EST. 2026 · 17 YRS IN FINANCE
BRISBANE · QUEENSLAND
SERVICING NATIONALLY
Meet Dion Fernandes

Brokers think in loans. I think in portfolios.

A finance strategist for the long game. Not the next loan. The next ten.

I am Dion Fernandes. After seventeen years in finance and more than two hundred investor clients, my job is not to get you a loan. My job is to structure what comes after it.

Dion Fernandes, Finance Strategist
DION FERNANDES
Finance Strategist
Broker of the Year, 2025 AMA · BankWest
Vision

To empower financial legacies. For generations.

The North Star of every structure we build
A Working Philosophy

A portfolio is not built by stacking one purchase on top of another. It is built by sequencing each move so the one before earns the next.

Dion Fernandes · Founder, Stratega Finance
The Method

Four rules. One framework.

Every client engagement runs through the same structural rules. The deals look different. The thinking does not.

Rule One

Structure first. Products second.

The loan product is the last decision. The structure of ownership, security and serviceability is the first. Most brokers reverse this. That is why most investors stall at property two.

Rule Two

Plan for property three before writing property one.

A loan written without the third move in mind is a loan that caps you at two. Every settlement is a sequenced step. Not a standalone transaction. The order is the methodology.

Rule Three

Different lenders carry different jobs.

Every lender has its own policy, its own appetite, its own way of reading the same client. Specialist assets belong with lenders that understand them. Personal lending belongs where the calculator treats you fairly. Spreading the portfolio across the right lenders is how you stay diversified, flexible and unexposed to any single bank's policy changes.

Rule Four

Capacity is finite. Deploy it deliberately.

Your borrowing position is a fixed pool that lenders assess against income, liabilities and policy. It does not grow because we put it in a structure. The job is to deploy it deliberately. Choose the right asset, in the right order, at the right time, so every settlement moves the portfolio forward rather than spending capacity on the wrong move.

The Path Here

Seventeen years of structuring. And counting.

The short version of how a finance strategist gets built.

2008the bank years

Started in finance at Commonwealth Bank.

Joined CBA as the entry point into the industry. Spent the next decade learning lending from the inside. Credit, structuring, complex deals, the policy edges most brokers never see.

Inside the Bank

First multi-property investor. The pattern revealed itself.

A self-employed client running multiple structures and two investment properties. Restructured the position and helped them grow from two to five properties in twelve months. That deal showed what was possible when structure came before product. The whole portfolio blueprint thinking started there.

2020went independent

Stepped out of the bank. Started refining the craft.

Into broking with access to forty plus lenders. The structural thinking finally had room to operate. Every year since has been about refining the same craft. Better questions, better sequencing, better outcomes.

2023the restart

Joined Emerge Finance. Started again from zero.

No existing client book. No safety net. Sold the car to keep things moving. Still a single dad, with school pickups and a business to rebuild at the same time. Adam took a chance on me. I took the chance and ran. Within twelve months the niche was clear, the approach was sharper and there were two staff members on the team.

2024on the record

Launched Finance This, Property That.

A weekly podcast for serious investors and business owners. Conversations on structure, finance and property strategy. One hundred plus episodes and still growing.

100+ Episodes
2025codified

Built the Approach. A repeatable framework.

Codified what was working into a system every client now runs through. Finance Strategy. Portfolio Roadmap. Strategic Partnership. Three stages. One sequenced architecture.

Stratega Finance · Founded
2025national recognition

AMA Broker of the Year. Productivity Category. Winner.

118 loans submitted. 115 settled. A 97 percent conversion rate earned the national Productivity Award at the Australian Mortgage Awards. The recognition matters. The settlements matter more.

AMA + BankWest · Broker of the Year
i
17+
Years in Finance
ii
200+
Investors Advised
iii
100+
Podcast Episodes
The Formal Stuff

Recognition, membership and the licensing.

The short version is here. The full story behind the awards lives on the awards page.

Recognition
2025 AMA Broker of the Year · Productivity Category Plus 2025 BankWest Broker of the Year. Two of the most respected awards in Australian broking.
2025 · Winner
Qualification
Diploma in Finance & Mortgage Broking Management Advanced industry qualification covering credit law, complex lending and ethical practice.
Diploma · Industry
Membership
MFAA Full Member Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia. The industry's peak professional body.
Full Member
Aggregator & Licensing
Connective Credit Services Pty Ltd Authorised under Australian Credit Licence Number 389328. Personal Credit Representative 579270.
ACL 389328
Practice
Fernandes Legacy Finance Pty Ltd t/a Stratega Finance Brisbane based. Servicing nationally.
Est. 2026 · Brisbane

The full story behind each award. What it means, what it takes, who else has won it. All on the dedicated awards page.

See the Awards Page
Dion Fernandes at work
Dion Fernandes
Outside the Numbers

Why this work, still.

After more than a decade, the work has not changed shape. A client walks in. They have income, equity and a goal that does not fit a single transaction. The job is to translate that into a structure that can carry the goal.

Every deal is different. The thinking is not. That is what makes it work. It is also what keeps it interesting.

When I am not in client work, I am usually on the podcast, with my family or thinking about the next sequence. Seventeen years in and the questions are still the most interesting part.

Dion Fernandes Founder · Stratega Finance
Let’s Talk Structure

Ready to build your portfolio with intent?

A 15-minute fit call with our team. No pitch, no obligation. A conversation about where you are, where you want to be and whether we are a fit.

15 Minutes
No Pitch
By Appointment