About us

Responsible borrowing and lending

Since 1989, Avanti has helped thousands of New Zealanders by providing finance to buy a car, pay a bill, buy a home or grow a business. Our customers come from around Aotearoa, from all walks of life, with different ages, incomes, gender and ethnicity.

At Avanti we live and breathe our values.

We put people first and treat everyone we deal with as individuals with unique circumstances, because we know that sometimes “life happens”.

We are relentlessly helpful in everything we do. And we believe that we’re not just here to support our customer’s finances but provide them with tools to support their lives. We know our stuff and do our best.

We do what’s right too, holding ourselves to the highest ethical standards. This is a responsibility we take very seriously.

Avanti is committed to our sustainability frameworks, volunteering and active participation in the community.

Avanti Finance won the Community and Sustainability Award 2022 at the Financial Services Federation Awards. This award recognises companies that have demonstrably embraced corporate social responsibility and/or sustainability which has had a positive impact in financial services, the wider community, or New Zealand as a whole.

We also won the Equifax Outstanding Corporate Citizen Award at the Financial Services Federation 2019 awards ceremony. This award is used to recognise a company that has demonstrably embraced corporate social responsibility and community involvement, either through sustainable resource management initiatives or through support for a project that is beneficial to their given community, region or New Zealand as a whole.

According to KPMG’s Non-bank FIPs 2023, Avanti Finance is the second largest non-bank lender in NZ.

We’ve been awarded Non-Bank Lender of the Year at the NZ Mortgage Awards for three years in a row (2022, 2023 and 2024).

Avanti Finance also won New Zealand Securitisation Deal of the Year at the KangaNews Awards in 2022.

Avanti prides itself on being a responsible lender and has policies and procedures in place to ensure it does the right thing by its customers and that it operates in compliance with the overarching lending rules set out in laws and regulations.

Avanti is also a member of the Financial Services Federation which together with its members has developed some principles to help both lenders and borrowers work responsibly together. These principles ensure that lenders (us) and borrowers (you) know what to expect when giving or receiving a loan.

Find out more about our responsible borrowing and lending.

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Our history

The Avanti Finance story started in 1989

It was founded on the premise that everyone deserves a chance to access what’s beyond arm’s reach, if they make the effort to stay the course.

‘Avanti’ (which means ‘go forward’ in Italian) was chosen as the name because we never stand still and we pride ourselves on helping people move forward, no matter what their situation. Our first customer was a woman who urgently needed a car loan and we’ve been there for everyday Kiwis ever since.

These days Avanti Finance is still privately owned and governed by a board chaired by Glenn Hawkins. Avanti Finance is led by our Chief Executive, Fred Ohlsson, supported by our executive management team.

As a member of the Financial Services Federation, Avanti Finance supports and promotes responsible behaviour in the provision of financial services to New Zealanders.

Careers

We’re always looking for people to join our team.

Our environment is friendly, inclusive, and focussed on genuinely helping our customers. The size of our business means that we’re small enough to be connected with each other, and large enough to invest in tools, innovation, and development opportunities for our people.

If this sounds like the type of environment that you would enjoy, take a look at some of the roles we’re currently recruiting for.

We love helping our customers. Here’s what some of them have to say: