With a judging panel including academics, business executives, entrepreneurs and innovators, the Better Business Awards is peer-reviewed recognition of your capabilities in mortgage and finance, and passion for driving the industry forward.
Rex is a principal and the founder of M A Legal. Rex started M A Legal with an immense drive to help his clients achieve success within the framework of the law.
Rex has an extensive legal background holding roles as General Manager and Legal Counsel for a large manufacturing distribution company, Senior Solicitor acting for members of the BRW 1000 Entrepreneurs List as well as legal counsel for government bodies and charitable organisations.
He is known for his business acumen and ability to guide clients not only through complex commercial litigation and business negotiation but in their strategic growth and planning needs. He has played a pivotal role not only in start-ups but in existing large enterprises with his clients comprising real estate moguls and business leaders.
Rex brings a unique and fresh perspective to legal challenges in business and commerce as he himself engages in significant property development ventures, sits on a number of boards as well as is a founding director of the charity, Build 4 Kids Inc.
Rex develops and extremely strong rapport with his clients and is driven to achieve the best possible outcomes for them and in return has built a significant and loyal following. He is an extremely passionate individual who does not do anything in half measures; it takes one look at his collection of motor and boxing memorabilia to know that he will fight for his clients. His lovely demeanour aside, he is fierce and fearless in all his pursuits.
Rex is a family man having welcomed his daughter into the world in 2017 and has an ambitious list of pursuits outside of work not limited to snowboarding, racing cars and motorbikes, boxing, weight training, enjoying a good wine and espresso martini, and travelling.
Jason is the Director of Broker Essentials and is Australia’s leading Mortgage Broker Mentor and sort after media commentator. In 2016 Jason foundered Broker Essentials and launched a training program for brokers after years of inquiries into the best practices and habits of a high-performance business.
Jason was named 2021 Mentor of the Year at The Adviser Better Business awards, 2021, APAC Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 - Financial Services, ABA 2020 Mentor of the year, and AMA 2020 Service provider of the year. He was the Managing Director of The Australian Lending & Investment Centre (ALIC) and has been instrumental in taking ALIC to the forefront of the mortgage brokering industry. In 2014,15,16 and 2017 ALIC was voted the top independent brokerage of the year by Mortgage Professional Australia, Australia’s best brokerage in 2014 & 15 at the Australian Mortgage Awards and MFAA in 2016 and 2018.
Jason has over 30 years’ experience in the finance sector, having worked in senior sales, distribution and management roles for ANZ and having provided financial advice and services on behalf of financial planning, equity trading platforms, private banking, lending and retail distribution brands.
More details can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-back-broker-essentials/ and at Broker Essentials www.brokeressentials.com.au
Heather Baister is an Audit Partner at Deloitte specialising in mortgage aggregators and originators, including both banks from Major ADIs to mutuals, and non-banks. She specialises in end-to-end mortgage processes with a particular focus on those entities using securitisation to fund their loan books. Heather is Treasurer and National Committee Member of the Australian Securitisation Forum and a regular presenter on mortgage related matters in the market.
Sarah Barnett is the founder of content marketing solutions Social Broker and socialreview.io, which helps busy finance and property professionals get noticed online.
Sarah previously headed up marketing and innovation for a leading behaviour change consultancy where she spearheaded data-driven solutions for big banks, insurers, telcos and energy retailers. She has deep insight into the sales and marketing behaviours that high-performers consistently demonstrate to win and retain business.
Jess Densley is the founder of the Elite Agency Success System, a leading real estate consultancy group working with business owners and sales people to achieve peak performance in their business worldwide.
He has previously been a high performing real estate agent ranked in the top 2% of agents in Australia, inside the countries largest franchise group operating from a regional market place. Jess also has been a leading business owner who operated an awarding winning real estate business that was crowned the number one regional business a record 4 times across Victoria & Tasmania.
As well as being a leading sales coach, Jess also has credentials as an accredited level one (ICG) human behaviour coach working with corporate organisations on unlocking potential in their individuals and teams.
Josh has a career spanning over 30 years helping finance brands build their audience with content that people want to watch, read and share.
Originally a finance journalist by trade with News Corp, he’s worked across Australia, Asia and the UK with giants in media, big banks and the world’s biggest internet company, Google.
In 1996 Josh co-founded financial content marketing agency The Dubs and has since been helping Australia’s finance brands create engaging content that makes them stand out. Working with big brands like Westpac, CBA, ANZ, BT Financial, TAL, and Citi, Josh has led the agency to create content that helps clients grows brand credibility, audience engagement and scale across global markets.
Jason Goodacre has spent more than 25 years working in the finance industry, delivering stand-out customer experiences. As Customer Relationship Manager, Jason makes sure Loanworks fulfills service levels and continues to improve products and services to meet, and go beyond, client expectations.
Jason is the key local contact for all of Loanworks’ software, technology and outsourcing services clients, and is responsible for expanding and deepening those customer relationships. He also represents Loanworks at industry events, professional development days and conferences.
Prior to joining Loanworks, Jason was Sales Manager at Thomson Financial (now Reuters) for 11 years, and had previously served in a variety of business development roles for fintech companies, including with IRESS, Powerwrap and City Networks.
Jason holds a Certificate in Financial Markets from the Securities Institute of Australia and an RG 146 – Provision of General Advice from Kaplan Australia.
Neville Hurst is a senior lecturer in property studies at RMIT University, Victoria, Australia. Originally trained as an electrical engineer he has worked extensively in industry and for the last 33 years in the property sector as a practitioner and academic. Prior to joining education Neville owned and operated his own real estate agency for many years selling and managing properties on behalf of clients. A significant part of this business was a business brokerage run in partnership with his business partner. Academically Neville’s research interest focuses on real estate industry practices, valuation practices, housing markets and in particular energy efficient housing. Currently undertaking his Phd, Neville is investigating real estate agent attitudes and engagement with sustainable housing and is working with peak industry bodies to create greater awareness of the importance of energy efficient housing for a sustainable future.
Peter Lynch is a leader in Professional Indemnity Insurance in the real estate, valuation and management right industry sectors.
He boasts over 30 years’ experience with Aon Risk Solutions and as the Client Manager is responsible for developing new business within the real estate sector including the identification of business opportunities with franchise groups and other stakeholders.
He took a significant role in providing advice and support to introduce a Real Estate specific indemnity insurance scheme and is responsible for the highly successful REIQ/REINT schemes which he coordinated with the assistance of industry, lawyers, underwriters and claims staff.
Peter has a strong interest in promoting safe and quality business practices in real estate and has been a regular contributor to course materials, presentations and editorial submissions. He has been called upon to be a guest speaker at training forums for the REIQ, REIA, REINT, REIWA and various franchise groups.
Peter also provides individual Risk Management training to a number of his Franchise Group clients.
Doug is a founder of Smarter Borrower, a service that helps borrowers save money on their home loans. This service is primarily provided by intermediaries as a client retention and acquisition tool.
After 25 years in the finance industry working with a variety of organisations, Doug and his co-founders identified an opportunity to help people be debt-free before they retire.
Prior to Smarter Borrower, Doug founded FrontRunner Consulting Group providing business development advice to banks, brokers and other financial services providers.
Sascha Moore is a marketing specialist, who focuses on providing highly strategic, creative solutions – predominantly to the financial services and legal industries. Sascha has extensive experience in Australia and the United States with developing effective integrated marketing programs, and directing their implementation. She is now the Director of Create Design & Marketing, a boutique marketing communications agency that fuses solid strategy and powerful designs that directly resonates with a clients’ end markets. This approach creates a true connection: and connection drives results, deepens brand equity and furthers relationships. In addition to her professional obligations, Sascha is actively committed to educating brokers on how to enhance their business through incorporating smart marketing practices.
Professor Fariborz Moshirian is the Director of the Institute of Global Finance (IGF) at the UNSW Business School, Sydney. The IGF does collaborative research on Systemic risk, financial innovation and global financial stability with NYU, UCLA and has done joint work with the Asian Development Bank, the IMF, the World Bank, PwC and a number of world-class research centres. Fariborz was the Bertil Danielsson Professor of Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics. He is a consultant to the Asian Development Bank. He served as the Head of the School of Banking and Finance at UNSW for over four years.
Fariborz has published a number of influential research works in leading international journals including the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and the Journal of Banking and Finance. These research works cover subjects such as global governance, global financial stability and prosperity, interconnectedness, world order, systemic risk and the financial and social challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century.
He has been the editor of several publications on global financial, economic and social issues published by Elsevier. He has also been a co-editor of a number of policy works with senior researchers from the World Bank, the IMF, the Bank for International Settlements, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Bank of England and the Reserve Bank of Australia including the following publications: “Globalization and Financial Services in Emerging Countries”; “Global Financial Crisis, Risk Analysis and Risk Management”; “Systemic Risk, Basel III, Governance and Financial Stability” and “Systemic Risk: Liquidity Risk, Governance and Global Financial Stability”
Dr Rahat Munir is a Professor, Head of Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance, Macquarie University. With extensive experience in all forms of academic endeavours - research, teaching and engagement, Professor Munir offer an unbeatable track-record of excellence in curriculum development, research leadership, change management, building teams, effective human resource and financial management. He has published in leading international journals as well as presented at international conferences and seminars in many parts of the world. He is affiliated with several professional bodies. Professor Rahat Munir is actively involved in learning & teaching and research activities and brings a host of administrative and service experience across a wide range of contexts. Professor Munir has earned numerous national and international level research and teaching awards during his career.
Andrew Phanartzis is currently the Director of Property Association, a consultancy firm for residential developers in Australia. The company offers a suite of services including, acquisition, planning, creative, sales and property management.
Andrew is extremely motivated, knowledgeable, loyal and reliable. He prides himself in exceeding expectations, adding dollar value to clients and sets the bar high. He believes the property market is dynamic and constantly evolves his strategic approach to enhance its effectiveness.
Andrew’s exposure to large residential developments, master planned communities and house and land subdivisions has provided a wealth of experience with some of the largest developers in Australia.
Andrew is a licenced real estate agent, holds a BA in Human Resource Management & English from the University of NSW and has completed PS146 Financial Planning qualifications.
At Opica Group, we provide Lenders & Brokers with Australia’s only Customer Transaction Verification and Responsible Lending Engine designed to manage and verify a consumers’ spending habits. We are due to launch “YourRentCheck”, Australia’s first AI Assisted rental payment verification platform for Real Estate Property Managers using our proprietary Artificial Intelligence engine. Brett been working in the Mortgage & Finance industry for over 25 years and in 2011 was recognized by the MFAA as a Fellow of the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia. In 2001, he pioneered outsourced mortgage processing services by creating the first BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) operation for Mortgage Brokers in Australia, ultimately becoming the world’s first and only rated Loan Processing solutions provider by Standard & Poor's. After taking the reins of the Stargate Group in the early 2000’s, he was instrumental in introducing the first Mortgage Broker CRM Systems into the Australian Mortgage Landscape all while guiding it through the GFC. . In 2014, he led the Stargate business through its acquisition by the ASX listed Rubik Financial Limited (RFL) and worked through a 2-year transition as Group Executive – Mortgages. He also serves as Executive Director of business advisory firm TICH Consulting Group, Chairman of soon to be launched Equity Lending fintech Lendmore Australia & is an advisor to a number of Mortgage and Real Estate companies in Australia.
Joshua has been in Real Estate for over 15 years and has extensive property management experience leading teams through growth periods. Josh excels in leadership, change management support & review of systems, processes and procedures.
As a Property Manager he was the recipient of the 2010 REINSW award of Excellence in Property Management, and as a Department Head was able to lead a team to numerous awards across the country. Coupled with Joshs experience in Real Estate sales, Joshua has the well- rounded knowledge of Real Estate for every perspective in an agency.
Joshua is excited to continue the path of helping leaders and teams to uncover opportunities, to assist in the review and rebuild of people & property management processes and to share his journey to help inspire growth, to all the Real+ clients across Australia and New Zealand with the ethos of Learn More, Do More, Be More.
Pete Williams is a noted thought leader in Innovation and Digital. Pete started working in the Digital realm in the early 1990’s and went on to be the founding partner of Deloitte Digital. Pete now leads Deloitte’s Centre for the Edge a futures think tank that identifies emerging opportunities arising from digital and social trends. Pete is also an Adjunct Professor at RMIT University – School of Management
Gareth Woodham has been conducting property valuations across Sydney and Melbourne for more than 20 years.
Gareth attended the University of Technology Sydney from 1992 to 1998 and graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Land Economics. Shortly thereafter, Gareth was registered with the NSW Department of Fair Trading, and began practising under Ken Feltham FAPI, where he acquired experience valuing a vast range of residential properties across Sydney. During this time, Gareth undertook valuations for major banks and financial institutions, lawyers and accountants, for a range of purposes including: mortgage security, statutory assessment, mercantile recovery and family law.
In 2003, Gareth relocated to Melbourne, and was employed by Walstab Brady Pabst as an unrestricted valuer, conducting residential, commercial and industrial valuations across Melbourne, again for banks and financial institutions for mortgage security, statutory assessment and family law purposes.
Admitted to the Australian Property Institute in 2006 as a Certified Practising Valuer, Gareth returned to Sydney in 2006 to establish an office for WBP, conducting portfolio valuations for the Defence Housing Authority and Genworth, and undertaking extensive recovery and liquidation valuations for several mercantile agents.
In 2010 Gareth extended his qualifications to include Thermal Performance assessment of residential dwellings and became licenced as a Buyer’s Agent in 2015.
Roland Youakim has been helping businesses in the mortgage broking and third party banking space for the past 8 and a half years. He’s passionate about helping business owners get ahead and educating them on how to find, qualify, attract and retain great talent within our industry. In 2017, he launched Platinum People Group, a specialist recruitment agency aimed at helping mortgage brokers take their businesses and careers to the next level.
As Director of Encore Advisory Group, Mark is well known in the Advice industry and is a highly sort after trainer, educator and coach. Mark has worked with numerous mortgage broking and financial planning businesses enabling them to undertake the key important action of building a successful client advice practice, for the long term.
In 2017, after decades leading Wealth, Broking and Advice businesses, Encore was reimagined to better serve and prepare brokers and planners for the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. Encore believes a better advice business means a better industry and therefore a better community.
Mark delivers practical, real-world solutions helping businesses navigate today’s complex environment whilst providing essential advice, helping to improve the quality and value of their business. This is achieved through partnerships with the right people and solutions thus enabling practices to deliver increasingly valuable advice to more clients.
Believing every Australian deserves advice on “both sides of the balance sheet”, Mark successfully built a mortgage broking business that partnered with over 200 financial planning practices and accounting firms, delivering advice services to over 5,500 Australian families a year.
Mark is known as a leading authority in bringing together Broking and Planning groups to deliver integrated “debt advice” and “broker planner” solutions. He is dedicated to this community as an SME owner himself. Mark is himself a consumer and advocate of Advice services and has led and steered advice businesses successfully through market, regulatory and consumer change and disruption for over 20 years.
