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A new leadership structure has been announced at the major brokerage, with a new CFO appointed alongside several new general managers.
Lendi Group – which includes brokerages Lendi and Aussie – has announced a change to its structure to help it achieve its five-year growth agenda.
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The change includes new senior leadership team members, new general managers, and the appointment of a state-based leadership team to support broker growth.
While there will reportedly be “impacts” on some team members within the new structure (details of which have not been released), the group said the headcount would grow, with 59 new roles created through the changes.
New senior leaders
The broking brand has confirmed that it has appointed Leo Bautista – the former general manager for group strategy, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) – as its new chief financial officer (CFO).
Bautista, who has also held M&A positions at ANZ and Lehman Brothers, will take over the role from the group’s current CFO Jason King, who has “chosen to depart in May to pursue a new opportunity outside of the group”.
The new CFO will begin his new position “in late May,” according to the group, and will also oversee corporate development, strategy, and M&A.
He will join the executive leadership team alongside:
- Chief executive and co-founder David Hyman.
- chief operating officer and co-founder Sebastian Watkins.
- chief product officer Travis Tyler.
- chief distribution officer Brad Cramb.
- chief legal and operations officer Nicole Johnschwager.
As well as appointing a new CFO, the broking group has also announced newly appointed general managers to support further growth strategies and support the group’s broker growth. (Lendi Group currently has a network of over 1,300 brokers).
Emily Lonsdale – the group’s general manager for corporate development and strategy – has taken on the new role as Lendi Group’s general manager of growth.
Lonsdale has worked at Lendi Group for the past three years and was a senior manager at Aussie for three years before its acquisition by Lendi.
She is now leading the multidisciplinary product, brand, and performance team at Lendi Group.
In addition, Devesh Maheshwari – who was mostly recently the chief technology officer at consulting company Pantheras (and has also previously headed up the technology arms of payments company Tyro and betting agency Tabcorp) – has now been onboarded as general manager of technology at Lendi Group. He joined the company in March.
They join existing general managers at the group, including general manager of data Jade Clarke (who is in charge of spearheading Lendi Group’s AI initiatives).
Lendi Group has also confirmed it will have a state-based leadership team to support broker growth, comprising:
- General manager of Queensland Matt Whyte.
- General manager of NSW & ACT Karen Sorrenti.
- General manager of network delivery & acting GM of Victoria/Tasmania Aaron Hockey.
- Head of South Australia/the Northern Territory/Western Australia Corey Drew.
- Head of Lendi distribution Joel Curle.
New structure aims to help deliver growth
Speaking of the change in structure, Hyman said the new appointments came during a period of growth and technological transformation at the group.
These include the migration of over 1,000 Aussie brokers onto the Lendi Group platform, a rise in its market share to 6.8 per cent (and loan book growth to nearly $100 billion) and Aussie and Lendi “taking out the #1 and #4 top broker spots respectively for 2024” in The Adviser’s Top 25 Brokerages ranking 2024.
He continued: “We have had a pivotal 12 months, and our new leadership appointments combined with focused investment in key capabilities and support structures reflect the need to continue this pace, ensuring our customers and brokers continue to receive an innovative experience and the best products.”
Cramb added that the new leadership appointments and structure would build on Lendi Group’s customer, broker & lender experience, which is “simplified to hyper-focus on brokers, customers and product-led technology”.
“Over the past year, we have progressively rolled out our best-in-breed broker support models ‘PLUS’ and ‘GROW’, seeing 70 per cent of Aussie mobile brokers and 50 per cent of Aussie retail stores who have opted into this model deliver: higher appointments; increased conversion; and better customer outcomes,” he said.
“Our focus remains on evolving these programs to support the growth of our broker business. At the same time, newly appointed general managers will support further growth strategies, with a product and tech-led agenda that disrupts local market challenges to drive state-based market share.”
Noting the departure of King, Hyman reflected: “Jason led what was a three-person finance team, which has grown to a successful finance division within Lendi Group today.
“Jason has been at the heart of several key transactions and transformation projects, giving Lendi Group an excellent foundation to grow from moving forward.
“On behalf of the entire board and executive team, I want to thank Jason for his leadership and friendship, and I wish him every success in his next endeavours.”
[Related: Brokerage rolls out AI to save brokers ‘thousands of hours’]
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