Office address: Suite 15.01, Level 15, Chifley Tower, 2 Chifley Square, Sydney NSW 2000
Website: brighten.com.au
Year established: 2017
Company type: non-bank lender; Australian-regulated
Employees: 100+
Expertise: residential, commercial and retirement equity lending, alt-doc and non-conforming loans, non-resident and expatriate lending, SMSF lending, construction and vacant land loans, bridging finance, broker-exclusive distribution
Parent company: Real Asset Management Group (RAM)
Key people: Jason Azzopardi (CEO); Craig Thompson (executive director, COO); Adam Moore, Chris Meaker, Stuart Murray, Sharon Yardley and Julie Stanceski (directors); Ben Mckell (associate director)
Financing status: corporate-backed
Brighten Home Loans is a Sydney-based non-bank lender. The firm originates, underwrites and services residential and commercial mortgages through a broker network across Australia. It has originated more than 10,000 loans and closed $4.3 billion across eight public RMBS transactions as at October 2025.
Brighten launched in 2017 with the goal of reaching borrowers that Australia’s major banks had stepped back from. Regulatory pressure had pushed the Big Four to tighten their lending criteria and left a gap for a specialist, broker-focused lender.
The company started with a team of 25 and a network of around 400 mortgage brokers. Its initial focus was non-resident borrowers and Australians with income sourced from overseas.
In its first two years, the firm funded its loan book internally while it built warehouse relationships with global financial institutions. It secured its first major warehouse facility, believed to be around $500 million, from a global institution in 2019. That arrangement gave the firm the capacity to scale its product range and grow its broker footprint.
In 2020, Brighten secured a $250 million warehouse facility from Goldman Sachs, reported at the time as the bank’s first warehouse arrangement of its kind in Australia. The new funding enabled the lender to move into prime and near-prime lending alongside its existing non-resident book.
In 2021, Brighten priced Solaris 2021-1, its debut RMBS deal. The transaction was predominantly backed by non-resident loans and totalled around $366.5 million. It marked the firm’s entry into Australia’s public securitisation market.
Brighten also broadened its product range in 2021, adding prime and near-prime loans for Australian residents. By mid-2022, the firm had grown its AUM to more than $1.8 billion and expanded its team to over 90 finance professionals. That June, it priced its second Solaris transaction at $523.6 million.
In 2022, the company priced Orion Trust 2022-1, its debut RMBS for its Australian resident loan book. That same year, the 2022 Australian Mortgage Awards recognised Brighten as an excellence awardee in the Mortgage Choice Best Non-Bank BDM category for the first time.
By 2023, Brighten’s AUM had grown past $1.9 billion. The firm also completed Orion Trust 2023-1 at $600 million that year. It has also been recognised by:
See more industry awards and rankings on our Best in Mortgage special reports page.
Australian Broker profiled Brighten’s growth in mid-2026, covering how Azzopardi had built the business around transparency, fast turnaround times and broker support. The story noted the firm’s technology-led origination model as central to its growing place in the broker channel:
The company offers residential, commercial and retirement equity lending through its broker-exclusive network:
The company works exclusively through a broker network and does not lend directly to consumers. In May 2026, the firm accelerated the national rollout of its two reverse mortgage offerings following what it describes as strong broker demand.
Brighten lists six values that guide its work with staff, broker partners and the communities it operates in:
The firm has held Inclusive Employer status from Diversity Council Australia (DCA) for three consecutive cycles. It also participates in the Pride in Diversity Inclusion Program for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion.
The company describes itself as a Pay Equity Ambassador through the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. Brighten was also recognised in the 2025 MFAA Excellence Awards’ Diversity and Inclusion category as a national finalist.
Jason Azzopardi became the firm’s CEO in 2024. Before joining the company, he served as CFO at Resimac and worked at Bankwest, Macquarie Bank, and Uno Home Loans. Azzopardi completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors program.
Azzopardi leads Brighten Home Loans alongside:
The department heads include former executives from Australia’s largest non-bank lenders, while Brighten’s broker-facing team includes senior BDMs and state managers across the country.
Brighten’s strategy centres on broker-led distribution and expansion into complex lending segments. The lender has broadened its product suite, with a focus on construction, expat, and bridging loans.
Retirement lending is another key growth area for the non-bank. In 2026, Brighten accelerated its national rollout of reverse mortgage products after strong broker demand during a pilot program.
As major banks pull back from specialist lending segments, non-bank lenders like Brighten may benefit from the demand that traditional lenders are leaving behind.
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