Headquarters:
Sydney
Year founded:
1965
Number of employees:
200+
Phone:
(02) 8248 2500
Email:
dimi.bartolillo@helia.com.au
Website:
helia.com.au
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/helia-2
“We target wealth managers and RIAs that are looking for ways to differentiate in their offering and cater to a growing number of high-net-worth individuals looking for alternative investment vehicles such as private equity investment”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
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HELIA
Greg McAweeney
Chief Commercial Officer
Clair Steenson
Head of Customer Delivery
Dimi Bartolillo
Head of Marketing and Brand
Leadership
Greg McAweeney is an accomplished commercial leader with over 20 years of experience spanning digital strategy, customer experience, strategic marketing, brand building and B2C/B2B sales across financial services, telecommunications and insurance. He joined Helia in 2022 as chief commercial officer, where he leads growth strategy and drives key partnerships. Prior to Helia, McAweeney served as CCO at HCF and held senior sales and service roles at Rabobank across Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA from University College Dublin and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).
Chief Commercial Officer
Greg McAweeney
Clair Steenson joined Helia in 2005 as a project manager and has since built a diverse career across key leadership roles, including corporate relationship manager, hardship and borrower sale manager, customer experience leader and planning and engagement leader. In 2022, she was appointed head of customer delivery, where she leads initiatives focused on education and the development of customer-centric tools to support brokers and lenders. Her work helps homebuyers make more informed decisions on their path to ownership. Steenson holds a Bachelor of Information Studies from the University of Technology Sydney.
Head of Customer Delivery
Clair Steenson
Dimi Bartolillo joined Helia in 2021 as head of marketing and brand, bringing over 20 years of experience across the financial and insurance sectors. She specialises in business strategy, marketing, brand development and sales. Bartolillo is passionate about crafting marketing strategies that blend storytelling with data-driven insights to create meaningful customer connections and deliver real value. Prior to Helia, she held senior roles in marketing, product, and communications at Zenith Payments, AMP and MLC. Bartolillo holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
Head of Marketing and Brand
Dimi Bartolillo
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“We target wealth managers and RIAs that are looking for ways to differentiate in their offering and cater to a growing number of high-net-worth individuals looking for alternative investment vehicles such as private equity investment”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
“[Automation] has resulted in productivity gains far greater than 80 percent and allowed our customers to grow their business by handling a greater number of clients, client portfolios, and assets under management”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
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Leadership
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Home
Bio
“[Automation] has resulted in productivity gains far greater than 80 percent and allowed our customers to grow their business by handling a greater number of clients, client portfolios, and assets under management”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
“We target wealth managers and RIAs that are looking for ways to differentiate in their offering and cater to a growing number of high-net-worth individuals looking for alternative investment vehicles such as private equity investment”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
Read on
Award Winner
Leadership
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Strachan Taylor
Strategic Partnership Leader
Strachan Taylor is a seasoned financial services leader with over 25 years of experience across banking, mortgage broking, and financial services. He has been a key member of Helia’s commercial solutions team for eight years, focused on driving growth for the business and its customers. Prior to Helia, he was head of home and personal finance at Woolworths Group, ran his own mortgage broking business with Loan Market, and held senior roles in commercial lending and mortgage distribution at Westpac. Taylor holds a Bachelor of Commerce from UNSW, an MBA from Macquarie and a Diploma in Finance and Mortgage Broking from Kaplan.
Strategic Partnership Leader
Strachan Taylor
Mike Zegers
Vice President, Strategy and Business Development
Mike Zegers leads business development efforts at Infinite and is responsible for identifying new partners for the firm. With a background in sales, marketing, product strategy and investment services, he leverages his experience in driving forward solutions for firms as part of a collaborative approach. Having more than a decade of experience with a large financial institution, coupled with more than 10 years at Infinite, Mike focuses on what clients need based on his knowledge of the product and the industry. He is passionate about exceeding client expectations from day one.
Vice President, Strategy and Business Development
Mike Zegers
Helia exists to accelerate financial wellbeing by making home ownership more accessible – now and into the future. As Australia’s first and leading Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) provider, the company has played a key role in the property market since 1965.
Helia believes knowledge is one of the greatest tools a broker or lender can have. That’s why education is at the heart of its strategy. In today’s complex lending environment, it is committed to delivering the insights and resources brokers and lenders need to position LMI as a strategic pathway to home ownership.
Through research-led insights, digital learning tools and strong industry partnerships, Helia is transforming how LMI is understood and applied. In 2024, the company delivered over 130 hours of educational content through webinars, podcasts and industry events while collaborating with aggregators, lenders and associations to embed LMI into training programs. Multilingual resources were also expanded, with fact sheets and infographics now available in Arabic, Punjabi and Simplified Chinese.
Helia continues to lead the way – equipping brokers and lenders with the knowledge to build trust, support clients confidently and help more Australians achieve their home ownership goals.
“[Automation] has resulted in productivity gains far greater than 80 percent and allowed our customers to grow their business by handling a greater number of clients, client portfolios, and assets under management”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
Alex Ventura
Head of Marketing
Dave Longbottom
Chief Technology Officer
Karen Bannister, CM
Vice President, Marketing
Sarah M Stewart
Associate Vice President,
Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Alex Ventura has a wealth of experience and passion for martech across the financial services sector – including B2B and B2C – with a focus on delivering exemplary omnichannel experiences. Alex is responsible for driving brands in the digital age with strategies that evoke a brand’s personality and corresponding values. Mapping customer journeys encompassing systematic and programmatic technologies has been key to his successful strategies.
Head of Marketing
Alex Ventura
With a superior understanding of web design and architecture, Dave Longbottom has been pivotal in orchestrating the development of new technologies, which are aligned with business objectives, and pioneering industry-leading solutions. Dave’s tenacity to push the status quo has led to the development of innovative solutions encompassing the latest emerging technological trends and cyber security frameworks.
Chief Technology Officer
Dave Longbottom
Karen Bannister has over 20 years of marketing expertise and has a Chartered Marketer designation from the Canadian Marketing Association. She is a strategic marketing leader with a career record of success in developing and executing effective marketing strategies, growing revenue, and overseeing multi-talented teams. She also holds five certifications for marketing and brand management.
Karen has successfully completed the Mini-MBA, Essentials of Management program at Schulich School of Business, and most recently completed the Communications and Leadership Program at The Ivey Academy.
Vice President, Marketing
Karen Bannister, CM
Greg McAweeney is an accomplished commercial leader with over 20 years of experience spanning digital strategy, customer experience, strategic marketing, brand building and B2C/B2B sales across financial services, telecommunications and insurance. He joined Helia in 2022 as chief commercial officer, where he leads growth strategy and drives key partnerships. Prior to Helia, McAweeney served as CCO at HCF and held senior sales and service roles at Rabobank across Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA from University College Dublin and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).
Chief Commercial Officer
Greg McAweeney
Alex Ventura has a wealth of experience and passion for martech across the financial services sector – including B2B and B2C – with a focus on delivering exemplary omnichannel experiences. Alex is responsible for driving brands in the digital age with strategies that evoke a brand’s personality and corresponding values. Mapping customer journeys encompassing systematic and programmatic technologies has been key to his successful strategies.
Head of Marketing
Alex Ventura
With a superior understanding of web design and architecture, Dave Longbottom has been pivotal in orchestrating the development of new technologies, which are aligned with business objectives, and pioneering industry-leading solutions. Dave’s tenacity to push the status quo has led to the development of innovative solutions encompassing the latest emerging technological trends and cyber security frameworks.
Chief Technology Officer
Dave Longbottom
Karen Bannister has over 20 years of marketing expertise and has a Chartered Marketer designation from the Canadian Marketing Association. She is a strategic marketing leader with a career record of success in developing and executing effective marketing strategies, growing revenue, and overseeing multi-talented teams. She also holds five certifications for marketing and brand management.
Karen has successfully completed the Mini-MBA, Essentials of Management program at Schulich
School of Business, and most recently completed the Communications and Leadership Program at
The Ivey Academy.
Vice President, Marketing
Karen Bannister, CM
Sarah M Stewart has more than 15 years of strategic leasing and customer care experience in residential property management. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Centurion’s national leasing platforms, residential lead generation, and overall customer experience excellence through operation of the company’s internal customer service department.
Associate Vice President, Leasing and
Call Centre Operations
Sarah M Stewart
Sonia Ahuja
Chief Operating Officer
Sanjay Mehta
EVP and Chief Market Officer
John Laurie
Chief Partnership Officer
Anthony Dippolito
Chief Wellness Officer
Alex Ventura has a wealth of experience and passion for martech across the financial services sector – including B2B and B2C – with a focus on delivering exemplary omnichannel experiences. Alex is responsible for driving brands in the digital age with strategies that evoke a brand’s personality and corresponding values. Mapping customer journeys encompassing systematic and programmatic technologies has been key to his successful strategies.
Head of Marketing
Alex Ventura
With a superior understanding of web design and architecture, Dave Longbottom has been pivotal in orchestrating the development of new technologies, which are aligned with business objectives, and pioneering industry-leading solutions. Dave’s tenacity to push the status quo has led to the development of innovative solutions encompassing the latest emerging technological trends and cyber security frameworks.
Chief Technology Officer
Dave Longbottom
Karen Bannister has over 20 years of marketing expertise and has a Chartered Marketer designation from the Canadian Marketing Association. She is a strategic marketing leader with a career record of success in developing and executing effective marketing strategies, growing revenue, and overseeing multi-talented teams. She also holds five certifications for marketing and brand management.
Karen has successfully completed the
Mini-MBA, Essentials of Management program at Schulich School of Business, and most recently completed the Communications and Leadership Program at The Ivey Academy.
Vice President, Marketing
Karen Bannister, CM
Sarah M Stewart has more than 15 years
of strategic leasing and customer care experience in residential property management. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Centurion’s national leasing platforms, residential lead generation, and overall customer experience excellence through operation
of the company’s internal customer
service department.
Associate Vice President,
Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Sarah M Stewart
Sarah M Stewart
Associate Vice President,
Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Karen Bannister, CM
Vice President, Marketing
Dave Longbottom
Chief Technology Officer
Alex Ventura
Head of Marketing
Damian Palovick
Senior Vice President of Underwriting
AXA XL – Delegated Authority Programs, North America
Dr. Mary Lavoie
Head of Risk Management and Senior Vice President
AXA XL – Delegated Authority Programs, North America
Mark Bernacki
Chief Underwriting Officer
Ryan Armijo
Chief Operating Officer, Underwriting Division
Bob Petrilli
President, Underwriting Division
“There has also been a determined approach to leverage automation as much as possible to significantly reduce overhead and eliminate ‘burnout’ for our customers and their employees,” explains Collins. “This has resulted in productivity gains far greater than 80 percent and allowed our customers to grow their business by handling a greater number of clients, client portfolios, and assets under management.”
Naturally for a dynamic firm, Charli Capital is focused on the future. There are plans to launch a next generation AI platform that can facilitate the intelligent matchmaking of private investors and promising private companies.
Collins adds, “The team moves fast – extraordinarily fast – and is disciplined to ensure that it doesn’t drop the ball, is prepared for future advancements, and embraces an eyes-wide-open fail-fast mentality for learning.”
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Sarah M Stewart
Associate Vice President, Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Karen Bannister, CM
Vice President, Marketing
Dave Longbottom
Chief Technology Officer
Alex Ventura
Head of Marketing
Mike Zegers
Vice President, Strategy and Business Development
Strachan Taylor
Strategic Partnership Leader
Dimi Bartolillo
Head of Marketing and Brand
Clair Steenson
Head of Customer Delivery
Greg McAweeney
Chief Commercial Officer
Disclaimer: LMI is insurance that protects credit providers, not home buyers, and cannot be provided directly to home buyers. The information provided in this article does not refer to a credit contract with any particular credit provider. Information is of general information and does not constitute legal, tax, credit or financial advice and is not tailored to a home buyer’s specific circumstances. Home buyers should consider their own personal circumstances and seek advice from their professional advisers before making any decisions that may impact their financial position.