John Oliver, CEO of HomeStart Finance, is to call it a day after 12 years at the top of the South Australian government’s non-bank lender.
His retirement will come at the end of the year, with the search for his successor now underway.
HomeStart is backed by the South Australian government and was garlanded with the World Bank Global Housing Finance Innovation Award in 2018 for revolutionary work in assessing loan applications based on educational attainment levels.
“There are lots of things I’m proud that we’ve achieved as an organisation,” said Oliver in a statement to accompany his departure.
“These include our financial successes but ultimately the real measure of our success is how many people we help into home ownership. That’s what I am particularly proud of.”
“It’s why I joined HomeStart in the first place – and all that has been achieved was only possible due to the efforts of everyone that I’ve worked with at HomeStart.”
On his leaving, Mr Oliver added: “I do so with the blessing of the HomeStart Board, who I thank for their guidance and for their support as I set out on the next stage of corporate life.”
“I will be leaving proud of all that we have achieved over the past decade or so, and with absolute confidence that all members of the HomeStart team will continue to deliver the great results for our customers that we have done since establishment in 1989.”
HomeStart was founded 32 years ago and has backed almost 80,000 South Australians into their homes, generating close to $800m in revenue for the state government.
“More than $550 million in contributions to the State Government have been made during John’s tenure,” said HomeState chair John Kouts.
“Today, HomeStart’s balance sheet exceeds $2.3 billion – up by more than $800 million on John’s watch.”
