WA Emerging Leaders Forum 2024

Yasser was appointed FINSIA Chief Executive and Managing Director in April 2022. Previously, he was Chief Executive of Australian Investment Council from November 2013 to April 2022 where he was responsible for leading the strategic direction of the organisation’s work in representing the private capital investment industry in Australia. 

Prior to joining Australian Investment Council, Yasser was the General Manager of Policy and Advocacy for Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand. 

He has more than 25 years’ experience as a business adviser and public policy expert, through his previous roles with PwC, Rio Tinto, Frasers Property Australia, as well as the Department of Treasury in Canberra. 

In April 2016, Yasser was appointed by the Federal Government to the Medical Research Future Fund Advisory Board where he advises on the strategy and priorities for medical health research funding from the $20B fund. 

FINSIA Member since 4 May 2022. 

Wayde has more than 25 years’ experience with the WA banking sector, commencing in Business Banking before moving into Financial Markets.

Wayde currently leads the nab Financial Markets team in WA. His team assist clients manage Foreign Exchange, Interest Rate and Commodity risks using a proactive relationship model based on market leading accreditation.

Wayde also Chairs the FINSIA Regional Council in WA and has been a member of FINSIA since 2006, following completion of the Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance & Investment (Treasury Stream) under the Securities Institute of Australia Outside of work Wayde divides his time between his family (married with two daughters, 10 and 13), road cycling and his local community (the Fathers of West Leederville – FOWLs). 

Senior Executive with 20+ years’ experience advising businesses on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions including buy-side, sell-side, transaction services, acquisition integration & IPOs.  

Emma has held several senior positions in large international businesses and professional services firms, advising boards and senior management on the execution of strategy, business improvement, structuring (including corporate, debt and foreign exchange), and corporate transactions. 

Emma is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia (FCA), Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), Bachelor of Commerce from Curtin University (B.Com), Member of FINSIA (SA FIN) and is a committee member on the FINSIA council in Western Australia. 

Ross has over 40 years experience in Financial Services and has held a wide range of leadership roles during this time. He has worked in the sector across areas of Financial Markets, Corporate & Retail Banking and Risk Management. He has also worked in an advisory capacity in Financial Markets, Corporate Finance & Risk Management.

In more recent times Ross has held Executive positions in Government, at home loan provider Keystart and currently as Chief Operating Officer at the Western Australian Treasury Corporation.

Ross has held a number of Board positions, is a Senior Fellow of FINSIA and a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors

As Director, Siobhan leads the AASB Sustainability Reporting staff in the development of sustainability reporting standard-setting projects. 

Prior to joining the AASB, Siobhan worked as a project manager at the International Accounting Standards Board where she was responsible for the Definition of Material, Disclosure of Accounting Policies and Extractive Activities projects and assisted on a number of Disclosure Initiative projects. As part of that experience Siobhan developed a strong understanding of international technical accounting and reporting issues and standard-setting. 

Hilda has been with Westpac 8 years, over which time she has lead many successful teams.

Starting in Premier Banking this gave Hilda the skillset to manage some of the most affluent Westpac Retail branches in WA.

Currently Hilda is leading the Virtual Lending team for Western Australia, assisting customers all over the state.

Hilda is passionate about creating a culture where her team are put at the forefront, enabling them to be their very best versions of themselves

Phil is an experienced executive with over 20 years’ leadership experience in the financial services industry across both the private & public sectors in Australia.

He is an energetic, values based leader who is passionate about building engaged & peak performing team culture and coaching large, diverse teams in complex & changing markets to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Phil has been with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in various roles for the last 10 years, and is currently the General Manager for Small Business Banking across WA/SA/NT.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Broadcasting Studies from Leeds University (UK), plus a Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance & Investments & Diploma of Financial Planning from Kaplan and is a board member of the Cyberwest Hub & the Gravity Discovery Centre & Observatory.

He is a proud father of three primary school children, and is an average but enthusiastic 5 a side footballer.

David is Chief Technology Officer at Australia's fastest-growing fintech media company, Grafa. As CTO of Grafa, David combines his extensive knowledge of financial markets with deep expertise in AI, data analytics and machine learning models to develop Grafa's patent-pending technology.

Before becoming the CTO of Grafa David held senior government positions, advising management and leading teams on critical issues like the Covid-19 response, revenue collection, and financial crime, earning numerous accolades for his contributions.

He was also an esteemed teacher of AI and Data Analysis at the University of Western Australia.

David has thrived at the intersection of finance and technology and has gained significant industry recognition for pioneering the use of Machine Learning at scale to empower investment decisions, presenting his insights at industry events.

He is a Fellow with FINSIA, a Full Member of the International Association of Marine and Shipping Professionals specialising in Shipping Finance, a Member of The Chartered Banker Institute, and a qualified Financial Advisor.

David's dynamic expertise, coupled with his passion for education and innovation, positions him as a leading figure in the ever-evolving financial and technological landscape.