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 retail sales for Pepper Money, leading a team of talented BDMs who partner with brokers to provide real life solutions for their clients across SMSF, Residential & Commercial Mortgages.

 
With almost 20 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.
When Siobhan isn’t at work, she keeps herself active with two gorgeous young children who constantly keep her on her toes.

As the Head of Third Party Relationships at the Simplicity Loans & Advisory Group, he assumes responsibility for steering the strategic direction, market expansion, and brand elevation of the third-party channel, Marketplace Finance.

His duties entail leading Relationship Managers to achieve targeted sales, service excellence, growth objectives, and capitalise on opportunities. Moreover, he focuses on nurturing the professional growth of his team to realise both immediate and long-term objectives while ensuring high levels of job satisfaction.

With over twenty years of experience in finance, he has held various roles in direct banking, ascending from Branch Manager to Area Manager. However, his true passion lies in the intermediary channel, where he has been actively engaged since 2012.

In 2015, he founded National Finance Brokers Day, aimed at raising awareness about the broker industry in Australia and educating consumers about the advantages of working with brokers. Held annually on the third Wednesday of August, NFBD serves as a platform for brokers, finance professionals and consumers to reflect on the industry's impact over the past year.

Additionally, he co-hosts the No Hair Just Finance podcast, where he and his fellow host delve into financial trends, challenges, and innovations in an engaging and accessible manner. Whether one is a finance professional seeking industry insights, a small business owner navigating financial waters, or simply a finance enthusiast eager to learn more, their podcast offers valuable insights and entertaining discussions.

James Symond is the former “born and bred” CEO of Aussie Home Loans, founded alongside his Uncle “Aussie John” in January 1992 at just 19 years of age.

With ultimately over 1000 brokers, 230 retail stores and transacting with over a million new customers, under the Symond’s, Aussie was known as the industry trail blazer and proudly acknowledged for forcing interest rates to be lowered for all Australians in the 1990’s.

James strongly led this dynamic business with John for 30 years to becoming a true trusted household mortgage brand alongside the major banks and is a recognised and respected industry leader. He is a past president of the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia, has been awarded a prestigious fellowship and is a life member.

Prior to his recent sabbatical, James was highly sought after and respected for his “straight talking” commentary on industry issues in the media.

With the sale of Aussie in 2021 James stepped down from his role as CEO and remains an Australian based business executive focusing on strategic private investments locally and abroad.

We await his anticipated return.

Mark Bouris is an Australian entrepreneur who has been innovating for years, challenging the business landscape with disruptive models that help Australians succeed. Having built his reputation as a finance specialist taking on Australia’s banks, his unique brand of charisma & curiosity sees his influence cut across multiple worlds. From businesses large and small, to politics and sport, Mark pays forward his knowledge and experience, to help grow and nurture the next generation of Australian success stories.

Best known as the founder of ‘Wizard Home Loans’, Australia’s second largest non-bank mortgage lender, which he sold to General Electric in 2004. Mark is now the Executive Chairman of Yellow Brick Road, where he continues his mission to help Australians access their dream homes.

Appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2015 for his significant service to the finance industry, his sharp financial commentary and trademark “tell it straight” attitude resonates with everyday Australians, and led to his foray into television. The former host of the Nine Network’s The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice, as well as The Mentor on the Seven Network, Mark’s time on Australian screens cemented his reputation as a trusted voice in finance and business.

Making use of his media platform and decades of experience in business, Mark is committed to sharing the insights and knowledge of Australia’s leading business minds through the Mentored Platform, which helps small business owners and entrepreneurs come together, grow, and succeed.

 
He pays forward his knowledge and that of others to Australian entrepreneurs through his podcasts, The Mentor and Straight Talk, original series, and his books, What It Takes and Rise.

Away from business, Mark sits on the board of the Sydney Roosters, and looks forward to the Roosters lifting the premiership trophy this season.

Penny is an experienced property professional with valuation experience in commercial and residential valuations and can provide valuations for mortgage security purposes, strata renewal, residential development, compulsory acquisition, and a reallocation of unit entitlements.

With an adept understanding of how the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015, Strata Scheme Development Regulation2016, Land Acquisitions (Just Terms) Act 1991, and the use of Codesof Practice, Guidance Material and Case Law apply within a valuation context, Penny is able to offer comprehensive valuation advice, tomeet the requirements of the instruction or direction provided.

Penny’s role in the real estate finance team with the Commonwealth Bank has bought an understanding of financiers’ risk appetite and financial covenants for large scale commercial and residential development transactions along with investment grade office, industrial and retail assets.

Penny was elected to the Australian Property Institute Board of Directors in 2022 and is using this platform to give back to the industry and ensure the profession remains valued, scalable, inclusive and forward thinking. 

Peter White AM is the Managing Director of the FBAA, and first started as a volunteer with the FBAA in 2003.

 
Peter’s banking and finance career spans over 43 years covering retail banking, Head of Private Banking, Associate Director of Marketing and Distribution in Investment Banking, established RAMS Home Loans first sales office in 1993, and has run mortgage management businesses and has had several broking businesses of his own.

A strong and passionate advocate for industry, Peter spends a significant amount of time with regulators and government, as well as being a Registered Lobbyist in his own right, and is the leading advocate and Ambassador for Mental Health Awareness in our finance industry which he started that awareness conversation in 2016.

In 2016 Peter established and is the current Global Chairman for the IMBF (International Mortgage Brokers Federation) which is a collaboration of industry associations in 6 countries and is a world's first of its kind.

 
He also sits on the Small Business Association of Australia's Advisory Board, and is a champion and campaigner for mental health issues & the needs of parents and carers of Special Needs Children.
Peter was recognised in the 2019 Queens Birthday Honours with an “AM” Member of the Order of Australia, for significant services to industry and the community.

 
And, in 2021 was awarded in the Australian Broking Awards as the ‘Industry Thought Leader of the Year' and in 2022 ‘Wellness Advocate of the Year’, and was recognised in the MPA 2022 Global Top 100 mortgage influences.

Anja Pannek joined the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) as Chief Executive Officer in September 2022.

Anja is an experienced leader in financial services with over 20 years’ experience, in particular working within financial services and the broker industry, leading successful businesses. She thrives in complex and uncertain environments and brings an exceptionally strong understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the Australian mortgage and finance broking industry.

Prior to joining the MFAA, Anja was CEO of PLAN Australia, one of Australia’s leading aggregators at the time. She was CFO of NAB’s Personal Banking division for several years and has also held senior leadership roles at Loan Market Group, Advantedge Financial Services and Challenger Limited.

David has experience in both the public and private sector, with thirty years’ background in the practice of law, as a company director, in government and community relations, law making, politics and diplomacy. He is an admitted solicitor to the High Court of Australia and served as a Federal Senator for Tasmania from 2007 to 2019, where he was Chief Government Whip of the Senate from 2014 onwards. David was for many years, Chair/Deputy Chair of the Senate Economics Committee where he took a particular interest in the banking, finance and superannuation sectors. Between 2019 and 2022, David served as Australia’s Consul-General in Chicago. Most recently, he was assisting the state Government in Tasmania.

In October 2023, David commenced as the Chief Executive Officer of the Commercial & Asset Finance Brokers Association of Australia (CAFBA), a position in which he relies and draws on his experience in small business, as a lawyer and an economist, government relations, law making and diplomacy. In particular, David’s understanding of government, regulation and policy development and implementation, place him ideally to assist with the public policy advocacy aspect of his role as CEO of CAFBA.

An experienced executive and COO, Nicole Devine is General Manager, Product at Mortgage Choice (part of REA Group), responsible for driving the product strategy for REA’s Financial Services business and changing the way people experience property and property finance.

 
Nicole’s career spans more than 25 years across diverse industries in Australia and internationally, including over 15 years in the financial services industry. Her previous roles include time as COO of cloud consultancy startup Versent, and four years as COO and a year as Executive General Manager of NAB’s third-party broker business. Nicole is a highly regarded change agent, passionate about business transformation and enhancing broker and customer experiences through technology.

Meet Steve Corney: The Learning and Legacy Dude. As a Learning Strategist and a passionate advocate for Lecagy, Geoflex and Remote Work, Steve is on a mission to transform how individuals and businesses document, capture, and immortalise their knowledge and legacies for the future.

Founder of Learn Awesome, a cutting-edge digital learning and experience agency, Steve wields his superpowers: commercialising knowledge, simplifying the complex, and leveraging tech and automation to do the heavy lifting, wherever possible.

Every session with Steve is an adventure through relevant, actionable insights. He guarantees you'll walk away with at least one transformative strategy to level up your business.

Jeremy Paul was a part of the most successful period in Australian Rugby’s history an is one of 6 Wallabies who has won every trophy on the planet and out of those 6 he is the only player who has also won a John Eales medal. When his wife was tragically diagnosed with the rarest neurological and autoimmune condition in the world, life changed forever, so Jeremy Paul opens up about how to deal with change and using his elite sporting background, he gives his audience the mechanisms to flourish with change in both their personal and business lives because miracles can happen.