Saira has more than 15 years’ financial services experience, including leading credit teams at Pepper Group, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and GE Capital Finance, and risk and compliance operations at several start-ups including Nano Lending and Xinja Bank.

Crescent Group’s Group Executive, Brendan White, said: “Saira’s diverse experience across compliance, credit risk and risk management, together with her leadership and relationship skills, provide an ideal skill-set as the group builds a strong executive team. We anticipate benefits from her deep knowledge and specialised expertise as our business continues to evolve.

“The Crescent Group is moving forward on a dynamic growth path, targeting a combined $5 billion for super funds under management and residential finance originated by the end of 2026.”

Ms Cader said she was looking forward to working with the group, which has 11,000 customers and has established a strong reputation for engaging Muslims with high quality propositions built on best-in-class infrastructure. “Robust risk and governance frameworks are critical in today’s changing regulatory and legislative environment, and I look forward to working with Brendan and contributing to the success of the group,” she said.

Ms Cader holds a Bachelor of Business in Banking and Finance from Victoria University and has also completed a Diploma in Computing and IT. 

The Crescent Group, which includes Crescent Wealth, Crescent Finance, Crescent Foundation, Crescent Institute and Crescent Think Tank, expects to announce several further key appointments over the course of the year.

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Brendan White

Seasoned banker and corporate business leader Brendan White has been appointed Group Executive of the Sydney-based Crescent Group, which has pioneered Islamic investment in Australia and consists of two ‘profit for purpose’ businesses and three ‘not for profit’ organisations.

Mr White has more than 25 years’ experience in financial services most recently as Group Executive of Bank of Queensland’s Business Bank where he established the foundations of the bank and led a team of 600 banking and financial professional for seven years.

Prior to this he was General Manager Global Head of Financial Markets Sales and Offshore Markets and then Executive General Manager Regional Commercial and Agribusiness Banking at Commonwealth Bank over a period of almost 10 years.

Mr White is currently a director of Gateway Bank as well as Trade for Good, a share trading platform dedicated to raising funds for charities. He attended the Executive IT Program at the Massachusetts Institute of technology, the Authentic Leadership Program at the Harvard Business School and has a Graduate Diploma of Investment Management from the London Business School.

Crescent Group Founder Prof. Talal Yassine OAM said Mr White’s mandate in simple terms was to lead the Crescent Group and its businesses on a day-to-day basis and to spearhead the group’s growth and efforts to increase scale.

“I am delighted to have found such an accomplished and experienced leader as Brendan to take the operational helm of the Crescent Group at this pivotal stage in its history. Brendan has spent the majority of his career building businesses and leading teams to deliver growth and strong member and client advocacy, both internationally and domestically.

“The Group is a fast growing and dynamic financial services consortium dedicated to opening tomorrow to all Australians. I look forward to working beside Brendan as we take the Group and its constituent businesses to their next stage of development and reach the combined $5 billion mark for Super funds under management and residential finance originated over the next five years,” Mr Yassine said.

Mr White said he was honoured and privileged to be given the opportunity to support Professor Yassine. “Talal and the Crescent Group have significant growth ambitions and I look forward to contributing to the important business initiatives designed to support the financial health and well-being of Islamic communities all across Australia,” he said.

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Brendan White

Brendan White, BOQ’s Group Executive for Business Banking, Agribusiness and Financial Markets, said the acquisition will both grow and diversify BOQ’s banking footprint.

“This acquisition expands our business banking offering; delivering a leading position in the highly-valued professional banking market,” Mr White said.

“Our collaboration over recent months has highlighted the potential synergies available to our businesses as well as the extent of the cultural alignment and shared commitment to client service.”

BOQ Specialist was today unveiled as the new name for the Investec Professional Finance business, reinforcing its commitment to niche professional segments such as medical, accounting and financial adviser clients, as well as the new opportunities that may emerge by partnering with BOQ.

BOQ Specialist marked the move to BOQ by announcing they will soon be launching a new product – a specialised mortgage complete with an offset account, credit card and other tailored features.

CEO of BOQ Specialist, Barry Lanesman said the move to BOQ was an exciting evolution for the Investec Professional Finance business with the new mortgage product demonstrating the advantages of working closely with a recognised bank with the scale of BOQ.

“Our established banking infrastructure and specialist expertise combined with BOQ’s increased scale and banking experience puts us in a strong position to expand our proposition and significantly grow our business by providing a comprehensive offering for our clients,” Mr Lanesman said.

“Our experienced team, our approach and our commitment to growing long term relationships remains unchanged. We are a recognised leader in the medical, dental and accounting professions and will continue to focus on our specialist niches.”

The Asset Finance & Leasing business will merge with the existing BOQ Finance team.

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