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Marketplace lender SocietyOne has named Mark Jones as its new CEO, a little over a month after he assumed the same position on an interim capacity.
Jones succeeds former CEO and managing director Jason Yetton, who stepped down in July to pursue other opportunities.
The firm marks its sixth anniversary this month after making its first loan in August 2012. Based on current lending volumes, SocietyOne expects to achieve $500 million in total lending in September – making it the first marketplace lender to achieve this milestone, the firm said.
According to its figures, total lending has grown nearly six times since the start of 2016, and its loan book now stands in excess of $220m.
“Lending growth, combined with an improvement in margins and disciplined cost management, has translated to a strong improvement in SocietyOne’s financial performance. At the same time, we have continued to transform and simplify our business to focus on our core marketplace lending activities,” said Jones.
The past year also saw the appointment of Simon Farrell as the firm’s chief technology officer and Ross Horsburgh as chief credit officer.
The firm is known for providing unsecured personal loans to consumers, between $5,000 to $50,000 over terms of two to five years. Through its agri-lending business, it also provides loans to livestock agents and farmers to finance the purchase of livestock throughout Australia.
“The next six months will be another exciting period of growth and innovation” said Jones. While there is a lot of work to do, the momentum in the business is really pleasing. By the end of 2018, we will be well positioned for the next phase of growth. We remain on track to achieve operating breakeven by March 2019.”
