John Symond

John Symond is an Australian businessman. He is best known as the founder of lending giant Aussie Home Loans, which has made him one of the richest men in Australia with his fortune being estimated to be $365 million (AUD) in 2004. Fact|date=June 2007

Early life

John Symond was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, though he did spend a period of his youth living in Brisbane. John was one of seven children and the son of Lebanese immigrant fruit shop owners, he regularly helped at his parents shop after school. John attended eleven different schools during his childhood, including St Patrick's College, Strathfield, St Laurence's College, South Brisbane and Homebush Boys High School where he matriculated in 1965. After leaving school, John studied law and specialized in property and finance, which enabled him to start a consultancy company that entered into a joint venture with a subsidiary of the State Bank of South Australia. By the late 1980s John was financially secure and married with two children, though in a twist of fate he and his business went broke with the collapse of the South Australia bank in 1992, which subsequently led to the breakdown of his marriage. However John turned the disaster into an opportunity and began working on realizing his dream of creating a home loan company.

Aussie Home Loans

Supported by a $10,000 loan from a relative, John founded Aussie Home Loans on 17 February 1992. The company was unique in its approach to home loans, offering 24 hours a day service and loans far cheaper than those offered by banks. In 1994 his company introduced the securitisation of home loans, allowing the company to offer loans upwards of 3% cheaper than its competitors. The company rapidly grew as consumers became aware of its products and banks were forced to copy Symond's methods as their market share rapidly diminished. The company under Symond's guidance re-invented itself as a mortgage broker in 2002, selling both its own products as well as the banks and also successfully introduced its own low rate credit card shortly thereafter. As of 2007, Aussie Home Loans had a loans portfolio of more than AUD$20 billion. Recently John repositioned himself as Chairman of the group with his nephew, James Symond (who has been with the company since its inception) its Managing Director.

Personal life

John Symond has two children. John Symond's mansion in Point Piper is regarded as the most expensive private residence in Australia with the block costing $10 million (AUS) and an estimated building cost of $70 million (AUS). [cite web | author=SMH| title="Boom's glittering prize" | publisher=SMH | year=2006 | url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/cleveles/booms-glittering-prize/2006/12/11/1165685617387.html] Symond discusses the building of his mansion in an interview with The Bulletin magazine [http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=255654] .

References

External links

* [http://www.seek.com.au/editorial/0-3-17_cs_banking_3.htm Case Study on John Symond]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/insidebusiness/content/2003/s874861.htm Interview on ABC]
* [http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/housing-outlook-not-all-bad-news/2005/11/06/1131211945241.html article in The Sydney Morning Herald]
* [http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=255654 The Bulletin magazine: Lunch with John Symond]
* [https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/inform/yr2002/aug/symondsays.htm "inform ARTICLE" on John Symond]
* [http://www.stereo974.com/detailed_news.php?page=8 report on John Symond on Stereo 974]
* [http://www.aussie.com.au/ Aussie Home Loans - Homepage]