IWD special "Embrace change and lead with curiosity"
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What inspired Nicole Ferguson to move from Australia to New Zealand?
Something that I think is really important is being really curious.
Kia ora and welcome to a special guest edition of the New Zealand Property Market Podcast brought to you by Cotality. I'm Nick Goodall, Head of Research for Cotality. And today to recognise and celebrate International Women's Day 2026, I'm joined by Nicole Ferguson, National Director for Loan Market NZ. Nicole, thanks so much for coming on the show. How are things going?
Thank you, Nick. And thanks, Cotality, for having me for a very special week for us women in finance, especially.
Yeah, no, it's certainly one I look forward to every year. So I'm glad to have you on board this year. And I thought, let's kick things off then. And firstly, I kind of like to get to know you a little bit more personally. You know, what makes you tick and what keeps you busy on your weekend? So yeah, what's of interest for Nicole Ferguson?
Well, you can probably hear from a little bit of my accent there, Nick, that I actually am from Australia. So I'm actually from country Victoria originally. So I'm a little bit of a country girl. And I'd say on the weekends and what I've done since moving to New Zealand is really gotten involved in doing some hiking. and I'm a little bit of a waterfall chaser, so definitely enjoy looking for all the waterfalls. I think I've done most of them in the north so far, but I'm definitely keen to see more throughout New Zealand. There's some pretty beautiful waterfalls here.
Yeah, okay, impressive. Yeah, I've certainly done a bit of... not so much trekking, but trail running and things. And you do come past some waterfalls. I can't say I pay too much attention to them, but maybe I should pay more attention to those. And yeah, they certainly can be pretty mind-blowing when you do see a big one, especially. So totally, totally get that. And maybe that's why you fit into New Zealand so well as well. I didn't quite realise you were from the country of Victoria, you know, the country area rather than being a townie, but maybe that's why you fit in so well in New Zealand. So yeah, always good to catch up. Definitely. And so what about from a professional perspective then? I know that, you know, what, 15 odd years in the lending industry.
I know about half of that's probably been a loan market. So you don't tell us a bit more about your professional experience and that career trajectory that you've been through.
Yeah, definitely. So yes, it has been 15 years. You make me feel quite old when you say that to me, Nick. So yeah, I started my finance career 15 years ago, which was actually being an advisor myself or in an admin role and then being an advisor. And then I trajectoried into aggregation, which is where I actually ended up with the loan market group. So I've done quite a I'm pretty proud to say that it's been a really great place to grow my career. So what I've sort of done throughout my career is I have actually led the Victorian and Tasmanian Network, which was quite an intensive role and I can talk a little bit more around those challenges that I went through in that. I also have done a general manager role in the technology piece in the business as well, which was around bringing our customers, being our advisors closer to our technology team and working with them around our products and what we can do to make a better experience for not only our advisors, but for our customers more importantly as well.
Yeah, no, I mean, it sounds really broad breadth, right? And I think nothing beats when you've been at that front line to start with and then you get to move through that management because you have a real understanding and recognition of how tough it is or the challenges that happen at that front line. Any particular highlights that spring to mind through that period, probably mostly at that loan market group?
Yeah, look, I've been pretty lucky to go through some of our real peak moments in the company. So we've obviously done some acquisitions. So within Australia, we actually brought Plan, Choice and Fast, which were three aggregators, which was a very big project and a really growth moment for me to go through.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What inspired Nicole Ferguson to move from Australia to New Zealand?
0:00–10:42
2
How has Nicole's career evolved in the finance industry?
10:42–23:54
3
What challenges do women face in the finance sector?
23:54–30:58
4
How does gender equity impact leadership in finance?
30:58–38:24
5
What role does curiosity play in effective leadership?
38:24–40:30
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The NZ Property Market Podcast
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