In September 2017, life was perfect for James Symond. Then he went and jinxed it. The Aussie Home Loans chief executive was cruising off the coast of Monaco, his fiancee (now wife) Amelia by his side, celebrating his uncle John’s 70th birthday aboard Hasna, the 73-metre superyacht that the Aussie founder had shouted himself for the occasion.

As 200 party guests milled by the eight-metre infinity pool with waterfall, there was plenty to be thankful for. John Symond had just the previous month sold to Commonwealth Bank his final 20 per cent stake in Aussie, a company that, back in the 1990s, had been a revolutionary in the mortgage market, selling securitised housing loans at rates at least 1 per cent lower than the average of the major banks.