iscover 
Simon Beckett will now take the reins – a move that Banjo said marks the latest step in the SME lender’s evolution from a start-up to a scaled lending and technology business.
Beckett brings more than 30 years’ experience in financial services, including senior roles at GE Capital and Cerberus Capital, as well as serving as managing director of Wells Fargo Australia. His experience spans M&A, capital raising, and international growth across the US, United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
He currently holds non-executive director roles with Heartland Group and ORDE Financial.
Beckett said he would focus on supporting the lender’s next phase of growth, noting the scale of opportunity within the SME segment.
“Rick has done an amazing job and he’s got the business on a great set of rails and a great growth trajectory,” Beckett said.
“The financial shape of the business is excellent. The segment that it serves offers enormous opportunity, with the SME market making up around 70 per cent of all companies here in Australia.
“But they’re very poorly served by the banks, and it’s a segment I’m particularly passionate about serving.
“I want to bring what I’ve learned in the board space and in my executive career, together with my networks in the private equity and non-bank space, to help fuel the next phase of growth for Banjo and explore synergies and opportunities that will take the business to the next level.”
Banjo CEO Guy Callaghan said the appointment reflects the lender’s transition into its next stage of growth.
“Banjo is now in a fantastic stage of its growth where we are no longer a start-up but an ongoing concern and can look at different opportunities that are out there that are going to fit with us,” Callaghan said.
“Simon’s skills and network will help a lot with that, whether it’s M&A or working together with different businesses that complement each other.”
Founded in 2015 by former National Australia Bank executives Andrew Colliver, Julian Hedt, and Stephen Murphy, Banjo has grown into a non-bank SME lender writing more than $200 million in loans annually, positioning itself as an alternative to traditional banks.
Callaghan added: “We aim to grow our loan volume and client list by another 50 per cent by FY28, and our whole goal is to be Australasia’s favourite non-bank lender – we want to be the lender that people just keep coming back to and back to.
“We don’t want to re-invent the wheel because our model is working. We just want to get better and better at what we do, and I want to pay tribute to Rick as outgoing chairman for his leadership and for positioning us so well for that continued success.”
[Related: How tougher business conditions are reshaping the broker role]
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?Make Broker Daily a preferred news source on Google.