Prospa, Australia’s #1 online lender to small business, has today announced the appointment of Gail Pemberton AO and Fiona Trafford-Walker as Independent Non-Executive Directors to the Prospa Board. In addition, current Non-Executive Director Greg Ruddock has been appointed to the role of Chairman of the Board, having recently stepped down from the Board of Eclipx Group Limited to focus on Prospa.

The new Board members will join existing Non-Executive Directors Avi Eyal from Entrée Capital, James Cameron from AirTree Ventures, and Executive Directors and Co-Founders Greg Moshal & Beau Bertoli.

Joint CEO Greg Moshal commented:

“Prospa’s success has been the result of a group of smart, talented and passionate people united around a common vision to change the way small businesses experience finance. Gail and Fiona share this vision.

“The appointment of Gail brings a rare combination of experience in the financial services and technology sectors, having worked in both non-executive and executive roles at  leading public and private growth companies including Paypal, Macquarie, Eclipx, OneVue and Melbourne IT.”

“Fiona’s investment and governance skills, combined with her strong understanding of asset owners and global markets gained from experience at Link Administration Holdings and Frontier Advisors, will help us grow our world class capital and risk platforms.”

With regard to Greg Ruddock’s appointment to the role of Chairman, Joint CEO Beau Bertoli added:

“Greg Ruddock has been instrumental in shaping the direction of the company, helping us grow into a market leader today. His appointment to the Chairman role underpins our ambitious growth strategy as we continue to empower a new generation of small businesses with innovative finance solutions.”

Commenting on the appointments, Chairman Greg Ruddock said

“We’re delighted to have people of the calibre of Fiona and Gail, both highly respected for their contribution to financial services and technology, serving on our Board of Directors. Their proven track record, knowledge and expertise will add additional breadth to the Board as we continue our quest to make business loans faster, friendlier, and more accessible.”

“On a personal note, I’m excited to have been appointed Chairman and look forward to advising Prospa on the next stage of its development. In just six years, the Prospa team have done an outstanding job of building the leading fintech provider in its field and helping more than 12,000 Australian small businesses receive the finance they need to thrive.”

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Fiona Trafford-Walker

Fiona has 25 years’ experience advising institutional investors on investment and governance-related issues.

Fiona currently serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Link Administration Holdings (ASX:LNK) and is an Investment Director at Frontier Advisors, where she leads the Governance Advisory team and is a member of the Investment Committee.  She was the inaugural Managing Director at Frontier Advisors and played a critical role in growing the firm.

Fiona has been an Independent Non-Executive Director of Link Administration Holdings Limited since September 2015 and chairs the Risk and Audit Committee.

Fiona holds a B.Ec (Hons) from James Cook University and a Master of Finance from RMIT University. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

In 2013, Fiona was awarded inaugural Woman of the Year in the Money Management/Super Review of Women in Financial Services Awards and was ranked one of the top 10 global Asset Consultants from 2013 to 2016. In 2016, Fiona was announced as winner in The Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards in the Board/Management category.

Fiona is the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee at Prospa.

Gail Pemberton, AO 

Gail has more than 35 years’ experience in banking and wealth management and is a specialist in technology and operations.

Prior to taking up a Non-Executive Director career, Gail was COO at BNP Paribas – UK, and CEO and Managing Director, BNP Paribas – Australia and New Zealand. She was previously Group CIO and Financial Services Group COO at Macquarie Bank.

Gail is currently Chairman of Melbourne IT Ltd and a Non-Executive Director of PayPal Australia and Eclipx Group Ltd.

Gail has previously served on the Boards of OneVue (ASX:OVH), SIRCA and RoZetta Technology and Onthehouse (ASX:OTH) as independent Chair, and as a Non-Executive director on QIC, UXC (ASX:UXC), Baycorp, Alleron Funds Management, Air Services Australia, the Sydney Opera House Trust and Harvey World Travel (ASX:HWT).

Gail has also provided independent consulting services to the NSW Government Department of Premier and Cabinet on their Corporate and Shared Services reform program.

Gail has an MA from UTS, and a Graduate Certificate in Finance. She is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

In January 2018 Gail was awarded an Order of Australia for distinguished service to the finance and banking industry, to business through a range of roles, as an advocate for technology, and as a mentor to women.

Gail is the Chair of the Remuneration & Nominations committee at Prospa.

Greg Ruddock

Greg has been a Director of Prospa since 2015.

With over 30 years’ experience in private equity and operations management, Greg specialises in investment strategy, business development and mergers & acquisitions.

Greg is a founder and Joint Chief Executive Officer of Ironbridge where he co-leads Investment and Portfolio Management activities. Since 2003 Greg has led many of its successful financial services investments Including Prospa, Eclipx Group and Stardex Insurance. Greg also led and served on the Boards of Easternwell, Super A-mart, BBQs Galore, Tandem Group, and AOS.

Prior to this role, Greg spent 7 years with leading Australian industrial group Wesfarmers in mergers and acquisitions and 5 years with Gresham Partners and Gresham Private Equity where he led the development of financial services payments provider Cashcard Australia. Greg also spent 5 years with diversified listed company Avatar Limited, where he was Finance Director and Managing Director of one of its major subsidiaries.

Greg is currently a Director of Eclipx Group Limited, Navigator Resources Limited, Ironbridge Capital Holdings Pty Ltd and AOS Pty Ltd.

Greg is a qualified accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Western Australia and post graduate qualifications from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and the Australian Society of Accountants.

Greg is a member of the Audit & Risk committee and a member of the Remuneration & Nominations committee at Prospa.