Natalie Sheehan joins Adelaide Bank

Ms Sheehan, who was most recently the head of distribution at non-bank lender Brighten Home Loans, began her new role in the third-party banking division (led by general manager Darren Kasehagen) on Monday (20 March). 

She takes over the position from Raj Kapoor, who left the banking group in January to become the head of broker distribution at Athena Home Loans.

However, as national manager of broker distribution, Ms Sheehan will also be responsible for the management of the strategic partnerships team and relationships with the major aggregator partners that utilise Adelaide Bank for their white label offering (such as Connective Home Loans Select, AFG Home Loans Alpha, and Aussie Elevate etc).

Confirming the new appointment, Mr Kasehagen flagged Ms Sheehan’s extensive experience in leading high-performing national sales teams within the third-party industry.

He commented: “Natalie is a well-regarded and experienced finance professional who showed a great passion to join our team and broader organisation.

“Natalie’s energy and knowledge of the third-party industry including working in and around white label distribution programs made her an easy choice to bring into our team.

“We’re excited to have Natalie onboard and I look forward to working with Natalie to continue to build and grow our existing mortgage broker value proposition.”

Speaking of her new role, Ms Sheehan commented: “I am excited to join the team at Adelaide Bank at such an exciting time.

“I am looking forward to getting my feet under the desk and tackling some new challenges.” 

While Bendigo and Adelaide Bank currently distributes home loans through the Adelaide Bank brand, it is expected that the banking group will soon look at launching a broker offering through Bendigo Bank, too.

As reported in 2019, the group has been working on enabling a Bendigo Bank home loan proposition for brokers.

“As part of the bank’s plan to simplify and reshape its business for the future, we are in the early stages of exploring options that would enable a Bendigo Home Loan proposition for brokers,” a Bendigo and Adelaide Bank spokesperson told The Adviser in 2019.

“Partners are an important part of our distribution capability and we are dedicated to offering the best possible products and services, and a superior experience for brokers and customers alike.”

Brokers are now writing the majority of home loans for the banking group, with its half-year results for the six months ended 31 December 2022, revealing that 59 per cent of new mortgages were written by the third-party channel in that period.

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