National Committee Members

Chair

Will Farrant is a Partner at Ares Asia in Sydney where he is head of the Alternative Credit business for the region.  Alternative Credit focusses on asset-backed financing of all types. 

Prior to joining Ares, Will was a Managing Director in the Securitised Products Group at Credit Suisse, where he was responsible for the APAC region.  Previously, Will headed Credit Suisse’s Australian and New Zealand debt capital markets origination and syndication business. 

Will’s early career has a strong securitisation theme.  Will started professional life as a London and Singapore-based securitisation lawyer with Norton Rose, before becoming an investment manager at Gordian Knot Investment Management in London. 

Deputy Chair

Matthew is the Group Treasurer of SG Fleet Group, a leading provider of motor vehicle leasing, fleet management and salary packaging services, with businesses in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Matthew has 24 years of corporate and bank treasury experience, which comprised 7 years in leadership roles in the treasury team of Pepper Group, including as Australian Treasurer, and 17 years at Macquarie Group, including as Treasurer of the Banking & Securitisation Division.

Prior to that Matthew worked for 10 years in the Banking & Financial Services practice of Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) in Sydney and London, qualifying as a Chartered Account in 1989.

Matthew is co-Chair of the Industry & Markets Subcommittee and has been an active participant on a number of other ASF subcommittees over the past decade.  He has been a long term participant in the securitisation industry and is a strong advocate for the non-bank sector.

Treasurer

Heather has over 18 years’ experience in the US, UK and Australian retail banking market and has specialised in securitisation since 2003. She was a key member of the Deloitte New York Securitisation Services Team through the 2007-2010 GFC working with clients to access government support, restructure transactions and assess the impact of the crisis. 

Heather represents Asia-Pacific in Deloitte’s market-leading Global Securitisation Team, with strong links to global experts across the world and she leads Deloitte’s Securitisation Advisory offerings nationally. She is an audit partner and works closely with many of Australia’s largest lenders challenging end-to-end controls and processes across the credit lifecycle as well as working on many of the Australian market’s domestic and international issuances, for both audit and non-audit clients across asset classes. Heather also regularly leads due diligence engagements on portfolio acquisitions and M&A engagements.  She audits both ADIs and non-bank lenders, as well as one of Australia’s largest aggregators.

Heather is a contributing author and presenter of the annual Deloitte Mortgage Report and is a judge for The Advisor Magazine’s Broker of the Year Awards. 

Heather has been Treasurer of the Australian Securitisation Forum since 2017. She also chairs both the internal Audit & Risk Subcommittee and the Accounting and Tax Subcommittee, and has recently led the ASF’s discussions with the Australian Accounting Standards Board regarding financial reporting requirements for securitisation SPVs. Additionally, she has been a member of the Education Subcommittee since 2011 and leads all the accounting and tax concepts for the ASF’s educational offerings. 

James is the CFO of Firstmac – a role he has held since 2005.

He has a wealth of knowledge in treasury and capital markets and expertise in debt, equity and derivative markets. He has overseen the issuance of more than A$32 billion of RMBS, and managed Firstmac through volatile global funding markets including the global financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.

James started his career at KPMG in Brisbane where he attained his ACA qualifications with the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. He has since worked for CSFB, Abbey National, and HSBC. James has a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) from the Queensland University of Technology, and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

 

Amy is portfolio manager in the income and markets team at Aware Super. Amy is responsible for managing direct investments within the fund with a focus on financials and securitisation.
 
Amy has more than 10 years’ experience in fixed income funds management, previously working in the Abrdn Australian fixed income team.
 
Amy is a CFA Charterholder and has a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Finance. She was awarded the University Medal for her Bachelor Degree and the BOC Award for placing first in the Finance major.
 
 

Jennifer Hellerud is a managing director and head of RBCCM Australia's Securitisation Finance business. Jennifer joined RBCCM in October 2017 to establish the Australian securitisation business, drawing upon RBCCM's market-leading position in North America. The originate to distribute business now comprises a team of four, providing warehouse funding and private capital solutions across a variety of asset classes and leveraging its global distribution network to assist clients achieve their funding objectives. 

Jennifer has 20 years' experience in the securitisation industry, beginning her career with Standard & Poor's before joining Westpac Institutional Bank's Structured Finance team in an origination role. 

She is currently Chair of the Women in Securitisation Subcommittee which she has been a member of since 2019. She is also a former chair of RBCCM Australia's Diversity Council and remains an active member of the council today. 

Richard Lovell is an Executive Director in the Investment team at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Richard has overall responsibility for the debt markets business at the CEFC, including climate/green bond activity and other aggregation programs for funding. Richard is also responsible for capital management activities relating to the CEFC balance sheet.

Prior to joining the CEFC, Richard was an Executive Director in the Structured and Asset Finance business at Westpac Institutional Bank and prior to that worked at Société Générale and Perpetual Trustees.

Richard has a Bachelor of Economics from UNSW with a double major in finance and economics.

Rick is the Treasurer at RedZed Lending Solutions, a leading provider of specialist lending solutions for self-employed customers. He oversees the company’s funding and financial risk management strategies, ensuring optimal performance and sustainability. With over 25 years of experience in the securitisation industry, Rick has held senior roles in funding and securitisation for various ADIs and non-bank financial institutions. He is passionate about building and leading teams that are aligned with the company’s long-term vision and values. When he is not working, Rick enjoys motorsports and cycling, as well as spending time with his family.

Rick holds a Master of Finance and a Master of Business Administration from Macquarie University.

Stephen is head of ABS at Challenger Investment Management, with responsibility for the asset-backed securities portfolios globally.

He joined the firm in 2008 as an analyst in the asset and liquidity management team. He has been a member of the fixed income team since 2011, focusing on asset-backed structuring and investing.
 
Stephen is a CFA charterholder and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree from University of Sydney.
 

Stephen is an Executive Director in the Securitisation Team at NAB, a position he started in 2017. He covers a number of clients across the mortgage, auto and equipment, small business loans, unsecured and personal loan asset classes. The role covers arranging, structuring and executing term transactions as well as private funding vehicles.
 
Prior to joining NAB, Stephen has held a number of positions including tenures at Standard & Poor’s (in both Europe and Australia), Société Générale, CBA and an emerging FinTech company. Stephen has extensive experience across different securitisation areas covering RMBS, Structured Credit, CDOs, CMBS, ABS, SIVs and has worked in the UK, Europe and Australian regions.
 
Stephen studied at Imperial College in London and holds a PhD in Atmospheric and Optical Physics as well as a MSc And BSc in Physics. Stephen is also a regular lecturer on the ASF Educational Program.
 

Tricia has over 20 years’ financial markets experience across treasury, capital markets and insurance.

She joined Westpac in 2015 in the Structured Funding and Capital team within Group Treasury, with primary responsibilities for structuring, execution and ongoing management of covered bond and securitisation transactions to support the funding and liquidity needs of the Westpac Group. 

Prior to Westpac, Tricia worked at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Sydney and London, structuring and executing ABS transactions for Australian and global issuers across a wide range of asset classes including student loans, and helped establish RBS’s inaugural global covered bond programme. She also worked in the London insurance markets with Aviva, where she developed and implemented economic capital models in key general insurance businesses to support capital management strategy.

Tricia has a Bachelor of Commerce (Actuarial Studies) and a Bachelor of Applied Finance from Macquarie University.
 

Anne-Marie is a Partner at King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), where she specialises in securitisation, derivatives, and other structured capital markets and structured finance matters across the Australian and Asian regions.  Anne-Marie is highly regarded as an Australian and Asian securitisation and structured finance practitioner, and as a thought leader in innovative structures and new development areas such as green, social and sustainable finance, securitisations of alternative asset classes (such as NPLs) and securitised portfolio acquisitions.
 
She regularly speaks at industry and academic events, and has been involved in many market leading transactions in Australia and Asia.  Anne-Marie has been named as a leading lawyer for Capital markets - securitisation in Chambers Asia-Pacific, for Capital markets - structured finance and securitisation in the IFLR1000 Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms, for Banking and Finance Law, Debt Capital Markets Law, Derivatives, Structured Finance Law and Government Practice in Best Lawyers in Australia, and for Best in Structured finance at the Euromoney Asian Women in Business Law Awards.
 
Anne-Marie has been heavily involved in ASF and other industry initiatives, including by assisting the industry to navigate the pandemic through leading the AOFM forbearance SPV project, through co-leading engagements in connection with BBSW reform, as a member of the ASF Industry and Markets Subcommittee, and through participating on a number of ASF working groups.  Because of her co-specialities in derivatives, other structured products and prudential capital and her broader Asian practice, Anne-Marie brings not only local securitisation-specific knowledge, but also lateral industry and cross-border perspectives.