Plenary Speakers

Sir Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof was one of the most well known pop personalities of his era with two UK number 1 singles to his credit and a starring appearance in the film of Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’. In 1984 he turned his attention to the dreadful famine that was plaguing Ethiopia, leading to the single "Do They Know It’s Christmas?”. This one song sold over three million copies and, thanks to Geldof’s foresight in gaining financial control of every aspect of the record’s production, manufacture and distribution, Famine Relief received over 96 pence from each of the £1.35 retail record sales. The next year saw Geldof organise the mammoth Live Aid extravaganza in which Geldof herded rock’s elite to play before a worldwide television audience of over 1,000,000,000.

By 1992 Bob had established himself as a highly astute businessman with his co-ownership of the television production house Planet 24 (later sold to Carlton Television), pioneer of the early morning television series The Big Breakfast. In the late 90s he co-founded online travel agent Deckchair.com and later in 1999 co-founded Ten Alps Communications. Ten Alps has been hugely successful, producing high profile documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, Five, Sky One and Discovery. In February 2005 Bob was the recipient of the Rose d’Or Charity Award, presented in remembrance of Sir Peter Ustinov at a special reception at the Swiss Embassy.

Read about Bob’s keynote Making a Difference

11.45am Friday 21 May

Calvert Duffy

Calvert is the Executive Director, Governance & Compliance for the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA), with a background in compliance, risk and corporate governance exceeding 25 years.

He holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from Monash University, and two Masters degree, one in Professional Education & Training and another in Commercial Law, both from Deakin University. He also holds many other qualifications in business, financial services, computing and training & development.

Calvert was awarded the first ever Certified Compliance Professional (Fellow)® status by the Australasian Compliance Institute; is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Training and Development and past President for NSW; an Affiliate of Chartered Secretaries Australia; and a member of the Risk Management Institution of Australasia (RMIA). Calvert is a member and a regular contributor to the Middle East Compliance Officers Forum (MECOF), and an Alumnus of the World Bank Institute. Calvert was also, until recently, a pro bono member of the Audit & Risk Committee for the Centre for Volunteering in NSW for a number of years

Through the MFAA Calvert has been working very closely with the Commonwealth Government, legislators, regulators and other stakeholders to develop a sensible national approach to mortgage & finance broking and Credit generally in Australia.

Calvert regularly presents Certified Compliance Officer training in the Middle East and SE Asia on behalf of the American Academy of Financial Management (AAFM).

Read about Calvert’s workshop NCCP Interactive

10.30am Wednesday 19 May

Craig James

I am married with three children and live in Dolans Bay in southern Sydney. Chief interest is athletics and trying to keeping up with the children.

My current role is Chief Economist, Commonwealth Securities, interpreting ‘big picture’ economic and financial trends for customers, clients and staff. Previously I was Chief Economist at Colonial and have worked at the Australian Financial Review as a senior writer.

As well as providing presentations to staff and clients and commentaries on financial and economic trends, I appear regularly in the electronic and print media.

I have worked in banking, finance and journalism for almost 30 years.

I hold both Bachelor and Master degrees in Commerce (Economics). Both degrees were undertaken at University of NSW.

Read about Craig’s presentation Two Speed: Australia & the World

9.35am Friday 21 May

Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioural Economics at Duke University, where he holds appointments at the Fuqua School of Business, The Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and the department of Economics. In addition, Dan is a visiting professor in MIT’s Program in Media Arts and Sciences. He is also the author of ‘Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions’.

Dan earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tel Aviv University, his master’s and doctorate degrees in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina, and a doctorate in Business Administration from Duke University. His research has been published in leading psychology, economics and marketing and management research journals, and has been featured in the New York Times, The New Yorker Magazine, The Washington Post and The Financial Times among others.

Read about Dan’s presentation Predictably Irrational

10.45am Friday 21 May

Jonathan Biggins

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
Following great feedback from our 2008 convention we have asked Jonathan Biggins to once again ‘take the helm’ at this year’s event. As a corporate MC and speaker, Jonathan has hosted two televised AFI Awards, eight APRA Awards, three Helpmann Awards as well as a host of product launches, charity events and national and international conferences. Jonathan has earned his reputation as a witty and engaging host.

Jon Denovan

Jon Denovan is one of the leading banking and finance lawyers in Australia.

Jon is a director of numerous companies including the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) Australia’s pre-eminent association for mortgage and finance professionals, Credit Ombudsman Services Limited (COSL), the largest ASIC approved alternate dispute resolution scheme, and Gadens NMS Pty Limited, our mortgage documentation arm.
In recognition of his contribution to the mortgage industry, Jon was made the first honorary member of the MFAA.

Jon’s primary focus is on regulation and compliance for the financial services and real estate industries. He and his team have established documents and procedures for many of Australia’s leading lenders and regularly provide compliance advice.

Jon is a leading authority on:

• all forms of financial accommodation
• Consumer Credit Code
• trade practices and fair trading legislation
• third party distribution agreements
• mortgage management.

Read about Jon’s workshop NCCP Interactive

10.30am Wednesday 19 May

John Flavell

John Flavell was appointed General Manager Distribution, NAB Broker in October 2009. Prior to that John held the role of Head of Broker Sales since March 2007. In his role John is responsible for building partnerships with mortgage brokers through the distribution of the full range of group product solutions including Homeside, NAB, MLC and Allianz brands.

John is responsible for the management of the national sales team comprising Senior Relationship Managers, Relationship Managers and Specialist resources. John is also responsible for the management and growth of relationships with key aggregator groups, including exploring opportunities to better support these businesses.

Prior to joining NAB Broker John held a number of senior roles in the mortgage broking industry including State Manager NSW for Aussie Home Loans and State Manager VIC, TAS, SA for RAMS. Other roles prior to NAB Broker also include a range of senior management roles in the information technology and telecommunications industry for Powertel and Telstra Corporation. John has completed studies in Valuations (Bachelor of Business Property) at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

Read about John’s presentation Busting the Myths Around Cost of Funds

9.05am Friday 21 May

3.30pm Wednesday 19 May

Phil Naylor

Phil Naylor is CEO of the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA), a position he has held since July 2002.

The MFAA is the peak industry association for the mortgage and finance industry in Australia, with over 12000 members, representing mortgage and finance brokers, mortgage managers and aggregators.

The focus of MFAA is on improving membership professionalism via more rigorous criteria/standards, education courses (both on line and face to face), disciplinary processes and promoting the profile of members to the public. MFAA has led the way to persuading governments to enact legislation and regulation for the credit industry consistently across the nation and is now strongly supportive of the Federal Government’s initiative in the National Consumer Credit Protection Act which will come into effect from 1 July 2010.

Read about Phil’s presentation

2.45pm Wednesday 19 May

Neil Rackham

Neil Rackham is known throughout the world as a speaker, writer and highly original thinker on sales and marketing issues. Three of his books have been on the New York Times best seller list and his works have been translated into over 50 languages. He has been Chairman and CEO of three international research and consulting firms. He first gained international recognition in the 1970s when he led the largest ever research study of successful selling and sales effectiveness. This massive project involved a team of 30 researchers who studied 35,000 sales calls in over 20 countries. The research took 12 years at a cost, in today’s dollars, of $30 million. The results lead to his groundbreaking classic SPIN® Selling, McGraw Hill’s best selling business book ever.

Neil has been an advisor on sales performance to several of the Fortune 100 largest companies in the United States and his book ‘Rethinking The Sales Force’ has received wide acclaim from critics, academics and salespeople. It is required reading at many leading business schools. His work in sales training has won him the Instructional Systems Association lifetime award for Innovation in Training and Instruction.

Read about Neil’s presentation Success in Sales: Under the Microscope

4.15pm Wednesday 19 May