Movers & Shakers

Brokerage reveals new EGM

The Australian Lending & Investment Centre (ALIC) has appointed Matina Karvounaris as its new executive general manager of sales and distribution, as the brokerage charts its transition to a franchise model.

Karvounaris brings 25 years of senior banking leadership experience across several of Australia’s largest financial institutions.

She was most recently general manager of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) for Victoria at Westpac.

Her career includes stints as national manager of third-party business banking and head of private wealth for Victoria and Tasmania at Westpac Group.

She also spent five years at Bank of Melbourne, leading SME and small business banking, and acting as executive manager of corporate and commercial banking.

Prior to that, she spent 16 years at National Australia Bank (NAB) in a variety of senior roles.

Karvounaris said she was thrilled to be joining ALIC.

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Stephen Moore becomes chairman of Viking Aggregation

Industry veteran Stephen Moore, a former CEO of aggregation group Choice (now part of the LMG Group), has become the executive chairman of Viking Aggregation.

Moore took up his new role on 2 February.

The new Viking Aggregation chairman has over 25 years of experience in financial services leadership roles. He was most recently the chief commercial officer of fintech company Sherlok and has extensive experience in banking, having co-founded digital lender UBank and having held senior positions at ING and MLC.

Moore will now help build the residential and commercial aggregation offerings of Viking, led by former Vow Financial general manager Clive Kirkpatrick (managing director).

Kirkpatrick commented: “Stephen Moore has vast experience in the broking space and as executive chair, he and I will spearhead the recruitment of the new offerings and build out the memberships.

“He will also pick up some of the operational roles as well.”

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Non-bank announces new head of sales

Better Choice Home Loans (Better Choice), part of the BNK Banking Group, has named Cath Ryan as its new head of sales and strategic partnerships.

In her new role, which she started on 5 January, Ryan leads Better Choice’s national sales strategy across broker and partner channels, working closely with aggregators, brokers, and strategic partners to generate growth in self-employed, residential, and commercial lending.

She has almost three decades of experience spanning across banking, specialist lending, aggregation, and broker distribution, including as regional head of sales executive for NSW with non-bank lender Thinktank and as a senior business development manager at St.George Bank.

Ryan also previously worked at asset finance aggregator Viking Aggregation, where she helped develop its soon-to-be-launched commercial aggregation offering.

Better Choice said Ryan was the right pick due to her “deep understanding” of how brokers build and scale high-performing businesses.

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Rapid Loans appoints new CEO and CFO

Rapid Loans, the Gold Coast-based personal and auto lender established in 2003, has made two senior executive appointments.

Kane Jones has been appointed as the lender’s new CEO, after having been promoted to chief operating officer in November 2025.

He brings more than 20 years of experience in financial services risk and compliance, including enterprise and operational risk, credit risk, and regulatory compliance.

Before joining Rapid Loans, Jones was chief risk officer at The Mutual Bank.

Meanwhile, Lois Zhang has been promoted to chief financial officer, having led the company’s financial strategy, planning, and budgeting since March last year.

She brings nearly 18 years of international experience across Australia, China, and Europe, with expertise in financial operations, funds management, project finance, mergers and acquisitions, and consultancy.

Founder and former CEO Russell Birse will become executive chair, providing strategic oversight for the next phase.