Simon Arraj

Director & Responsible Manager

Simon has over 25 years of experience in the real estate finance industry. Commencing his career in credit risk at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Simon’s determination to succeed drove him to establish Checkpoint Finance Group in 2002. In 2017, Simon founded Vado Private and is a Responsible Manager under Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL 526189).

Simon holds a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) and Master’s in commerce (Finance). He also holds a RG146 Certificate, Diploma in Mortgage Broking & Management and Diploma in Business Management (Real Estate). Simon takes a vested interest in keeping abreast of market trends, legislative changes, and lending criteria to provide solutions that will help clients meet their property investment and development objectives.

Outside of work, Simon enjoys spending time with his young family, motor racing and is a car enthusiast.

Mark Zukerman

Director and Head of Funds Management

Mark has more than 30 years’ local and global commercial lending and corporate banking experience.

Following 11 years in Australian Unity’s Commercial Mortgage Trust business, he joined Centennial Property Group in 2017 and established the property and development lending business. He joins Vado from Carson Capital Holdings where he was the Director of Capital Markets for four years specialising in structuring and arranging funding for large scale residential and commercial real estate transactions.

Mark holds a Bachelor or Economics and Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment (Securities Institute of Australia).

Paul Abraham

Head of Operations

With over 15 years of experience in commercial banking and real estate finance, Paul is a seasoned expert in Private Credit, having cut his teeth during its rapid evolution over the past five years. His career began in commercial banking, where he held positions in senior management roles at NAB and Bank of Sydney. Across a wide range of industries and asset types, he has developed specialised expertise in credit structuring, property development funding, and capital markets.

Since joining Vado Private in 2019, Paul has embraced the dynamic, hands-on approach that defines private lending. His “skin in the game” philosophy reflects a commitment to delivering tangible outcomes—leveraging his extensive knowledge to cut through transactional complexity, move quickly, and build trusted client relationships.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Applied Finance from Macquarie University.

Outside of work, he enjoys sports, card games, and spending quality time with his young family.

Hien Nguyen

Head of Broker Distribution

0424 983 770 | hien@vadoprivate.com.au

Hien joined the business to expand Vado’s network in the broker industry and build a presence as a key competitor in the private lending space. Hien has spent over 27 years in customer relationship management, the last 17 years working with broker partners and has experience in lending, digital banking and aggregation.

Hien understands how brokers’ businesses work and what is important to them and their clients.

Placing strong importance on building long-term relationships with her brokers over the years, Hien has built a reputation for herself in the industry as someone who is open, honest, and proactive in her approach with an efficient, professional manner and shows a willingness to assist.

Hien does charity work in her spare time and has raised funds for many charities over the years by combining her love of running and walking. Hien has also found a passion for rolling on the mats, training with her beloved Jiu-Jitsu community.