Sessions
2021

Jessica Ridley is a TV reporter and presenter for the Seven Network Australia, seen frequently on Sunrise and 7NEWS nationally. Having developed a reputation as a highly engaging and versatile journalist, Jessica reports on major news events spanning the current COVID-19 pandemic, state and federal elections, bushfires, floods and high profile court cases. She also works across finance, real estate, technology, consumer and health developments.

Some of her fun career highlights include sit down interviews with big names in entertainment including Drew Barrymore, Cyndi Crawford, Michael Buble, Hugh Jackman, Katy Perry and Sarah Jessica Parker. She also covers sports, including the annual Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Spring Carnival and The Everest Race in Sydney.

Jess is a regular features contributor on Weekend Sunrise and The Morning Show. She writes opinion pieces for The Daily Telegraph and numerous publications. Prior to Seven, she was a reporter and newsreader on Sydney’s premier talkback radio station 2GB.

Jessica hosts a broad range of events including outdoor sport broadcasts, corporate award nights, red carpets, breakfast seminars, Q&A panels and business live streams, races luncheons and fundraisers.

She has received excellent client feedback as someone who is always able to complement and enhance the mood and objective of the event.

Jessica enjoys sharing some of her insights as a journalist to equip business leaders and spokespersons with handy tools to be in control during a live or pre-recorded TV, radio or print interview. She is also sought after as a keynote speaker on effective communication in the workplace.

Away from the cameras, Jessica is a new mum to son Frank and learning how to juggle career and family life. She’s passionate about fitness, music, good food and good wine!

Kathy Vincent is BT’s Managing Director for Platforms, Investments & Operations. In this role Kathy is responsible for leading BT’s retail platforms (BT Panorama, BT Wrap and Asgard) as well as BT’s investments & operations businesses.

Prior to joining BT in July 2018, Kathy was General Manager, Wealth Products and Platforms at NAB where she was responsible for the leadership and management of the retail super and investments platform, as well as NAB’s Asset Management Product Team.

Previous roles include Co-Head of Macquarie’s alternatives business and Head of Product Strategy for Macquarie Group’s Global Investments business. Kathy has 25 years’ experience in financial services with specialist expertise in retail platforms, product strategy and distribution.

Phil Butterworth is widely regarded as a strategic business leader. He is an advocate for advice and is passionate about the evolution of our industry. His ability to influence and motivate has led to the delivery of successful distribution strategies and transformational change.

Phil’s career spans 28 years’ in the financial services industry leading distribution, platform development, dealer services, Adviser relationships and business acquisitions. Phil is currently Head of BT Platforms, Distribution and Services at BT Financial Group with his previous appointments including General Manager of BT Group Licensees, CEO of DKN Financial Group.

Rocky Scopelliti is a world-renowned futurologist. His pioneering behavioural economics research on the confluence of demographic change associated with Millennials, and digital technology, has influenced the way we think about our social, cultural, economic and technological future.

His new Australian-first book just released Australia 2030! Where the bloody hell are we?, is a fascinating window into Australian professionals sentiment about the decade ahead, based on a major study conducted before and during the eye of the COVID-19 storm. His other book ‘Youthquake 4.0 – A Whole Generation and The New Industrial Revolution’ has now been translated into Vietnamese, Korean, Indonesian and Chinese languages.

As a media commentator, his unique insights have featured on SKY Business News, The Australian Financial Review, ABC Radio National, The Economist, Forbes and Bloomberg. As an international keynote speaker, his presentations have captivated audiences across Asia Pacific, the US and Europe including Mobile World Congress. As a thought leader, over 150 boards and leadership teams, including Fortune 100 corporations, each year seek his advice on strategy.

In an executive capacity, he is a member of the Optus Business Leadership team as the Director, Centre for Industry 4.0 where he leads the specialist team creating world-class thought leadership and innovation on the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

In a non-executive capacity, he is a Director on the board of Community First Credit Union, on the technology advisory board for Rest Super, former member of the Australian Payments Council and on the advisory boards of SP Jain School of Global Management and Wake by Reach.

Educated in Australia and trained in the US at Sydney and Stanford Universities respectively, he has a graduate diploma in corporate management and an MBA. He is also a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Chris is an experienced financial services professional with almost 20 years’ experience in both Australia and the United Kingdom. In July 2018 Chris was appointed Head of Distribution within the BT Platforms & Investments business. Prior to this, Chris held a number of senior roles within the Westpac Group including Head of Institutional Business Development, National Head of Transitions and Implementation and various managerial roles within Key Accounts and relationship management.

Chris has played a pivotal role in BT’s Panorama development program, particularly in launching the accounting, SMSF and private client offers to the marketplace. Throughout his time at BT, Chris has acted as both a platform and client experience subject matter expert. He also has strong expertise and experience within the Managed Accounts space including practice adoption, responsible entity services, managed discretionary accounts and asset management.

Stewart Bell is a Business Coach, Author, and Founder of Audere Coaching & Consulting.

In over 15 years working on the business of advice, he’s coached well over 400 professional services firms large and small to improve business performance and find opportunities to innovate.

His clients include financial advisers, accountants, and mortgage brokers, in addition to the institutions that work with them, across a wide range of business models, successful and otherwise.

Stewart Bell also has a specialist interest in the tech world and the methods used to launch Silicon Valley start-ups. This passion led him to found Audere, and create the Leveraged Advice Firm program; a business improvement program and community designed to introduce proven methods to achieve more with less models that foster growth without constraint, and ways to make your business stand out and innovate.

He’s also the author of two books Finnovation: The Complete Advisers Guide to Innovating Your Advice Model and 100 Ways To Run Your Business Better.

In 2013, armed with a video camera, Nigel set off on an initiative, solo on his motorbike, to discover ingenious Australians and share their stories. As founder of ‘Ingenious Oz Project’ and author of ‘Game of Inches’, Nigel travels Australia finds the most ingenious business and professional success stories, takes out the key learnings and presents them back to your audience.

Adding to the pool of research and interviews Nigel started a series of interviews with Ingenious Australian’s on how they are surviving and thriving through COVID-19.

Nigel Collin CSP works with organisations and their leaders to address these challenges by managing change resistance and creating an achievable process of consistent small steps. His message is simple. Engaging your people to act on change and innovation daily is a ‘Game of Inches’ and not a one-off explosive moment.

He has a passion for understanding why businesses and organisations are successful. Nigel started his first business at the age of 20 and sold it at 21. He then went on to build one of Australia’s largest creative entertainment design companies within the Business Events Arena.

Nigel is a Certified Professional Speaker (CSP) the highest accreditation Internationally. He is Strategic Advisor to the Board of Meetings and Events Australia. In 2017 was awarded outstanding contribution to Meetings and Events Australia and is an Associate fellow of Meetings Events Australia (AFEMA).

He is an alumnus of the Disney Institute, a Ted-Xer, and author of three books, (with a fourth on the way). When not speaking, working with clients, writing or riding his motorcycle he spends his time between Sydney and the rural mid north coast of NSW with his family.

After completing degrees in pure mathematics and philosophy Tess Guthrie worked in both the not-for-profit as well as private sector as a researcher and analyst before launching WhyHive in 2018, and recently won the 2021 Women Leading Tech awards in Data Science.

Tess has worked in Monash University's Philosophy and Cognition Lab in interdisciplinary consciousness research, speaking at the Australiasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference in 2018. She also worked on the Individual Deprivation Measure team at the International Women’s Development agency to support them quantitatively in building a new holistic measure of poverty.

WhyHive was built on Tess’s passion for gender equality and entrepreneurship, working to both engage women in STEM and help for-purpose and innovative organisations leverage data to create more value and impact for their clients, customers and communities. In 2020 WhyHive won a place in the City of Melbourne’s Global Innovation Program, and took out first place at the Hacker Exchange’s Pitch competition.

Since starting WhyHive, Tess has led a talented and diverse team of data scientists and developers to create solutions for not for profits and innovative corporates including: One Girl Australia, the International Women’s Development Agency, She’s A Crowd, QENDO, Respect Australia and the Mornington Peninsula Foundation. WhyHive has also worked with RMIT, Deakin, Melbourne and Monash university to host students as part of WhyHive’s internship program.

Jessica Ridley is a TV reporter and presenter for the Seven Network Australia, seen frequently on Sunrise and 7NEWS nationally. Having developed a reputation as a highly engaging and versatile journalist, Jessica reports on major news events spanning the current COVID-19 pandemic, state and federal elections, bushfires, floods and high profile court cases. She also works across finance, real estate, technology, consumer and health developments.

Some of her fun career highlights include sit down interviews with big names in entertainment including Drew Barrymore, Cyndi Crawford, Michael Buble, Hugh Jackman, Katy Perry and Sarah Jessica Parker. She also covers sports, including the annual Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Spring Carnival and The Everest Race in Sydney.

Jess is a regular features contributor on Weekend Sunrise and The Morning Show. She writes opinion pieces for The Daily Telegraph and numerous publications. Prior to Seven, she was a reporter and newsreader on Sydney’s premier talkback radio station 2GB.

Jessica hosts a broad range of events including outdoor sport broadcasts, corporate award nights, red carpets, breakfast seminars, Q&A panels and business live streams, races luncheons and fundraisers.

She has received excellent client feedback as someone who is always able to complement and enhance the mood and objective of the event.

Jessica enjoys sharing some of her insights as a journalist to equip business leaders and spokespersons with handy tools to be in control during a live or pre-recorded TV, radio or print interview. She is also sought after as a keynote speaker on effective communication in the workplace.

Away from the cameras, Jessica is a new mum to son Frank and learning how to juggle career and family life. She’s passionate about fitness, music, good food and good wine!

Jessica Ridley is a TV reporter and presenter for the Seven Network Australia, seen frequently on Sunrise and 7NEWS nationally. Having developed a reputation as a highly engaging and versatile journalist, Jessica reports on major news events spanning the current COVID-19 pandemic, state and federal elections, bushfires, floods and high profile court cases. She also works across finance, real estate, technology, consumer and health developments.

Some of her fun career highlights include sit down interviews with big names in entertainment including Drew Barrymore, Cyndi Crawford, Michael Buble, Hugh Jackman, Katy Perry and Sarah Jessica Parker. She also covers sports, including the annual Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Spring Carnival and The Everest Race in Sydney.

Jess is a regular features contributor on Weekend Sunrise and The Morning Show. She writes opinion pieces for The Daily Telegraph and numerous publications. Prior to Seven, she was a reporter and newsreader on Sydney’s premier talkback radio station 2GB.

Jessica hosts a broad range of events including outdoor sport broadcasts, corporate award nights, red carpets, breakfast seminars, Q&A panels and business live streams, races luncheons and fundraisers.

She has received excellent client feedback as someone who is always able to complement and enhance the mood and objective of the event.

Jessica enjoys sharing some of her insights as a journalist to equip business leaders and spokespersons with handy tools to be in control during a live or pre-recorded TV, radio or print interview. She is also sought after as a keynote speaker on effective communication in the workplace.

Away from the cameras, Jessica is a new mum to son Frank and learning how to juggle career and family life. She’s passionate about fitness, music, good food and good wine!