From Wallabies Deputy Captain to Deputy CEO

David Giffin joins Centuria Bass, strengthens real estate private lending team

20-year-experienced in private lending, responsible for origination and loan management
Extensive expertise in debt and equity raising, +$6 billion capital raised throughout career
Sydney-based reporting to Joint CEOs while leading a team of 10 direct reports.

Australasian real estate funding solutions provider, Centuria Bass Credit (CBC or ‘Centuria Bass’), has appointed former Wallabies Vice Captain, David Giffin, as Deputy CEO and Co-Head of Lending, responsible for private lending origination and loan management across Australia and New Zealand.

Giffin, who helped lead Australia to victory in the 1999 Rugby World Cup and dedicated a decade to professional rugby, joins at a pivotal time as Centuria Bass continues to grow exponentially with assets under management expanding more than 46% during the 2024 calendar year to over $2 billion.

With more than 20 years’ experience in private lending markets, Giffin is adept at capital raising having secured more than $5 billion of debt and equity in previous financial services roles in addition to more than $1 billion of capital for Taurus Motor Finance, a business he co-founded and managed for more than five years. Taurus was acquired by Metrics Credit Partners.

Giffin has also been responsible for managing loan books exceeding $1 billion.

In his new role, Giffin will support Centuria Bass founders and Joint CEOs, Nick Goh and Giles Borten.

Mr Goh and Mr Borten said, “It is a pleasure to welcome David to the Centuria Bass fold and to have such a credible, seasoned professional join our senior ranks at a time of significant growth. In the past 12 months alone, we have originated and refinanced more than 44 loans worth more than $960 million. For our investors, this has translated into a c.10% IRR return on predominantly first mortgage opportunities over the year. We have also provided returns as high as 15.25% IRR on senior loans.

“What sets us apart is targeting the underserviced real estate loan middle-market to enable developers to get shovels in the ground for new development projects and land subdivisions as well as see projects come to fruition through bridging finance and residual stock loans. David’s experience across capital raising and loan management is a perfect match to assist Centuria Bass continue its growth trajectory.”

Prior to founding Taurus, Giffin held senior positions with numerous financial service organisations including Grant Samual (Capital Advisory) and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Currently, he is a non-executive director of aged care provider, Kopwa Limited, and was previously Regional Council President for children’s cancer charity, Redkite, between 2015-2018.

Giffin holds a Bachelor of Applied Finance from the University of Southern Queensland and a Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University.

Centuria Bass was founded in 2016 and, since its inception, it has provided compelling returns to wholesale investors on secured private credit loans.