EXCELLENCE AWARDEE: Rate Money Non-Bank of the Year

Brighten

Jason Azzopardi

Chief Executive Officer

Jason Azzopardi has 25 years of experience in finance, working for financial institutions in Australia and in London. Prior to joining Brighten, he was the CFO at Resimac and also led Resimac’s Manila operations as Head of Manila Operations and concurrently served as CEO of Resimac NZ. Previously, he held key roles at Uno Home Loans, Macquarie Bank and Bankwest, where he successfully implemented a number of strategic initiatives, working across Finance, Treasury, Distribution, Operations, Data and Business Intelligence, Brand, and Customer Experience. In his earlier career, Jason also held senior finance roles in private equity in London at Fortress and 3i.

Chief Executive Officer

Jason Azzopardi

facebook.com/BrightenAustralia

@brightenaustralia

@agile_uw

As an independent, forward-thinking girls’ school we are committed to preparing girls for a lifetime of learning, leadership and engagement in our global community. We believe in girls. At Ruyton Girls’ School we foster the individuality of each girl in a caring and safe environment, nurturing her intellectual, physical, social and emotional qualities that are essential to flourish. Powerful learning is central to the Ruyton culture, building on our strong academic reputation. We focus on advancing the learning of every girl through the engagement of intellectual curiosity, building their knowledge and skills about how to learn, and supporting them to achieve their personal best and be exemplary citizens. We believe in real-world learning beyond the classroom, collaborating with the wider community to promote growth, discovery and sustainability. We empower our girls to lead lives of purpose with courage, character and compassion. Through the development of values and action-focused learning they are inspired to pursue equity and justice for self and others. By embracing diversity and raising their voices, our girls effect positive change and make a difference.

Brighten is an Australian owned, based and regulated non-bank lender with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hong Kong and Shanghai. We are a full-service non-bank lender responsible for the origination, underwriting, servicing and funding of our mortgage portfolio. We have well-established warehouse-funding arrangements with multiple top-tier banks, two public RMBS programs and a wholesale credit fund to provide further funding diversification. Through our extensive network of brokers across Australia and partnerships with leading brands, Brighten offers a wide range of competitive loan products, including Full Doc, Alt Doc, Expat, Non-Resident, Bridging, Construction and Commercial products, to borrowers. Our mission is to reshape non-bank lending in Australia. At Brighten we believe in creating effective and innovative lending solutions, helping more borrowers achieve their property goals within Australia. We are leading the way in challenging the status quo to establish a real alternative to the major banks by focusing on new ideas and technologies to provide our customers and partners with intuitive, tailored and easy-to-use lending solutions.

Craig Thompson

Chief Operating Officer

Craig Thompson has over 20 years of experience building and implementing technology solutions across the financial services, legal and hospitality sectors to unlock new business capabilities, drive efficiency and solve business problems. Prior to joining Brighten, he worked at MA Financial Group as Head of Technology across its Asset Management, Corporate Advisory and Lending divisions. He was responsible for the development and delivery of MA’s IT strategy, transformation program and technology roadmap.

Chief Operating Officer

Craig Thompson

Chris Meaker

Head of Distribution

Chris Meaker has over 21 years of experience in the finance industry with a focus on lending, business development and sales management. Prior to joining Brighten, he worked for La Trobe Financial, where he was an Executive General Manager and Head of Origination Channels. Previously, he worked for Pepper Financial Services Group as State Manager and Senior Business Development Manager.

Head of Distribution

Chris Meaker

Stuart Murray

Head of Credit

Stuart Murray has over 21 years of experience in the Australian financial services industry, specialising in credit assessment and mortgage underwriting. Prior to joining Brighten, Stuart was Head of Lending Australia and Responsible Manager at Resimac, where he was responsible for management of all aspects of Resimac’s Australian underwriting team. Prior to that, Stuart worked in mortgage credit assessment at St.George Bank and Bluestone Mortgages.

Head of Credit

Stuart Murray

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