Our Team
The Xceda team prides itself on personal service and responsible lending practices. With over 20 staff across our 5 offices, we are focused on assisting our clients in a timely, friendly manner, whilst utilising the latest digital and technological solutions to maximise the financial services experience.
Scott Weenink
Board Chairman
Scott Weenink
Board Chairman
Scott joined the Board on 11 December 2018, and was appointed Chairman on 1 February 2021. Scott has a background as a corporate finance lawyer, with broad governance experience including Executive and Board Director roles with telecommunications and airport companies in New Zealand, Asia and the Middle East. In addition to his role at Xceda Finance, Scott is also Chairman of Generate KiwiSaver Funds Management and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association. He is also a director of Enable Networks Limited.
Scott has a Master’s degree in Law from Oxford University.
Bryan Heapy
Independent Board Director
Bryan Heapy
Independent Board Director
Bryan has 25 years’ experience in the finance and business banking industry, and he has held several senior positions in a variety of leading financial institutions. These positions have covered a spectrum of roles, including client relationship management, lending, credit, and regional management.
These roles have exposed Bryan to a broad range of industry sectors including finance, manufacturing, fishing, tourism, commercial property, vehicle retailing, heavy equipment and civil engineering.
In recent years Bryan has been an executive of one of NZ’s largest private companies. More recently he has been CEO of Admark Visual Imaging Ltd (a significant printing company) and Manager of Precision Component Machining Ltd (an engineering company based in Hamilton).
John Whittfield
Independent Board Director
John Whittfield
Independent Board Director
John is currently Managing Director of Corporate Solutions and Management Limited, a company that primarily operates in the field of business recovery. Prior to the formation of this company he was managing partner of McDonald Vague (Auckland) from 2005 -2010 where he had been a partner since 2002.
Before taking up the position at McDonald Vague, John had held a significant number of directorships in the dairy industry and had been involved in the process of mergers and acquisitions that lead to the formation of Fonterra.
John has also taken directorships to assist and facilitate the sale of company assets or amalgamation of trading entities.
Daniel McGrath
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Daniel McGrath
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Daniel was appointed as our Chief Executive Officer in August 2018. Daniel has extensive experience in senior management positions, having worked as a solicitor for major international law firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and Shearman & Sterling LLP, representing banks, private equity firms and global corporations. Daniel was also Senior Legal Counsel for ASX-listed Challenger Financial Services Group Ltd, advising on acquisitions and divestments for Challenger’s funds management group.
Daniel holds a BA/LLB from Queensland University of Technology and an MA from Cambridge University.
Nicola Andresen
General Manager and Investor Relations
Nicola Andresen
General Manager and Investor Relations
Nicola started at Xceda Finance in 1992 when the company was operating under its former name Asset Finance Limited. Nicola has worked in a wide variety of roles in the company, and therefore has a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of operations. Nicola is primarily responsible for Investor Relations for our secured term deposit products, as well as managing the general day-to-day running of the operations team in Whakatane. Nicola brings an abundance of knowledge on the history of Xceda Finance and the finance industry in general after almost 25 years of experience in the sector.
Graeme O'Leary
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Graeme O'Leary
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Graeme was appointed as our Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in November 2020. Graeme started working with Xceda Finance in the 18 months prior to his appointment as one of our external accountants at Ernst & Young. Graeme brings vast experience and capability to Xceda Finance’s financial governance practices.
Graeme holds a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) in Accounting & Commercial Law from the University of Otago, a Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting (GradDipCA) and is a member of the Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CA ANZ).
Graeme works in our Auckland office alongside Daniel (the CEO), Darryl (the CCRO) and our commercial lending team.
Darryl French
Chief Credit Risk Officer (CCRO)
Darryl French
Chief Credit Risk Officer (CCRO)
Darryl was appointed as our Chief Credit Risk Officer (CCRO) in October 2021. Having worked in several senior management teams, Darryl has been involved in building a finance company from the ground up, with another he increased the market cap value from $1.5 million to over $250 million and managed multi-million dollar complex loan positions in distress. Darryl has managed projects creating policy, procedures, loan assessment scorecards and has experience in business development, business analysis, staff management and establishing governance. Darryl has a real passion for the Finance and Recovery sector and brings a wealth of knowledge to our team.
Darryl works in our Auckland office alongside Daniel (the CEO) and Graeme (the CFO).
Nicole Awhimate
Systems Manager
Nicole Awhimate
Systems Manager
Nicole started at Xceda Finance as a Loans Officer in 2012, fresh from completing her degree at Victoria University. She has worked in a wide variety of roles within the company and as such has a great depth of understanding of Xceda and our customers. Most recently Nicole has been working as our Systems Manager, taking on the task of managing our IT System upgrades. Nicole brings a wealth of knowledge about our processes and history.
Nicole holds a BCA in Management and Commercial Law from Victoria University. Nicole works in our Whakatane office alongside Nicola (General Manager) and the rest of the Loan Operations Team.
Bri Thoms
Marketing Manager
Bri Thoms
Marketing Manager
Bri was appointed as our Marketing Manager in September 2021. Bri has experience working within large government sectors as well as privatised marketing agencies (specialising in FMCG and Retail). Bri brings a vast amount of experience with Loyalty Marketing, Investor Marketing and Lifecyle Marketing. Bri looks after all of our marketing initiatives and strategy as well as our strategic partnerships.
Bri holds a BCS in Public Relations and Human Resource Management from Waikato University.
