Keynote Speakers, Hosts & Congress Presenters

Michelle Payne

Michelle Payne is one of Australia’s most admired public figures, and she is celebrated for her ground-breaking achievement of becoming the first and only woman to win the Melbourne Cup in 2015 aboard Prince of Penzance. Her victory, against odds of 100 to 1, captured the hearts of Australians and established her as a national icon.

Beyond her historic win, Michelle has excelled as a highly successful horse trainer, jockey, and author. Raised on a farm in Miners Rest, near Ballarat in Central Victoria, she is the youngest of ten children. Despite the tragic loss of her mother in a car accident when Michelle was just six months old, she was drawn to the world of horse racing, a path that was shared by many of her siblings.

Michelle’s career has not been without significant challenges. At 18, she suffered a serious fall during a race at Sandown in 2004, resulting in a fractured skull and bruising to her brain. Further falls in 2012 and 2016 led to life-threatening injuries, but her resilience and determination saw her return to the sport each time, inspiring many with her strength and perseverance.

Her impact extends far beyond the racing world. In 2016, she was awarded the prestigious Don Prize for Most Inspirational Australian Athlete at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Awards, alongside several other accolades, including Sportswoman of the Year and the Women of Style: Sport Award. Michelle and her brother Stephen were also honoured as Queen and King of Moomba.

In recognition of her contributions to horse racing, Michelle received the International Longines Ladies Award in 2017, and in 2022 she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM). She also released a bestselling memoir, Life As I Know It, in 2016, and her life story was brought to the big screen in the 2019 film Ride Like a Girl, which became the highest-grossing Australian film that year.

In 2021, Michelle’s Melbourne Cup victory was voted the most significant moment in Sport Australia Hall of Fame history from a shortlist of 20 iconic sporting events over the past six decades. Today, she continues to inspire through her successful training operation at Nottingham Farm in Ballarat and her new venture on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

Hamish McLachlan

Hamish McLachlan’s broadcasting journey began in horse sports and polo, where his roles as a player and administrator opened doors to local and international game-calling opportunities. To refine his skills, he spent three summers in Europe, hosting sports and charity events while commentating matches, all in pursuit of a career in Australia.

In 2008, he returned to Australia and secured his breakthrough with Channel 7 as the host of “AFL Game Day,” blending insightful analysis with lighthearted banter. His success on the show led to hosting roles for Spring Racing broadcasts and tennis commentary at the Australian Open.

Recognised as one of Australia’s premier event hosts, Hamish helmed iconic occasions like the Melbourne Cup, Rio 2016 Olympics, Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and the entertainment series “Australian Spartan.” In 2019, he began hosting the prestigious Brownlow Medal Count and Coverage and, in 2020, presented the popular AFL digital series, “The Last Time I Cried.”

Beyond broadcasting, Hamish actively supports causes such as Captain Courageous, where he serves on the board, and the Royal Flying Doctor Service, where he is an ambassador. His partnership with AIA Vitality reflects his multifaceted career. Hamish resides in Melbourne with his wife Sophie and their three children and is widely sought after as an entertaining master of ceremonies, having had the privilege of interviewing the late NBA superstar Kobe Bryant at an exclusive event.

Keith Cullen

Keith Cullen is the founder and managing director of WT Financial Group Limited and is the largest (non-institutional) shareholder. He has 37 years of experience as a corporate executive and entrepreneur across the broadcast media, technology, and financial services sectors. Keith successfully conceived and implemented the strategy to pivot the group from its previous B2C focus to a primarily B2B focus through the acquisitions of Wealth Today, Sentry Group, Synchron and Millennium3 Financial Services.

Keith is an entrepreneur and problem solver, and a creator and builder of businesses, ideas and careers. He is an empathetic, persuasive, determined and pragmatic businessman who relishes challenges and balances big picture thinking with hard work and detail orientation; and a sense-of-urgency with perseverance and grit. With a track record of success in the recruitment, training, mentoring and motivation of high-performance individuals and teams, he encourages and instils these traits in those around him.

David Haintz

David is a CFP and a past director of the FPA of Australia. He has had a 26 year career with his own firm, and subsequently became a founding director of Shadforth Financial Group, with over 100 advisers; which was taken over in 2014 for $670m – at the time $13b FUM, $165m revenue, and $58m EBIT. Having departed Shadforth in 2015, he established Global Adviser Alpha – a B2B consultancy helping leading global advice businesses become world class and achieve outstanding result for all stakeholders.

Today, David is a founding partner of Merchant Australia, a subsidiary of US firm Merchant, a strategic capital partner to thriving financial services companies that are run by founders and entrepreneurs focused on growth.

Bob McCarthy

Based in Melbourne, Australia. Bob is an experienced leader, facilitator and business mentor. Prior to working with Integrity, he ran a major international training organisation in Ireland for 12 years before moving to Australia to take a leadership role in that organisation.

Bob is an experienced professional yachtsman. He spent 16 years as an officer in the Irish Naval Service, where he served as an officer on board many of the state Naval Ships. He was also a Diving Officer and, when not on sea-going duties, managed training for those at all levels of the Naval Service. He competed in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1989/90 and has been involved in various international competitive offshore sailing events since then, both as a competitor and team-builder.

In addition to his ongoing focus on business growth for his client organisations, he continues to have an active hands-on approach to building teams in the professional sports sector.

Matthew Hawkes

Matthew brings a diverse breadth of experience across public policy, politics, strategic communications and financial services to GRACosway’s clients.

As a skilled advisor, he is experienced in providing end-to-end strategic counsel to clients seeking advice on policy development and reform at all levels of government.

Matthew works with various clients in the energy, financial services, automotive and industrial relations sectors.

Neil Rogan

Neil joined Russell Investments in April 2019. Prior to this Neil was the Chief Operating Officer and Company Secretary for Gowing Bros Limited, one of Australia’s oldest listed companies.

He has over 25 years in the financial services industry having been the General Manager Investment Bond Division at Centuria Life. Prior to this, Neil held several senior roles at AMP Ltd including, Head of Marketing Campaigns, Head of Product Marketing. During this time Neil lead the changes for the introduction of MySuper in 2013.

In 2014, Neil was a NSW Council Member of the Australian Marketing Institute. He has also chaired several Financial Services Council (FCS) subcommittees including the judging panel for the FSC/Deloitte Future Leaders Awards and served on the national judging panel for the Telstra Business Awards.

Benjamin Martin

Benjamin is the National Technical and Distribution Capability Manager at AIA Australia. He regularly presents at licensee professional development days, is actively engaged in regulatory working committees and authors papers across the various trade press platforms.

His qualifications include a Master of Taxation, Bachelor of Applied Finance and Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning.

Russel Chesler

An actuary with over 25 years’ experience in financial services, Russel is responsible for managing VanEck’s passive solutions. Prior to joining VanEck, Russel was a partner at Sunstone Partners, specialising in Asset and Wealth Management. Russel also worked for Perpetual Limited as General Manager of Protected Investments and Lending, and has held positions at Grange Securities, Alexander Forbes and Liberty Life.

Scott Hoger

Scott joined TAL in 2013 and has over 15 years’ experience in financial services. At TAL, Scott’s responsible for providing strategic advice solutions to advisers and licensees. Scott has a strong technical knowledge base, having worked as a financial adviser and business development manager in a number of large banking institutions and insurance companies. He’s also run his own financial planning business, specialising in personal and business insurance.

Catherine Cooke

Catherine Cooke is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, specializing in business development, relationship management, and business coaching across NSW and WA. Currently serving as the New Business Manager- Wealth at North Platform, Catherine leads the sales effort to grow the opportunities by developing strong adviser relationships and understanding their business objectives.

Catherine’s career is marked by her commitment to enhancing the financial advice profession via value driven advice and sharing simple concepts that maximise the outcome for clients. Catherine holds a Grad Dip of Land Econ from UTS along with a Diploma of Financial Planning.

Adam Crabbe

Adam Crabbe has over 25 years of financial services experience encompassing financial planning and adviser education. He is a co- author of Zurich’s award-winning Cost of Care whitepaper, is a Fellow of FINSIA, a contributor to various CPD content on life insurance, and holds both the CFP and Life Risk Specialist designations.

Adam joined Zurich in 2018 following 5 years as a senior analyst for insurance product research, a role in which he was instrumental in developing an industry framework for Approved Product List construction, performed comprehensive due diligence on insurance products, and helped in the selection of products and strategies that have assisted financial advisers achieve a best interest outcome for their clients.

Marshall Ross

With over 9 years’ experience in the Life Insurance industry spanning a variety of roles from underwriting, new business, and business development across multiple leading insurers and a family background in financial advice practice, Marshall is passionate about risk advice and assisting advisers to deliver efficient and effective outcomes for their clients.

Marshall holds a Bachelor of Business from the Queensland University of Technology along with a Diploma of Financial Planning and in his role as Strategy & Risk Advice Manager at MLC Life Insurance is involved in working with advisers on strategic risk advice and delivering educational content to MLC Life Insurance partners.

Peter McCarthy

Peter founded myprosperity in 2011, after 20 years in the financial services sector. Prior to that, he worked for Zurich Australia and founded his own successful financial planning firm, Strategic Financial Management, which acted for clients with a combined net worth of over $1 billion.