For over nineteen years, Dino Pacella has been an influential leader in the finance industry. He currently leads the Marketplace Finance division of the Simplicity Loans and Advisory Group, as their Head of Third Party Relationships. Dino extended his passion for the broking industry to establish the industry’s official National Finance Brokers Day back in 2015. His dedication and commitment has been credited with over sixteen state based and nationally recognised industry awards. As an industry thought leader, Dino is continually advocating for brokers and assisting in the amplification of the third party channel.
Andrew Stevens is a highly experienced business coach with over 20 years of experience in the finance industry. He has helped hundreds of people start and grow their businesses across multiple aggregator groups, states, and business models. Andrew is a former MFAA accredited mentor and a recognised Industry Thought Leader. He is currently the Head of Distribution and Growth for the highly regarded boutique aggregator Nectar Group and the Host of the award-winning online broker community, the Online Broker Think Tank. This online community has over 1,400 members from across the industry. Andrew is passionate about helping others succeed and is committed to helping his clients obtain better outcomes from their businesses for their lives. He is an avid learner and is always looking for ways to expand his knowledge and expertise in the Mortgage Broking Industry.
Executive Chairman of LMG, Sam White, is committed to helping grow businesses, advocating for a competitive mortgage market, and fighting for a fair go for brokers and their customers. As the group’s executive chairman for 29 years, he leads the fast-growing company with ambitious yet attainable plans, a unique supportive culture, and a passionate team. Sam believes brokers should have more say in how they partner and grow with their aggregator, with more choices to better reflect how they want to operate, scale, diversify and become more productive. LMG is now the largest and most progressive aggregator group across Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia supporting a community of over 6,000 brokers while retaining the supportive culture of a family-owned business. Loan Market, part of the group, has been named Aggregator of the Year in MPA’s Brokers on Aggregators survey for the past three consecutive years. Sam White also has been a director for Ray White Group since 1991. Sam has been on a number of company boards with the most recent being Localz since 2015 and Employment Hero since 2018
Tanya Sale is the Founder, CEO and Managing Director of multi award-winning, national Aggregator group, outsource Financial. Tanya is the only female CEO / Managing Director of a mortgage Aggregator in Australia. Having extensive banking and finance experience, Tanya pioneered the third-party mortgage sector, by creating diverse models to change the way lending was conducted in Australia.
In 2019 Tanya appeared on the expert's panel, for the Channel 9 television show, Secrets of the Money Masters, she won 'CEO of the Year' at the Women in Finance Awards and was named as one of MPA’s Global 100. In 2020 Tanya was inducted as a Fellow of the FBAA by their Board of Directors and in 2021 was named again, in the MPA Global 100.
Harry is the founder and managing director of Valor Recruitment. He is a former finance professional with an aptitude for building successful teams and nurturing talent. This led to a career in recruitment and, eventually, the establishment of Valor.
With over 15 years in client facing roles, Harry understands a lot about people and how to get the best out of them. Open and honest, Harry enjoys robust discussions with clients and candidates allowing him a deep understanding of the needs and aspirations of both. By challenging ideas and concerns he is able to provide career guidance to candidates and act as a consulting partner to the businesses that he works with. This is part of the Valor difference.
The finance landscape is forever evolving. Harry has worked with founders, from start-ups to scale-ups and large businesses and knows one key element remains the same:
people are your most important asset.
With the last 20 years in Finance Broking and Banking, Trent Carter has always had a passion to help SME clients.
For the last 10 years as the Managing Director of Provident Lending & Business Solutions and EZ Business Loans he has developed a unique approach in being able to not only help his clients obtain credit but use the credit assessment process to enlighten business owners to grow their owner enterprises.
With Accendo Financial - Trent is now focused on bringing these skills to finance professionals with the aim of improving the relationships and outcomes between businesses and their bankers/brokers.
Christian Stevens is widely regarded as the #1 Mortgage Broker in Australia
What is most impressive about his meteoric rise to the top, is the fact he has only been an accredited broker for five years! He won Best Residential Broker in Australia at all major industry award events in 2022, the first time any broker has achieved this. He also took out Broker of the Year three times. Christian has the largest settlement volume at the prestigious Shore Financial, which is the Best Independent Brokerage in the country for the last seven years running. He holds the industry settlement record of $124M for a single month. To put this into perspective, the top 1% mortgage brokers in the country settle $100M+ annually.
He will be the first billion dollar broker in Australia.
Much of his success comes from his ability to generate new business through his online presence. Christian Stevens is the most viewed mortgage broker in Australia, with 150,000+ followers across his social media channels – with his content generating more than a million impressions every month. As a strong marketer with a keen interest in fintech, one of Christian’s key differences is his ability to educate his clients on how to build wealth through property.
Christian also finds the time to mentor several juniors and is focused on building them into the top brokers in the industry.
Suzi Trajanovski is the National, Director of Growth for Loan Market Group, overseeing the recruitment of new businesses and brokers for the aggregator. She was promoted into the Director’s role in 2022, following on from several years as a brand Growth Manager and National Growth Manager.
One of the main reasons that Loan Market is viewed positively by women in the industry is their groundbreaking Leading Ladies of Loan Market program.
For the last two years, Suzi has been proud to head-up the group. While Leading Ladies is a Loan Market initiative, but not limited to network members only.
As President of Leading Ladies of Loan Market, Suzi leads a community and culture that encourages women to open up and engage in a non-judgmental space.
Ruan Burger landed on Australian soil in 2005 and quickly forged a career within the finance industry, climbing into Australia’s Top 100 Brokers in the first two years of business. During his career as a mortgage broker, Ruan built two successful businesses – one in regional, Gladstone, and the second in Metropolitan, Brisbane. Both businesses attracted numerous accolades and awards along the way. Experience has shown that success comes down to what you are willing to put in and the relationships you build. Success&Broker is founded on these principles and the drive to exceed expectations for clients – making their life easier and their business stronger. Developing businesses that are visionary and adaptable are his trademark
Siobhan Williams is an expert in alternative lending and passionate about giving Australians a second chance at realising their financial goals. Siobhan is the Head of Mortgages for Pepper Money, leading a talented sales team who partner with brokers to provide real life solutions for their clients.
With over 17 years’ experience in financial services, she has seen a vast array of scenarios from brokers. From simple residential home loans to commercial lending and complex deal structures, Siobhan and her team are dedicated to saying yes when the big banks say no.
Pepper Money have a flexible and personal approach to assessing a customer’s individual situation, as each and every one is different. Recognised by brokers as the industry’s preferred Non-Bank lender for 2018, they live their mission: to help people succeed.
When Siobhan isn’t at work, she keeps herself active with two gorgeous young
children who constantly keep her on her toes.
Dr Nicola Powell is Chief of Economics and Research for Domain and one of Australia’s leading property market experts. Nicola has more than 15 years’ research experience that spans academic, government and private sector. She has a deep understanding of the Australian property market and has focused on property and demographic trends for nearly 10 years.​
Nicola is the leading force behind Domain’s regular data reports that keep the Australian public up to date on what’s happening in the market. She is a well-known property expert and features regularly on broadcast television, radio and in print and digital media.
Nicola is passionate about making data and property insights understandable,
and ensuring that everyone is able to make an informed property decision.
Fariha Chowdhury is the Co-Founder and CEO of Arise Foundation with 20 years’ experience specialising in finance, governance and strategy in multinational companies. She co-founded Arise Foundation in 2021, to provide a sustainable path to independence and community integration for women who have been impacted by domestic and family violence.
Fariha has a track record of delivering double digit growths, building high performing teams and leading business transformation. Prior to Arise, Fariha was the Interim CFO at City of Parramatta and the Regional CFO for APAC at American Express Global Business Travel. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from Macquarie University
and is a Chartered Accountant with the Chartered Accountants ANZ.
Tasnia Alam Hannan is the Co-Founder and COO of Arise Foundation with 10 years of public and private sector experience across finance, legal and policy development. She co-founded Arise Foundation in 2021 to make visible the invisible impact of financial abuse and provide finance freedom for those who are 'unbankable'.
Tasnia was most recently an Associate Director at NSW Treasury and is a non-executive board director at Australia International Academy and the Vice president of the Muslim Legal Network. She is also a lecturer at UNSW and the Centre for Social Impact where she teaches social entrepreneurship and doing business for social good. She has a Bachelor of Applied Finance from Macquarie University, a Juris Doctor of Law from UTS and is
an admitted lawyer in the Supreme Court of NSW.
Energetic and intuitive with a twist of fun. Sheb Giner has a passion to help inspire leaders to stress less and create success by inviting them to lead with their heart.
I love to educate on the dynamics of heart-centred leadership creating greater self-awareness, increase in performance and overall health and well-being.
After experiencing burnout that triggered an autoimmune response in 2015, I began to use a heart-centred approach towards overcoming my body being out of ease and within 10 months I was disease free. As a result, my mission is to teach people globally how to prevent burnout and cultivate the art of self-care.
With 15+ years of experience working with thousands of people both in clinical practice as a therapist and working as a Rehab Consultant, I’ve discovered that due to our ever-changing environment, there are little to no tools being used to help promote self-care in the workplace. This soon changed when I started a company called MindHealth Services in 2021.
George Obeid joined Judo in February 2017 and is a career banker with over 20 years of experience in financial services. Prior to joining Judo, George worked at ANZ in various senior roles and functions, including risk management, leadership, and senior relationship roles within the Corporate and Commercial division. While at ANZ, George headed up the bank’s strategic relationships with national aggregator groups and major brokers with annual turnover of $10 billion, ensuring synergies across the business were maximised and aligned with the bank. George is President of the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia’s Commercial and Asset Finance Forum, and a Chartered Banker with the Chartered Bankers Institute in Scotland.
He holds a Diploma of Management from Deakin University.
Starting as a graduate with National Australia Bank in 2003, Matthew Johnson spent 12 years in the Business Bank in Sydney. Matt spent time in roles across the business but always with a focus on servicing business and commercial clients lending needs. Moving into Finance Broking in 2014, Matt has originated transactions across a broad array of industries and client types including large wholesalers, manufacturers, import/exporters, construction projects, professional services firms, commercial investments for wealthy families and overseas owned enterprises. Matt is co-Managing Director and one of the founders of the Simplicity Loans Group, starting the business in 2017 to provide commercial lending advice to a mass market. The group now has staff in NSW, Victoria and Queensland and provides commercial loan origination services to over 1,500 referral partners across the country.
George Karam founded and is the managing director of BF Money, a commercial finance brokerage over 23 years ago. He focuses on high net worth and aspirational business owners and investors and has arranged funding for some high-profile clients and projects to become Australia’s most awarded commercial finance broker. He is a sitting board member of CAFBA and is the chair of its self-regulation committee.
Isabella Constantinou started working in the mortgage broking industry 5 years ago in November 2017 in a graduate associate position at Simplicity whilst completing her uni degree. I spent the first 3 years as an associate to one of the directors before moving into a broking position in April 2020. Since moving into a broker role managing my own transactions, I have tackled the impacts of COVID on the industry, the experiences of working in a heavily male dominated industry and the intimidation of often being the youngest person in a room with my clients. In my almost 3 years of being a broker I have settled over $400M in transactions and have been awarded several industry accolades highlighted below. Whilst my work is focused on holistically servicing my clients funding needs, my settlement numbers are a testament to my ability to build strong relationships and maintain a portfolio of repeat clients.​
In the past 12 months I have had some exciting professional achievements. I have been on the MPAs Rising Stars/Young Guns list for 2021 & 2022 and just a few months ago I was announced as the MPAs Top Commercial Broker for 2022, being the first woman to have won the award and quite possibly the youngest as well. I was also a finalised for the Commercial Broker of the Year award at the Australian Mortgage Awards and just recently made the MPAs Mortgage Global 100 List which recognises those in the industry driving forward innovation and striving to improve the mortgage sector. For someone who is 27 years old and have been in the industry for less than 5 years straight out of university these are significant personal
achievements for me.
I graduated my Bachelor of Business at VUT and started my career with GE in 1997 where I stayed for 3 years. Like many people in their 20’s I took a couple of years off to see the world and ended up in the UK working with GMAC. Upon my return to Australia, I stumbled onto Equipment Finance Broking with a stint at NAB 3rd party. My exposure to the many brokers in Victoria changed my career. I loved the value that brokers could bring and decided to take the leap in Jan 2006 and joined one of Melbourne oldest broking firms, Interlease, as a contractor. It was a fantastic opportunity and I spent 5 great years there learning the craft of broking, but in 2011 my business partners and I decided we wanted to go our own way and formed Atlas Broker. Atlas Broker has grown a lot since then. Our plan was to create a diversified broking business from the start, and we have been lucky enough to do that. Our business now offers Property Finance, Equipment Finance, Commercial Insurance and Debt Advisory. We have staff in Victoria, NSW and Queensland, and clients all over the country.​
In 2016 I joined the CAFBA board as I wanted to understand the issues that impacted the industry and help where I could. I never intended to have any sort of leadership on the board but was humbled to be elected as Vice President under David Gandolfo, and then in 2020 I was elected as CAFBA’s President for a 3-year term. It is has been a privilege to be able to serve CAFBA, our members, and the industry more broadly. My priority over the last 12 months
of my Presidency is the continued push towards professionalism and to prioritise diversity.
Darren Saul is a Serial Podcaster, Strategist, Trainer, Coach, Keynote Speaker and Student
of Human Attention.
He started heavily utilising the Power of Podcasting to build his photography business and was so amazed with the results he never looked back! He is now a Podcast Junkie who consults with organisations to help them get serious business results integrating Podcasting into their marketing strategy.
Jane Counsel is an experienced Leadership and Career Coach, Leadership Training Facilitator and Consultant with specific expertise in diversity, equity and inclusion. Jane’s professional purpose is to help people live their best authentic lives. In fulfilling this purpose, she works with large corporations and small business owners across a range of industries and sectors to help them achieve their personal, professional and business goals. She is renowned for delivering impactful and thought-provoking leadership training, consulting and coaching programs throughout Australia and Asia Pacific and has been running her own business since 2015. She is Stanford University educated, a casual facilitator on the Australian Graduate School of Management’s MBA program and currently works with clients across ASX 200-listed companies, State and Federal Governments and the Not-For-Profit sector. As the former Head of Diversity & Flexibility for Westpac Group, Jane has deep experience in the financial services industry and has been leading the MFAA’s Opportunities for Women research Initiative since 2017. In 2020 she co-founded thrive4women, a professional development and coaching company to help support the continued success and retention of female mortgage and finance brokers.
Following on from former roles at Telstra and CoreLogic, Graham Mirabito, who also serves as a board member of Harcourts International, Archistar and Lendi group, as well as in several adviser roles, now joins Propps in a non-executive director role.
Speaking on the move, Mr Mirabito said: “My passion lies in looking for innovations with the ability to digitise, integrate and expedite processes to improve productivity, remove friction and enhance transparency for consumers.”
He believes that, given the current climate in the property and finance industries which has seen them integrate their services, it is conceivable that “the transfer or refinancing of property [could] take minutes; not days, weeks or even months”.
Having started her career as a broker, Renee Blethyn has incredibly valuable insights from her first hand experience now coupled with nearly twenty years in corporate finance in lending and aggregator roles.
She is extremely passionate about the finance industry and the integral role it can play in helping consumers make informed choices to improve their financial wellbeing.
After 7 years at Suncorp, Renee joined NextGen in 2021 as Head of Broker Partnerships, where her deep understanding of brokers’ needs compliment a strong technology focus on optimising innovation in a new era of open banking.
In 2021 Renee was inducted as a Fellow of the FBAA and in 2022,
was named in the MPA list of Elite Women.
Ben Carollo is the Founder & Managing Director of Scale Smart Marketing, a performance based lead generation platform connecting high growth businesses with new customer opportunities around the world.
With a heavy focus in Finance, SSM supports both commercial & residential brokers by delivering high quality new customers & the understanding of how to leverage online marketing to either scale or supplement their business growth.
Since inception in 2020, SSM has become an industry leading growth partner that has helped over 200 clients including SMEs, large privates & public companies access new customers in APAC, North America and Europe.
Brian is Chief Revenue Officer at LBH, a technology advisory & software development business with deep industry experience in Property Services & Financial Services.
As CRO, Brian's is responsible for all processes that generate revenue. His focus is on improving sales performance, optimising pricing strategy, and delivering client satisfaction.
Brian is a seasoned executive in the financial services industry, bringing over two decades of experience to LBH.
His career spans numerous leadership roles in global financial institutions, including major lenders Commonwealth Bank & Macquarie Bank where he championed significant growth and innovation in the broker channel.
His depth of industry knowledge and passion for the industry align with LBH's vision of using technology as an enabler for business growth, societal welfare, and sustainable development
Steve Corney is a self-proclaimed legend in his own lunchbox and a digital experience expert. Founder of Learn Awesome and head trainer of the Speaking Gym, Steve exists to help companies and individuals big or small, harness the power of the digital world. Allowing them to cheat time, create exceptional customer & client experiences and help them communicate their true value to the world.
As a digital nomad, Steve travels the globe, chasing the surf with his laptop and phone hotspot. He is a pro rabbit hole diver and his greatest achievement to date is being able to consume Youtube videos at 2x playback speed! Steve is known for high-value, no BS and high-energy presentations that empower his audiences to apply the lessons learned and see meaningful results in their world or business.
Graeme Holm is Australia’s original money mentor, he has earned the title of Australia’s most innovative Finance Broker in 2020 but more importantly has been awarded Australia’s #1 Finance Broker 3 times across 3 independent organisations including the Advisers Australian broking awards in 2019, the Finance Brokers association of Australia FBAA in in 2021 and Rate my agent in 2022 being the #1 customer trusted and reviewed Finance Broker in Australia.
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Graeme has frequently spoken on stage with the world’s most significant business leaders and industry disruptors such as but not limited to; Sir Richard Branson, Robert Kiyosaki, Tony Robbins, Grant Cardone and Gary V.
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Graeme really is pioneering the Finance broking industry with a business now holding in excess of 60 awards in just 6 years of Finance broking and will be moderating our panel discussions.