Headquarters:
25/333 Collins St, Melbourne, Vic 3000
Year founded:
1952
Number of employees:
600
Phone:
13 80 10
Email:
alex.hyndman-hill@infinity.com.au
Website:
latrobefinancial.com.au
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/la-trobe-financial
Chris Andrews
Chief Executive Officer
Cory Bannister
Chief Lending Officer
Antonietta Sestito
Chief People and Marketing Officer
Leadership
Chris Andrews has more than 25 years of experience in corporate Australia and is known for combining strategic clarity, operational discipline and a people-first leadership style. A respected commentator on industry, economic and market trends, he has led La Trobe Financial’s transformation into a modern, technology-enabled investment platform. Under his leadership, the business has grown assets under management by 80% and established itself as Australia’s leading provider of retirement investment solutions and high-quality, complex prime credit.
Chief Executive Officer
Chris Andrews
Cory Bannister is an acknowledged industry leader in real estate private credit and a highly sought-after commentator on credit and third-party origination. He has led the asset origination strategy that has underpinned La Trobe Financial’s growth into Australia’s number-one originator of real estate private credit assets.
Chief Lending Officer
Cory Bannister
Antonietta Sestito is a highly seasoned financial services executive with deep experience across asset management, superannuation and banking. She has led the transformation of La Trobe Financial’s marketing function, delivering market-leading brand recognition and growth in volumes. Under her leadership, La Trobe Financial has also been recognised as one of Australia’s Top 50 Places to Work and honoured in The Australian Best Places to Work 2026.
Chief People and Marketing Officer
Antonietta Sestito
Michelle Bannister
Head of Distribution
Michelle Bannister has served as La Trobe Financial’s head of distribution since 2019. In this role, she manages the distribution channel for broker clients and is responsible for growing the loan portfolio. Prior to her current role, she gained experience across several internal departments, including financial control, collections and credit, where she served as head of credit. Bannister holds a diploma in mortgage lending.
Head of Distribution
Michelle Bannister
Chris Paton
Chief Investment Officer
Chris Paton is a well-recognised financial services executive, thought leader and regular commentator in the asset management industry. He leads Australia’s fastest-growing real estate private credit fund and is spearheading the launch of La Trobe Financial’s diversified asset management platform.
Chief Investment Officer
Chris Paton
Jonathon Desmond
Chief Technology Officer
Francine Minervini
Senior Vice President, Chief Technical Claims Officer
Nicholas Webber
VP, WC Litigation
Pam Chhabra
Manager – Residential Strata
Jonathon Desmond has decades of experience in the IT field, with 20 years as a technology leader in the UK healthcare industry. He is highly experienced in technology leadership, software development and total systems design.
Chief Technology Officer
Jonathon Desmond
Francine Minervini is chief technical claims officer at Arch Insurance. She joined the company in 2007 as an assistant vice president in the casualty division and has held various roles of increasing responsibility in the claims department, ultimately being promoted to senior vice president in 2018.
Prior to joining Arch, Minervini held several claims handling roles with AIG. She has her JD from New England School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Seton Hall University. She is licensed to practice law in New Jersey and New York.
Senior Vice President, Chief Technical Claims Officer
Francine Minervini
Cemal Akgul sees the head of risk and collections role as pivotal in guiding and influencing business decisions. He has more than 15 years of experience across financial and government services, most recently with the NDIS, where he was the leading consultant driving the Risk Management process’ nationwide. Prior to that, he served various roles at BMW Finance across the United States, Hong Kong, Germany and Australia.
During Akgul’s tenure at BMW Finance, he predominately worked in risk management, guiding the organisation through seismic changes between 2016 and 2018. In his time prior, he was based out of New York, leading BMW Finance’s American subsidiary's market risk and data analytics teams between 2011 and 2016.
Akgul values a balanced approach to business, encourages a positive work culture and is passionate about teaching and guiding the business and individuals at IQumulate.
Head of Risk and Collections
Cemal Akgul
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Commercial Manager
Stephen McMillan
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Adam Basaldella
Manager – Claims
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Product Manager
Claire Watson
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Commercial Manager
Stephen McMillan
La Trobe Financial is an Australian global investment manager with a mature, market-leading real estate credit strategy and emerging capabilities across US private credit, Australian real estate, equities and global infrastructure. It is an asset manager and direct lender in equal measure, with the two sides of the business closely interdependent. Originating its own loans gives it direct control over credit quality and a pipeline of assets it knows intimately, while managing capital for institutional and retail investors provides multiple ways to fund those assets. This combination is rare in the Australian market and is a key source of the optionality and flexibility in its funding model.