39 Curve Securities

The founder of Sydney-based fixed-interest broker Curve Securities, Andrew Murray, says launching the business during the global financial crisis actually created the company’s point of difference in the industry.

“Trust was absolutely paramount at the time,” says Murray.

“We had to treat clients with a great deal of respect. It was as much about give as it was about take.”

The volatile financial climate forced the company, which helps mid-tier investors find the best term deposit deal, to develop a transparent and honest approach to client relationships.

“Whether we do a deal or not doesn’t matter, it’s about trying to help the client. Our view is, we will be working with clients for many years and we can help in a range of areas, so we will tell them to go to the bank or shop down the road. We want to build trust.”

And clients responded to Curve’s integrity, nearly doubling the company’s revenue between 2011/12 and 2012/13.

Murray says Curve faced some of its biggest challenges in its early years, when cash flow was a constant problem.

“It [was] a race to bring revenue in before cash runs out. Our business survived from one deal to the next as it is commission based. We didn’t have a regular and consistent revenue stream to rely on.”

He says the business became a psychological wrestle between belief and doubt.

“To ride through those down periods, the belief is what gets you through,” he says.

“For a small business, belief must be resolute but justified. If the belief is quashed the business is dead. Rather than give into the doubt we peddled faster, fuelled by belief.”

The business has now come out the other side of those challenges, with Curve planning to further diversify its offering by launching a fixed-interest securities product in the next few months.

“That market is probably about three times bigger than the stock market,” say Murray.

“Aggressively pushing that product will be our next growth focus, but we have some other things in the works too.”