About us

Nathan has been Chief Executive Officer of NHFIC since its inception in 2018. He has more than 25 years' experience in economic policy development and advising across government. In his previous role as a senior Commonwealth Treasury official, he led the team that worked extensively on the establishment of NHFIC. As CEO, Nathan is focused on building an organisation that improves housing outcomes, particularly in affordable housing.

Prior to joining NHFIC, Nathan held senior executive roles in the Commonwealth Treasury, and the departments of Industry, Innovation and Science; Foreign Affairs and Trade; and Prime Minister and Cabinet. He has served as a non-executive director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).

In 2014, Nathan was Australia’s representative to the United Nations for the Report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing.

Nathan holds a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Economic (Hons) degree from the University of Newcastle.

Qualifications: BBus, FCPA, GAICD

Stuart has over 40 years’ experience in banking and finance, having started his career at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Since then, Stuart has worked for a number of global investment banks, including eight years with Chase Manhattan Bank and JP Morgan Chase, where his roles included Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining NHFIC, Stuart was Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Officer for Export Finance Australia for 15 years.

Stuart holds a Bachelor of Business Studies majoring in accounting and economics from the University of Technology Sydney (Ku-ring-gai College of Advanced Education campus). He has also completed an advanced management program at the Wharton Business School in the United States. Stuart is a Fellow Certified Practicing Accountant and a Graduate of the Australia Institute of Company Directors.

Stuart has previously served on a number of Boards and currently sits on an advisory Board in the not-for-profit sector.

As General Counsel and Board Secretary, Rod leads the legal and compliance team at NHFIC and provides legal advice and support to all areas of the business. As Board Secretary, Rod is responsible for ensuring the Board and its committees meet best practice governance and legislative requirements.

Rod has more than 30 years’ experience as a commercial and financial services lawyer and has held general counsel and senior executive roles at a number of companies including NAB, ING, Westpac, Optus, CUA, PayPal and Travelex. Early in his career Rod worked with the Australian Government Solicitor in Canberra and Sydney.

Rod holds two degrees from the Australian National University in Law (Hons) and Arts (history and political science). Rod is a solicitor of the NSW Supreme Court, a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Rowena is the Director of Credit, responsible for NHFIC’s credit risk management and execution, including transaction assessments and approvals, the management of exposure and diversification levels, and the overall portfolio risk appetite and profile. Rowena also manages the NHFIC Credit Assessment and Portfolio Management teams, is Chair of the NHFIC Credit Committee and is a member of the NHFIC Social Bond Working Group. 

Rowena has over 20 years’ experience in banking and finance, primarily in property and infrastructure. Prior to joining NHFIC, Rowena worked with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, St.George Institutional Bank, Macquarie Bank and ANZ.

Rowena holds two degrees from the University of New South Wales in economics, finance and organisational behaviour and management, as well as qualifications in psychology from the University of New England.

Jennifer is the Director of the Home Guarantee Scheme. She has more than 25 years’ experience, predominantly in retail banking including seven years across leadership roles at Westpac.

Her career at Westpac spanned product, remediation and risk management. She headed the bank’s home loan portfolio management function and led the home loan business for St George Bank’s Bank of Melbourne and Bank of South Australia.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Business (Major in Marketing and Law) from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Turi is the Director of Corporate Affairs. Turi has more than 25 years of experience in media and corporate affairs. Before joining NHFIC, Turi was The Australian newspaper’s Property Editor and spent most of her career in journalism and senior editorial management roles for Australia’s two largest national media groups, News Corp (The Australian) and Fairfax Media, now Nine (Australian Financial Review and BRW). Her earlier experience includes overseeing marketing and corporate affairs for a division of global financial services firm Schroders.

Turi holds a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Queensland.

Natalie is Chief of Staff at NHFIC. Her responsibilities include providing strategic support and advice to the Board and CEO, stakeholder engagement and leading all operational activities of NHFIC.

Natalie has over 15 years’ experience in public policy development and advising across the Commonwealth, NSW and Victorian governments. Prior to joining NHFIC, Natalie was a Director at KPMG and held senior executive roles at the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, NSW Treasury and Roads and Maritime Services as well as roles at the COAG Reform Council, Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Commonwealth Treasury.

Natalie holds a Master of Arts (International Relations) from Deakin University and a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University.

Manuel is the Director of Origination. He is responsible for origination of NHFIC applications for both infrastructure and bond aggregator finance. This includes establishing relationships with state and local government departments and CHPs to finance housing outcomes across Australia.

Manuel has been involved in the finance sector for 25 years specialising in property and corporate finance including residential, REITs, accommodation and property services. This has involved senior leadership positions within property divisions of NAB, Bankwest and Macquarie.

Manuel holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in accounting from the University of Southern Queensland.

Hugh Hartigan has nearly 20 years of public policy experience working in government, including seven years at the Australian Treasury and several years working as a senior advisor in the Australian Parliament before he joined NHFIC in 2019.  
 
Hugh’s experience traverses a range of public policy issues including Commonwealth budgets, tax analysis and housing-related policy issues.  
 
He has a Bachelor of Commerce, with honours in economics from Macquarie University. 

Mark is the Director of Treasury and Capital Markets. He is responsible for NHFIC’s treasury function. This includes management of the funding program, liquid assets and associated financial risk management.

Mark has over 17 years of accounting and finance experience including over 11 years of banking and corporate Treasury experience and two years in APRA’s banking division.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in accounting from Macquarie University and is a CFA Charterholder.