John Joseph Symond (born 17 August 1947) is an Australian entrepreneur, former financial executive, and the founder of Aussie Home Loans.

Early life

Symond was born on 17 August 1947 in

Crookwell, New South Wales Crookwell is a small town located in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Upper Lachlan Shire. At the , Crookwell had a population of 2,641. The town is at a relatively high altitude of 887 metres and there are several s ...

and raised in Sydney. He spent most of his time between

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, where his mother's family lived, and Sydney, near his father's relatives. He was one of seven children and the son of Lebanese immigrant fruit shop owners, and regularly helped at his parents shop before and after school. He attended eleven different schools, including

St Patrick's College, Strathfield , motto_translation = Matthew 5:16: Let Your Light Shine , location = , Inner West Sydney , state = New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , other_na ...

, St Laurence's College, South Brisbane and

Homebush Boys High School ''(Latin for ''Upright and strong'') , established = 1936 , type = Public, secondary, single-sex, day school , free_label = Sister school , free_text = Strathfield Girls High School , principal = Kevin Elgood (2018) , address = ...

where he matriculated in 1965. After leaving school, Symond studied law and joined a firm in Bankstown where he learned conveyancing and specialized in property and finance.

Career

By the late 1980s, he had created a boutique financial services company, Mortgage Acceptance Corporation (MAC), that specialised in finding and providing commercial and investment loans to investors. One of Australia's first mortgage brokers, he eventually undertook a joint venture with Beneficial Finance, a subsidiary of

State Bank of South Australia The State Bank of South Australia was a bank created in 1896 and owned by the Government of South Australia. The bank became the subject of a two-year South Australian Royal Commission upon collapse in 1991. The surviving part of the bank now ...

. When State Bank of South Australia went broke in the 1980s, he came within a whisker of bankruptcy, and it was this negative experience with a bank that formed the basis of the Aussie philosophy – offering better deals and better customer service to everyday Australians.

Aussie Home Loans

Supported by a $10,000 loan from his older brother Michael, Symond founded Aussie Home Loans in February 1992 and was able to fulfil his ambition. With his nephew, James by his side, Symond was widely credited with bringing competition to the Australian home lending industry and was the first major disruptor to the banks oligopoly of the Australian home loan market. The company was unique in its approach to home loans, offering 24 hours a day service and loans far cheaper than those offered by banks. In 1994 Aussie introduced securitisation to its home loans, allowing it to offer loans upwards of 3% cheaper than its competitors. In 2002, Aussie Home Loans diversified to become a mortgage broker – offering bank and non-bank products. The company rapidly grew as consumers became aware of its products and that of other non-banks and the competition heated up. In August 2008 the Commonwealth Bank acquired a 33% stake in Aussie. Aussie acquired Wizard Home Loans in February 2009 and National Mortgage Brokers (nMB) in 2012. The

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...

increased its investment in Aussie from 33 per cent to 80 per cent in May 2013, then to 100 per cent in August 2017. Symond was the Chairman of Aussie from 2017 until November 2020; while his nephew, James Symond, continues to serve as the Chief Executive Officer.

Personal life

Symond has two children, Stephen and Deborah. He has been involved with numerous organisations such as

Jeans for Genes Jeans for Genes Day is a national fundraiser held in Australia and the United Kingdom.The two fundraisers are not associated with one another and raise money for different organisations. Jeans for Genes (Australia) In Australia, Jeans for Genes ...

and is a former chairman of the

Sydney Opera House Trust The Sydney Opera House Trust operates and maintains the Sydney Opera House in Sydney for the Government of New South Wales in Australia. Description The Trust operates as one of the State's premier cultural institutions within the Create NSW po ...

. Symond has been married to Amber McDonald since February 2016. He has a substantial collection of Australian art deco and contemporary art including works of

Brett Whiteley Brett Whiteley AO (7 April 1939 – 15 June 1992) was an Australian artist. He is represented in the collections of all the large Australian galleries, and was twice winner of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes. He held many exhibitions ...

and

Sidney Nolan Sir Sidney Robert Nolan (22 April 191728 November 1992) was one of Australia's leading artists of the 20th century. Working in a wide variety of mediums, his oeuvre is among the most diverse and prolific in all of modern art. He is best known ...

. In 2017 he took delivery of a Dutch built Feadship named ''Hasna'', believed to have cost more than $100 million. Symond built a palatial home called ''Wingadal'' in the Sydney suburb of

Point Piper Point Piper is a small, harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, east of the Sydney CBD, in the local government area known as the Municipality of Woollahra. Point Piper has been historically r ...

that is now estimated to be worth over $100 million. He put it on the market in 2016 but withdrew it two months later in 2017.

Net worth

, Symond's

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...

was assessed as 800 million, as published in ''

The Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...

'' 2021 Rich List.

Awards

Symond was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 2002 for service to the mortgage industry in Australia, particularly the home finance sector, and to the community. In 2004, he was inducted into the Australian Banking and Finance Magazine's Hall of Fame in May 2004 – the first non-banker to be admitted. In August 2011, he was listed eighth in a poll by ''The Australian Financial Review'' of the most influential business, economic and political leaders of the past 60 years. In August 2012, he was named Australian Father of the Year. In July 2013 he was honoured with the 2013 Gold Harold Humanitarian Award, at the sixth annual Gold Harold Awards, for his ongoing philanthropic interest in children's causes and charities.

References

External links

Case Study on John Symond
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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Symond, John Australian people of Lebanese descent Businesspeople from Sydney 1947 births Living people Members of the Order of Australia Australian company founders