trail that stopped and later returned, with the affected months and amount for a payment query. Elite Suite combines up to five aggregators or trail books, viewed together or one at a time. This keeps the old and new books visible during a handover.
Once the agreement protects the book and the full-year numbers support the choice, use the aggregator switching guide to sequence notice, lender accreditation and the handover of pending files.
