Meet the Experts Leading Congress 2025

Emma McKeon AM

Australia’s Most Decorated Olympian & Swimming Icon

Emma McKeon AM is Australia’s most decorated Olympian and one of the greatest swimmers in history. Over a stellar career, she amassed 14 Olympic medals, including six golds, making her the third-most decorated swimmer and the seventh-most decorated athlete in Olympic history.

Emma was born on May 24, 1994, in Wollongong, New South Wales and hails from a family steeped in swimming excellence. Her father, Ron McKeon, and mother, Susie McKeon (née Woodhouse), were both competitive swimmers, with Ron representing Australia at the Olympics and Susie competing at the Commonwealth Games. Her brother, David McKeon, is also an Olympian. Emma’s early promise was evident when she won one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

After narrowly missing selection for the 2012 London Olympics, Emma took a brief hiatus before returning to the pool with renewed determination. She made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, securing four medals: one gold, two silvers, and a bronze.

Her crowning achievement came at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where she won seven medals—four gold and three bronze—becoming the first female swimmer and the first Australian to win seven medals at a single Olympics. She continued her exceptional performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, adding another gold and two more podium finishes to her tally.

Beyond the Olympics, Emma excelled at the World Aquatics Championships, earning 20 medals, including five gold. At the Commonwealth Games, she amassed a record 20 medals, 14 of which were gold, solidifying her status as one of the most successful athletes in the event’s history.

In November 2024, at the age of 30, Emma announced her retirement from competitive swimming, expressing gratitude for her journey and a desire to inspire other athletes. Emma’s legacy is not only defined by her medal haul but also by her embodiment of perseverance, excellence, humility, and sportsmanship. She remains a role model for aspiring athletes and a celebrated figure in Australian sports history.

In retirement, Emma is taking the opportunity to enjoy her passions outside of swimming – spending time with family and friends, exploring other cultures and cuisines, coffee, sleeping in and importantly, imparting her knowledge and lived experiences with the next generation of young athletes.

Hamish McLachlan

Hamish McLachlan’s broadcasting journey began in horse sports and polo, where his roles as a player and administrator opened doors to local and international game-calling opportunities. To refine his skills, he spent three summers in Europe, hosting sports and charity events while commentating matches, all in pursuit of a career in Australia.

In 2008, he returned to Australia and secured his breakthrough with Channel 7 as the host of “AFL Game Day,” blending insightful analysis with lighthearted banter. His success on the show led to hosting roles for Spring Racing broadcasts and tennis commentary at the Australian Open.

Recognised as one of Australia’s premier event hosts, Hamish helmed iconic occasions like the Melbourne Cup, Rio 2016 Olympics, Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and the entertainment series “Australian Spartan.” In 2019, he began hosting the prestigious Brownlow Medal Count and Coverage and, in 2020, presented the popular AFL digital series, “The Last Time I Cried.”

Beyond broadcasting, Hamish actively supports causes such as Captain Courageous, where he serves on the board, and the Royal Flying Doctor Service, where he is an ambassador. His partnership with AIA Vitality reflects his multifaceted career. Hamish resides in Melbourne with his wife Sophie and their three children and is widely sought after as an entertaining master of ceremonies, having had the privilege of interviewing the late NBA superstar Kobe Bryant at an exclusive event.

Keith Cullen

Keith Cullen is the founder and managing director of WT Financial Group Limited and is the largest (non-institutional) shareholder. He has 37 years of experience as a corporate executive and entrepreneur across the broadcast media, technology, and financial services sectors. Keith successfully conceived and implemented the strategy to pivot the group from its previous B2C focus to a primarily B2B focus through the acquisitions of Wealth Today, Sentry Group, Synchron and Millennium3 Financial Services.

Keith is an entrepreneur and problem solver, and a creator and builder of businesses, ideas and careers. He is an empathetic, persuasive, determined and pragmatic businessman who relishes challenges and balances big picture thinking with hard work and detail orientation; and a sense-of-urgency with perseverance and grit. With a track record of success in the recruitment, training, mentoring and motivation of high-performance individuals and teams, he encourages and instils these traits in those around him.

Bob McCarthy

Bob McCarthy spent 16 years as an officer in the Irish Naval Service. During this period he served as an officer onboard many of the Ireland’s Naval Ships, was a Naval Diving Officer and, when not on sea-going duties, managed training for those at all levels of the Naval Service.

Bob has been involved in various international competitive offshore sailing events since then, both as a competitor and team-builder, including the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, multiple Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific races and the Sydney to Hobart Race. In addition to his ongoing focus on business growth for his client organisations, he continues to have an active hands-on approach to building teams in the professional sports sector.

Running a major international training organisation in Ireland for 12 years before moving to Australia in 2012 to take a leadership role in that organisation, Bob is an experienced leader, facilitator and presenter. Driving Bob is his strong belief that improved business and personal results can only come about through attitude and behaviour change.

With a particular focus on addressing both the Mindset and Skillset attributes that are essential for financial professionals to grow their businesses, Bob is focused on growing Integrity Solutions throughout Australia and is developing a strong, professional team to achieve this goal.

Bob’s presentations are engaging, topical and always interesting – focusing primarily on the practical aspects of sales, performance improvement, personal leadership and organisational development.

Sophie Firminger

Sophie has over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, with a career spanning marketing, sales, operations, governance, and practice management.

With a strategic mindset and a passion for process improvement, Sophie excels at identifying growth opportunities and implementing tech-enabled solutions that enhance client engagement and operational performance. She is particularly skilled at bridging the gap between business needs and technology capabilities, helping firms adopt tools that deliver measurable impact.

Originally from the UK and now based on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Sophie enjoys connecting with people—both professionally and personally—and finds inspiration in Australia’s coastal lifestyle.

Scott Hoger

Scott Hoger is a seasoned professional with over twenty years of industry experience, currently serving as the National Manager, Education and Partnerships at TAL. Having embarked on his career at a young age, Scott cultivated a strong understanding of financial planning, with a particular emphasis on contemporary insurance advice. 

At TAL, Scott’s role revolves around offering strategic risk advice to financial advisors and licensees, ensuring they are equipped with the most valuable insights to serve their clients effectively.

Benjamin Martin

Benjamin is the National Technical and Distribution Capability Manager at AIA Australia.  He regularly presents at licensee professional development days, is actively engaged in regulatory working committees and authors papers across the various trade press platforms.  

His qualifications include a Master of Taxation, Bachelor of Applied Finance and Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning.   

Marshall Ross

With over a decade’s experience in the Life Insurance industry spanning a variety of roles from underwriting, new business and business development across multiple leading insurers and a family background in financial advice practice, Marshall is passionate about risk advice and assisting advisers to deliver efficient and effective outcomes for their clients.

Marshall holds a Bachelor of Business from the Queensland University of Technology along with a Diploma of Financial Planning and in his role as Partner Education Manager is responsible for developing & delivering Acenda’s Partner Education Program, which in 2024 was a finalist for the IFA Excellence Awards Education Provider of the Year along with Marshall being an individual finalist in the Industry Thought Leader of the Year.

Campbell Stevens

Campbell is an ETF expert and is responsible for business development in Victoria and Tasmania. Prior to joining VanEck, Campbell worked for JBWere in a range of roles including the Private Wealth division and Intermediaries Sales team. Campbell holds a Bachelor of Business from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).

Andrew Pease

Andrew Pease is Russell Investments’ Chief Investment
Strategist based in London. He is responsible for the cycle,
value and sentiment framework that guides the tactical
positioning of the firm’s actively managed funds. Andrew
has extensive financial industry experience as an
economist, investment strategist, fund manager and central
banker.

Andrew joined Russell Investments’ Sydney office in 2006
where he was Chief Investment Strategist for the Asia Pacific region.

Andrew previously worked for the funds management
division of Macquarie Bank, as the Chief Economist for
JPMorgan in Australia and as the Australian head of
research at Nomura Securities. Andrew began his career as
an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia.