Managing Director Of Australian Finance Group, Brett McKeon Featured In The CEO Magazine

Brett McKeon spoke with The CEO Magazine on the company’s amazing growth from a four-man operation to one of the largest providers of mortgage-broking services in Australia

by Paris Brooks

(WireNews+Co) - Sydney, Australia - 29 January 2013

Over the past 18 years, Brett McKeon has had a vital role in the growth and development of Australian Finance Group, also known as AFG, as managing director of its extensive operations. AFG was first established in 1994 as an aggregator that provided mortgage-brokers with access to products and support. Today, AFG offers more than 800 financial products from Australia’s leading lenders as well as commercial finance, insurance products, property development, and AFG-branded and securitised products.

The evolution of this industry-changing company has been astounding, as founding directors Brett McKeon, Bradley McGougan, Kevin Matthews, and Malcolm Watkins have confidently carved their own niche in the competitive Australian market. As managing director, Brett is responsible for group strategy, corporate governance, and driving the future development and direction of the company. Brett says he started his career in the private sector at the age of 22, and has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry.

“By the time I was 26, we had started AFG,” Brett says. “I was working in the insurance division of AMP in a very autonomous role. Within 12 to 18 months, I was hiring and managing a number of people. A year or two later, a friend of mine, Bradley McGougan, who I’d met at AMP, and I decided that we’d move out of the AMP structure and start another dealer group.

“We established that group, and within 12 months we saw an opportunity in the mortgage-broking industry and decided to run with it. At that point, we brought two other friends into the business. I went to school with Malcolm Watkins, and Kevin Matthews went to school with Bradley. We formed a partnership and started AFG.”

However, Brett admits, he didn’t originally plan to devote his career to the finance sector. “When I was 21, I spent a year travelling with one of my best friends and I was blown away by the entrepreneurial spirit and diversity that was all around me in the United States. I thought there were so many things I was seeing that haven’t been thought of or even implemented in Australia.

“When I got back home, I thought that I would try to set up my own business. Initially, I thought that establishing a fast-food empire like Taco Bell was a good idea, but after six months I realised it wasn’t for me. Around that time, I came across AMP and really liked what I saw within the finance and insurance sector.”

According to Brett, AFG broke the mould when it was established in 1994. “We started the industry. We identified that the world of banking was changing and believed a model like ours could really work. We backed ourselves for four years before we really started to find our way with the model and make it profitable. I think that’s something we’re very proud of—the fact that we started a new industry.

The full story can be downloaded here. (http://www.theceomagazine.com.au/Australian_Finance_Group/Brett_McKeon.pdf)

The CEO Magazine is Australia’s leading business magazine focused directly at high-level executives. The CEO Magazine is of unrivalled quality and has a hugely-influential readership of Australia's top businessmen and women. The CEO Magazine holds a prestigious partnership with a number of leading Australian airlines and can be seen in every Virgin and Qantas Business Lounge across Australia as well as all Hilton Hotels nationwide. The CEO Magazine also holds Australia's most prestigious awards night for high-level executives, the annual, Executive of the Year Awards. To find out more about The CEO Magazine go to http://www.TheCEOMagazine.com.au (http://www.theceomagazine.com.au).