Finance on the Coast was established in 2004 in Sydney's eastern suburbs. We're a small team of experienced brokers who hold our own credit licence, work directly with clients, and have been doing this long enough to know what actually matters.
Virginia Graham Riches established the firm in 2004 in Bondi Junction, initially working with clients across Sydney's eastern suburbs. Virginia came to mortgage broking from a background as an interest rate dealer at ANZ — bringing an understanding of how banks price risk, structure credit, and think about lending decisions that most brokers simply don't have.
Phil Riches joined the firm in 2010, having spent years at Westpac across home and investment finance and commercial banking. Together they built the firm's approach: small, experienced team; direct broker relationships; long-term client focus; own Australian Credit Licence.
Featured in Australian Broker, Phil has spoken publicly about why the relationship between a client and their broker matters — and why understanding the client's full picture, not just their next transaction, changes what you can do for them.
We hold our own Australian Credit Licence under Model Mortgages Pty Ltd. This means we're directly accountable — not writing loans for someone else's business model. It also means we can set our own standards for client service, lender selection, and how we work. (Licence number is shown in the page footer.)
Every client works directly with their broker from the first conversation through to settlement and beyond. We don't use junior staff to handle your application while your broker handles sales. You get the experienced person you spoke with, start to finish.
Many of our clients have been with us for 10–15 years. When your circumstances change — a new investment, a business expansion, a return to Australia — you're calling someone who already knows your history. That context is worth a great deal in lending.
Every major lender has a 200–300 page credit policy document. We read them. We understand which lender categorises your postcode favourably, which treats overseas income conservatively, and which one is running an aggressive campaign this month.
We built our business through long-term referral relationships with accounting firms and financial planners. Our clients typically come via introduction — which means they arrive with a level of confidence already established. We work to maintain that.
After regulatory scrutiny in the industry, and through COVID, our biggest lesson was the value of staying close to clients. Not just at transaction time — but when rates move, when policies change, when a client's plans shift. That's when brokers earn their keep.
Virginia came to mortgage broking from ANZ, where she traded interest rates — giving her a perspective on how banks assess risk that is genuinely different from most brokers in the industry. That background informs how she thinks about lending structures, policy interpretation, and how rate decisions are really made.
She established the firm in 2004 and has been building client relationships for over 20 years. Her clients include finance professionals, executives, medical specialists, and investors who appreciate speaking with someone who understands how this actually works.
Virginia hosts the Property & Mortgage Insights Australia podcast — a show dedicated to demystifying how lending decisions are made and what really drives a lender's credit appetite.
Listen to the Podcast →