Our 2022 Speakers

Jason is the Director of Broker Essentials and is a well know figure in the finance industry and sort after media commentator. In 2016 Jason foundered Broker Essentials  and launched a training course for brokers after years of inquiries into the best practices and habits of a high performance business.

Jason was named the 2020 ABA Mentor of the year and Broker Essentials named 2020 AMA Service Provider of the year. Previously Jason was the Managing Director of The Australian Lending & Investment Centre (ALIC) and was 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 created a practical and targeted program for brokers and administration staff that will help them grow their business by focusing on sales through service excellence.  Jason’s Broker Essentials Revolution will take you through the behaviours of the nation’s best brokerage focusing on process, business management and the client journey.

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.

In 2013, armed with a video camera, Nigel set off on an initiative, solo on his motorbike, to discover ingenious Australians and share their stories. As founder of ‘Ingenious Oz Project’ and author of ‘Game of Inches’, Nigel travels Australia finds the most ingenious business and professional success stories, takes out the key learnings and presents them back to your audience.

Adding to the pool of research and interviews Nigel started a series of interviews with Ingenious Australian’s on how they are surviving and thriving through COVID-19 Nigel Collin CSP works with organisations and their leaders to address these challenges by managing change resistance and creating an achievable process of consistent small steps. His message is simple. Engaging your people to act on change and innovation daily is a ‘Game of Inches’ and not a one-off explosive moment.

He has a passion for understanding why businesses and organisations are successful. Nigel started his first business at the age of 20 and sold it at 21. He then went on to build one of
Australia’s largest creative entertainment design companies within the Business Events Arena.

Nigel is a Certified Professional Speaker (CSP) the highest accreditation Internationally. He is Strategic Advisor to the Board of Meetings and Events Australia. In 2017 was awarded
outstanding contribution to Meetings and Events Australia and is an Associate fellow of Meetings Events Australia (AFEMA).

He is an alumnus of the Disney Institute, a Ted-Xer, and author of three books, (with a fourth on the way). When not speaking, working with clients, writing or riding his motorcycle he
spends his time between Sydney and the rural mid north coast of NSW with his family.

Adam is a well-known figure in the banking and finance sector with over two decades of experience, having worked in management roles at Suncorp Bank and QPCU.

Adam has leveraged his finance industry background in his role at AFG over the last six years, where he meets with business owners to understand their journey and what they’re trying to achieve – their “why?”. Adam always looks to find out what is working well, what could be improved, and where possible, help solve business problems and introduce efficiencies.

Adam is passionate about taking away the day-to-day stresses and seeing brokers reach or exceed their goals. He preempts what the broker of the future looks like and identifies key opportunities to build a sustainable and scalable business.

AFG provides brokers with unwavering support, powerful tools, and passionate expertise to grow their business, their future and grab hold of their dreams.

Adam is an award-winning mortgage broker turned fintech entrepreneur who’s passionate about making the home loan landscape a more level playing field for brokers and homeowners.

After 12 years as a broker, and frustrated with banks offering better interest rates to new mortgage customers while existing customers were being charged a ‘loyalty tax’ (a higher interest rate the longer they’re with the bank). In 2021, he launched Sherlok; powered by AI technology, Sherlok helps brokers retain clients by automating the repricing process and generating quality refinancing leads from their trail book. The AI technology predicts two things: when a client will leave a broker, and when a client is paying too much interest. Sherlok then automatically lowers the client's interest rate, potentially saving them thousands.

Sherlok’s mission is to put brokers and their clients first, and help everyone save money with a single click. It's a win-win situation: brokers' clients save thousands, the brokers keep the clients for longer, the aggregators retain larger loan books and have happy brokers, and the lenders keep their clients.

Anthony Landahl is Managing Director of boutique finance brokerage Equilibria Finance. Equilibria Finance specialises in partnering with advice and accounting practices in delivering residential, commercial and asset finance solutions to their clients.

Darren is a senior leader with over 20 years of experience in financial services. Darren is Managing Director of Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) Australia, a leading mortgage broking network that has won over 150 awards globally and handled over $20bn in mortgages last year. MAB was the first mortgage intermediary to have floated on the London Stock Exchange, having joined the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in November 2014. Prior to working at MAB Australia, Darren worked at Mortgageport as General Manager. Earlier in his career, Darren worked as a Director at Macquarie Group, holding various roles including National Manager of Direct Sales. Darren has numerous qualifications including a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Deakin University and a Master of Applied Finance (MAF) from Western Sydney University.

I have more than 30 years in Financial Services and have been at Smartmove Professional Mortgage Advisors since January, 2014. Prior to this I was Head of Mortgage Broker Services for the St George Banking Group. 

Smartmove was established in 2003 as a boutique brokerage, specialising in owner occupied and investment lending. We have grown from a single operator to a team of over 20 based in 2 locations in Sydney – Neutral Bay and Rhodes that work alongside our Operations team in Manila which has 25 support staff. We are now one of Australia’s largest independent mortgage broking groups. We are heavily focused on amazing client experiences built around the team’s knowledge, strong processes and relationships.
I am passionate about creating opportunities for our team to prosper, creating a sustainable business and having lifelong trusted relationships with our clients.

Gerald Foley is co-founder and Managing Director of National Mortgage Brokers Pty Ltd (“nMB”) since 2001.

Gerald has over 35 years’ experience in the finance industry which includes senior positions with a number of leading bank, non-bank and mortgage broker businesses. Roles prior to establishing nMB have seen Gerald manage the launch of the ANZ Bank's Mortgage Broker Unit in 1996; establishing Mortgage Choice’s operations in Victoria. He was also involved in the early days of mortgage-backed securitisation programs in Australia.

Gerald is a former Victorian State President and National President of the MFAA. He was awarded MFAA Life Membership in 2006 and announced as a Fellow Member of the FBAA in November 2021. In 2021. Gerald was included in the 2021 Mortgage Global 100, recognised for driving professionalism and advancement across the sector.

Today Gerald remains actively involved in working for the betterment of the mortgage broker industry, is a regular media commentator and sits on both the MFAA and FBAA National Aggregator Forums.

Joseph has built a strong track record in banking and finance over the last 16 years, focusing on business growth and relationship management. Notably, Joseph has been a finalist in The Adviser’s Better Business Awards for Best BDM (non-bank) for the last three consecutive years.

Coming from a Business Development Management position at Commonwealth Bank, Joseph has utilised his strong foundation to provide AFG brokers with the strategic support they need to succeed. It’s Joseph’s role to arm AFG brokers with all the necessary tools, resources, and knowledge to provide the best possible customer experience and continue to build and operate a more efficient business.

Joseph continually works to drive growth for AFG members. He is most passionate about supporting brokers undergoing change through process workshops, educating them on how to scale for growth, promoting a better work-life balance, or even implementing best practice principles in their business.

Joseph’s focus is on tomorrow’s broker, who they are, their background and how AFG can help along the way.

AFG provides brokers with unwavering support, powerful tools, and passionate expertise to grow their business, their future and grab hold of their dreams.

Josh's results and business growth place him in the top 1% of elite brokers nationally which is a true testament to his experience and dedication. Having won countless mortgage broking industry awards since opening the business in 2010, Josh and the team at MAB Melbourne have now settled more than 1.5 billion in loans.

Kristy has been in the real estate and finance industry for the past 20 years having owned and operated her own successful agency in both Real Estate and Mortgage Broking Business. She spent a number of years as the General Manager of Ray White Victoria and 5 years at Loan Market in a National Role specialising in Broker Productivity and performance, so she is no stranger to pulling apart a business to find efficiencies and streamline the business in order to get the best operating Rythm. She believes in having a clear system to allow business owners to scale whilst keeping doing the important stuff and outsourcing tasks to give them back time.

After spending time over the UK looking at the broking market, Kristy met Mortgage Advice Bureau , the leading UK consumer brand for mortgage intermediaries and quickly knew that this company was invested in the future of technology and were very well placed with where the industry was heading. She Joined MAB as head of partnerships to be a part of a winning organising that were ahead of the game and had a different model that she knew would be well received in the Australian market. Having stepped inside hundreds of different broking business, she has certainly seen lots of different models and ways to do things and she takes these wins to help others grow and build a better business.

You may find it hard to get her to stop talking about some of her favourite topics, efficiencies and the actual cost of running a file, a brokers role and handover, the value of a lead and how to nurture it until its ready, getting new team members up to speed quickly and of course Technology - how will consumers take out a loan in 5 years' time and what our financial transactions will really tell us about our clients? Kristy believes in building great referral partnerships to strengthen your business and is always happy to share her tips as to how to help build these relationships.

Kristy is married to a successful mortgage broker and business owner Josh Bartlett so this certainly helps her insight into the day to day running of a business. Juggling her role at Mortgage Advice Bureau she is also mum to 2 boys Zac and Bailey who keep her on her toes.

Paul Smith is the General Manager of ActivePipe and created it's mortgage broker product. With its cutting edge technology and powerful content, brokers can supercharge their database so they can stay in touch with all their clients, leads and referral partners.

ActivePipe sends over 1M monthly emails on behalf of its broker customers and has deep insights into the things that motivate borrowers to use mortgage brokers.

Kerry Packer once stated that Mortgage Brokers ‘are in the business of hopes and dreams’, Ruan Burger, former Managing Director of Time Home Loans, Brisbane, and Home Loans Etc, Gladstone, wishes he had created this line as it typified his business philosophy as a Mortgage Broker - helping people achieve The Great Aussie Dream of owning your own home.  
 
 
Ruan landed on Aussie shores in 2005 and quickly forged a career within the Mortgage Broking Industry climbing into Australia’s Top 100 Brokers in the first two years of business and retaining his position in the pack until the sale of Time Home Loans in 2021. He won numerous accolades during his career, and is ready to raise the bar again with Success&Broker.
 
 
“You do not need to reinvent the wheel, you just need to do it better than the competition. The wheel in this instance is service and I believe relationships are the key to providing a standout service. People deal with people; we are but a culmination of our experiences” - Ruan
 
 
Ruan has always aimed to raise the bar with visionary and adaptable businesses, with great purpose and support, delivering an outstanding and individualized service to clients - they say that you cannot be all things to all people, but does that mean you should not try?
 
 
After a long working week Ruan unwinds with his wife and children for quality family time… if it’s a really good day his wife allows him out for a game of golf!

Terry Walker is the Head of Sales at National Mortgage Brokers Pty Ltd (“nMB”) since 2019.

Terry has over 25 years’ experience in the finance industry which includes senior positions with a number of leading financial services institutions, non-bank and mortgage aggregation businesses. Terry has been instrumental in driving unprecedented growth in broker business recruitment and settlements across nMB’s national cohort of brokers. Previously he played a significant role as National Sales Manager in establishing the foundations of Liberty Network Services which is now a thriving branded aggregation business.

Terry has built a high performing National team of nMB Partnership Managers who strive daily to help their brokers increase productivity by engaging in detailed planning and providing genuine high-touch support to the nMB broker cohort.

Terry continues to be a passionate advocate of the third-party channel and highly successful sales leader within our industry.

Them is a prominent figure within the banking and finance space, with over two decades of experience, including ten plus years with AFG.

Them has held different positions within several financial institutions, including Esanda Finance, Genworth Financial and GE Money. These previous roles helped Them develop a skill set that aligns with the role he delivers at AFG to support broker groups.

As part of the Executive Team at AFG, Them provides essential input on business strategy, manages the Strategic Partners Program (which consists of AFG’s enterprise level groups across the country), and broker recruitment nationally.

Every broker group has common problems to solve, yet they are all unique. Them is motivated to get to know the people behind the businesses. He wants to understand what drives them and collaborates with them to find incremental gains to help them achieve their goals.

Them’s strength is guiding businesses on what platforms, core principles, support and tools they will need to excel in an ever-changing marketplace.

AFG provides brokers with unwavering support, powerful tools, and passionate expertise to grow their business, their future and grab hold of their dreams.