Investors

Executives and Senior Management

James Austin
Chief Financial Officer

James is the CFO of Firstmac Limited, a role he has held since 2005.

James has a wealth of knowledge in treasury and capital markets and expertise in debt, equity, and derivative markets.

He managed the acquisition and integration of HSBC's $2.2 billion residential mortgage portfolio in 2006, has overseen the issuance of more than $29 billion of RMBS, and managed Firstmac through volatile global funding markets.

James started his career at KPMG in Brisbane where he attained his ACA qualifications with the Institute of Chartered Accountants. He has since worked for CSFB, Abbey National, and HSBC.
He has a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) from the Queensland University of Technology.

Paul Eagar
Director Securitisation

Paul has been with Firstmac for 14 years as Director – Securitisation.  He has been instrumental in the support of the structuring and issuance of the Firstmac RMBS programme. Paul has over 30 years’ experience in the finance industry and has a thorough understanding of the mortgage lending market.  He has held executive management positions with a number of lending, mortgage insurance and securitisation institutions and has direct experience in sales, marketing, credit, portfolio management, systems and policy development and implementation, and product development.

Paul’s involvement in the securitisation sector of the market dates back to 1989 when he was a provider of credit enhancement to securitised programs. He worked for Australian Mortgage Securities and was a Director of the RESIMAC Mortgage Securitisation Program from 1996, which at the time of his departure in 2001 had assets of approximately $2 billion and had issued both domestically and offshore.  

Paul has studied law, commerce, Asian business studies and various other industry related courses.

His current position at Firstmac relates to the provision and maintenance of the company's funding arrangements and the structuring and issuance of the company's debt securities. He has been with the company since early 2002.

Brian Reid
Financial Controller

Brian has been Financial Controller of the group since July 2001.

His previous experience includes working for Sunstate Credit Union for seven years, first as a Management Accountant and then as the Financial Controller. After Sunstate merged with Northern and First State Building Societies, he was appointed Manager Accounting Services, a position he held for two years.

Prior to joining Firstmac he was Finance Manager for a general insurer in Brisbane.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Business (Acct) and is currently a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA).

Tracey Boyes
Head of Human Resources

Tracey has been with Firstmac since 2006. This was her first role in Australia after migrating in December 2005 from the UK. Her challenge on joining the team at Firstmac was to help develop and implement effective HR strategies, policies and procedures and provide strategic and operational HR advice and services to a business that was growing rapidly. As a member of the Executive team, Tracey has tried to ensure that there is an integrated approach with ‘people’ policies and decision making that support the overall achievement of business objectives.

In the UK, Tracey was a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development and spent more than 20 years in various HR disciplines working for the Lloyds TSB Group. Her final years with the Group were spent as a HR Business partner covering the Insurance and Investment business. This involved the amalgamation of terms and conditions of employment from different businesses acquired by the group, the introduction of a new performance management system that linked to pay, and the provision of a HR consultancy service to the Directors of the business units.

Tracey has been known throughout her Human Resources career for her persuasive style and positive, adaptable attitude in achieving ‘value’ in business terms. She is an excellent communicator who is able to understand customer needs and influence decisions to the highest level.