EXCELLENCE AWARDEE: Infinity Capital Bank of the Year

Heartland Bank

Michelle Winzer

Chief Executive Officer

Michelle Winzer joined Heartland Bank as CEO on 22 July 2024, bringing over 30 years of banking and financial services experience. Originally from Buccan, Queensland, she has held executive roles in retail and business banking, customer service and operations. Previously, Michelle was Chief Executive Banking at RACQ Bank, CEO at Bank of Melbourne and held senior positions at Bankwest, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac. She excels in cultural transformation and market-leading service, with strengths in values-based leadership and uniting teams behind a vision to achieve top business performance.

Chief Executive Officer

Michelle Winzer

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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.

Heartland Bank is a specialist bank. It focuses on providing Australians with specialist banking products that are the best or only products of their kind, through digital channels. Heartland Bank is Australia’s largest ADI provider of reverse mortgages, a specialist provider of livestock finance through StockCo, and is proud to offer competitive term deposit rates to help Australians get the most out of their money. While Heartland Bank was established in May 2024, its predecessors have been serving Australians since 1971. Since 2004, Heartland has helped more than 27,500 Australians to live a more comfortable retirement by releasing equity from their homes. Its livestock finance brand, StockCo, is a leading provider of specialist livestock finance for Australian food producers and has been operating in Australia since 2014, with origins in New Zealand dating back to 1995. Heartland Bank is part of the Heartland group of companies. Heartland Group Holdings Limited has more than 145 years of experience in financial services and is listed on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges (NZX/ASX:HGH).

Medina Cicak

Chief Commercial Officer

Medina Cicak is an experienced financial services executive, specialising in developing and executing growth strategies that drive tangible results. Medina’s expertise spans a wide range of critical areas, including strategy development, business expansion, project management, risk and compliance, product ownership and operational excellence. Prior to joining Heartland Bank in 2024 as Chief Commercial Officer, Medina held multiple senior positions within the banking industry, including at Suncorp Bank and more recently at RACQ Bank where she was Head of Lending Product, Operations and Distribution. Medina leads Heartland’s product distribution teams in Australia, including the Retail, Reverse Mortgages and Livestock Finance businesses.

Chief Commercial Officer

Medina Cicak

Puneet Kumar

Distribution and Partnerships Manager

Puneet Kumar is an experienced banking and finance professional with over 17 years in the industry and a Master’s in Accounting. Prior to joining Heartland Bank, he held leadership roles at Commonwealth Bank spanning operations, lending and project management. Since joining Heartland Bank, Puneet has served as Credit Manager, gaining expertise in managing complex scenarios. He now leads Heartland Bank’s distribution and partnerships channel for Reverse Mortgages, with a focus on building strong broker relationships and driving growth.

Distribution and Partnerships Manager

Puneet Kumar

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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