Engaging Conversations | Inspiring Dialogue, Empowering Communities
Welcome to Engaging Conversations, the podcast that connects you with the pulse of our local communities.
Hosted by Leon Goltsman, Co-Founder of Ecolibrium Headquarters (EcoHQ), each episode invites you on an inspiring journey into the stories that shape and uplift our neighbourhoods.
From visionary leaders and industry experts to everyday heroes making a difference, Engaging Conversations offers an exclusive look into our society’s diverse and dynamic fabric. This podcast is your gateway to broadening your perspective, building meaningful connections, and being inspired.
Please note that the views and opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or EcoHQ. The discussions in this podcast are for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered professional, financial, medical, or legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to seek independent professional advice before making any decisions based on the content of this podcast.
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Engaging Conversations | Inspiring Dialogue, Empowering Communities
#21 - Empowering Communities through Ethical Investment with Niaz Cannoth
Step into the world of ethical finance with our guest, Niaz Cannoth, whose remarkable journey reflects how financial investments can spark real change in communities. From his beginnings in Australia to becoming a leader in NDIS accommodation partnerships, Niaz demonstrates that success in finance goes beyond numbers. It's about uplifting those around us. He shares powerful stories of first-home buyers overcoming barriers, illustrating how tailored financial solutions create opportunities where none seemed possible.
Niaz's commitment to ethical investments shines through as he advocates for transparent and responsible real estate strategies. He believes in building an ecosystem where everyone, from investors to support providers, collaborates to enhance community well-being. Niaz's leadership style, grounded in trust and integrity, highlights the importance of engaging with others to achieve mutual goals.
This episode is a call to rethink our perceptions of finance and recognise that every investment can be an opportunity for social impact. Join us as we explore critical themes of leadership, community engagement, and ethical practices in finance. Let's work towards a future where we all flourish together—every conversation matters, and so does every connection we make. Remember to subscribe, share, and inspire others with these insights!
Thank you for listening!
Hello and welcome back to Engaging Conversations wherever in the world you are. I'm your host, Leon Goltsman, and it's always a pleasure to have you here as we hit episode 21,. I just want to take a moment to thank each and every single one of you, our listeners. Your passion and support are what keeps us going every day, and for that I'm truly grateful. Now, today's episode is really special for more reasons than one. Not only do we have an incredible guest, but he's also someone who has played a vital role in making conversations like this possible. A huge thank you to our valued sponsor, Niaz Cannoth, principal and Lending Specialist at Invest Intelligence, who also happens to be our guest on today's show.
Leon Goltsman:But here's the thing about Niaz he's not just the name behind the business. He's the person behind the vision, the one who supports communities and the people who uplift them. He's someone worthy of respect, not just because of the ideas he stands for, but because his actions back up every word. From arriving in Australia 25 years ago to becoming a respected industry leader and community advocate, nias has built more than just a successful business. He's built a legacy of trust, transparency and real social impact. His commitment to ethical investment, particularly in disability accommodation is reshaping the industry, ensuring that success isn't just about financial returns, but also about making a difference where it matters most. Beyond finance, his dedication speaks for itself mentoring investors, simplifying complex NDIS frameworks and rolling up his sleeves for social work. Leadership for Niaz isn't just about vision. It's about taking action, and that's exactly what we're discussing today. So, without further ado, let's jump right in.
Niaz Cannoth:Hi, I'm Niaz Cannoth. I reside in Sydney. I do finances and ethical NDIS investments. I migrated in 2009, did my Masters in IT in Melbourne RMIT University, then pursued higher studies again, did my MBA at UTS. I've been living in Australia for the last 25 years. I call this my home. It's a great country to be in. It provides so much opportunity for people who migrate and my journey has been absolutely fantastic.
Niaz Cannoth:Initial years it was very challenging being a student trying to understand the cultural side of things, how I would probably integrate into the society where I live in. But even the journey was challenging. I started adopting to the new culture, new values, new lifestyle. I'm married. I have three beautiful kids Zain, zeeshan and Zaria. I have a six-year-old daughter. She has changed my life.
Niaz Cannoth:I've been in different sectors but for me the first thing was to understand the Australian culture and value and I thought, even though I did my master's in IT and MBA, I just wanted to connect with pure Australian way of life, language, everything. So I started as a customer service representative. I really chose that job because I wanted to connect with people across Australia. That gave me a good opportunity to talk to people in regional towns across cities, engaging with them, understanding, need factors. So being a customer service gave me everything I wanted from changing my slang to being in Australia a little bit, the way most of the people around in Australia think about and that gave me a good foundation. So when I was doing my master's, that's what I did. So when I was doing my master's, that's what I did Once I graduated.
Niaz Cannoth:That's when I had my entrepreneurship mind came into play. I entered the world of finance. At that point of time it's been like about 10 years. The reason why I went into finance was I saw a lot of opportunity that a finance side of things can provide to everyday people. When I myself wanted to get something like a house, I found it challenging. Every time some challenging thing presents I actually look for a solution. So I said, right, let me get into finance and see what can be done.
Leon Goltsman:So, Niaz, your journey from finance to ethical investment has always been about more than just numbers. What personal experiences shaped your belief that finance should serve a greater purpose?
Niaz Cannoth:Finance provides a lot of freedom. However, getting the right kind of finance makes a big difference. There was so much gap in terms of consultation, what kind of finance the customers would like to get. That shaped myself to get into the world of finance. The more satisfaction thing about finance was that I was able to help the first-home buyers specifically in the last three to four years.
Niaz Cannoth:Finance helps us to help people to navigate through different stages of life. We have clients who are astute investors. We have clients who are first-home buyers. As I mentioned before, the satisfaction you get through providing them the solution is. A good example was a first-home buyer couldn't get a house for a long time. We were able to get into the detail of it, try and find out the best possible solution and get them to buy the first home. And not only that we engage in providing them the right opportunity to buy houses in the right areas, which actually helps them not only move into it but which would probably appreciate in a year's time. A good example has been we have got a house for a client which was about $600,000. Today it's valued at $1 million in three years time. That all comes through strategic buying side of things and providing them the right finance.
Leon Goltsman:And there's also that sense of experience.
Niaz Cannoth:Yes, anyone who wants to get finance in terms of residential, which I specialize in, they really need to understand their objectives and requirements. Many brokers who are in the market are not able to define that objectives and requirements. Once we get to know the objectives and requirements, that's when we go through a proper consultation and then provide them the right solution.
Leon Goltsman:And, niyas, you've been described as someone who brings together all different types of people, from politicians, investors and community leaders, to create real change. What drives you to connect people and build these bridges?
Niaz Cannoth:It's about bringing all elements and sectors together. What I've learned through my experience is you don't just specialize in one field to make it happen to you investors. A good example is when we started getting into NDIS property development, I identified a great gap. That is, building a great product for investors is one thing. Then I realised, once that's done, there were so many gaps in the market, such as we have to work with stakeholders such as sales, sda providers, support coordinators and so on and so forth. Building a great product and fulfilling that requirement for investors is one thing, or I call it as ecosystem. Building a proper ecosystem where all the stakeholders come together and making a difference is what I work towards.
Leon Goltsman:Well, you certainly do that, and with that, you've been able to not only see the different obstacles that are ahead of you and other people as well, but you also see opportunities. Can you share a time when you turned a challenge into a transformative opportunity, whether in business, investment or community development?
Niaz Cannoth:When I got into SDA project management development side of things. There are certain things that we need to deliver for investors. First is identifying an area where we go through all the demand analysis, which most of them do. Most of the project managers, developers, get that done because data is very transparent. Ndia NDDIA provides those data. Based on that you can go develop whatever you want.
Niaz Cannoth:The most uncomfortable thing I found doing that alone was not having the transparency on the other side. Understanding demand through data analysis is one thing, but breaking that down to a point that how that would relate into a proper investment is the other thing. So a good example is when we went to Mildura, that's in Victoria, demand for SDA participant and building a SDA investment property was quite viable. When we dug deep into it we found that the participants, who are the real stakeholders here, where we want to build everything for them, were living in dwellings, which was so shabby. I couldn't believe At that point of time.
Niaz Cannoth:I met the former mayors of the town to have a discussion about what are the need factors in those areas, what it looks like, and then we met real participants to understand their needs. We put all those things together and the most important thing was to bring the most valuable stakeholders, that is, standard disability accommodation agencies was to bring the most valuable stakeholders, that is, standard disability accommodation agencies, sil providers, into that region. Do their own research on the data that has been provided by NDIA and get to the point that is there a reason why we need to take investors into that area? That's number one, because they are the stakeholders. Can we engage SIL providers? That's the second stakeholders. Sda agency that's the third stakeholders. The most important stakeholders is participant. We engaged all of them at the beginning of the project. We had a plan at the beginning. Then we went to works.
Leon Goltsman:You obviously put in a lot of attention to detail and understand the audience, the target. You get all the information, so you can not only make well-informed decisions, but you can also recommend those decisions and suggestions to other people. Neaz, your work in NDIS, including the SDA and SILs, is making a tangible impact on the lives of people with disabilities. What drew you to this sector and what do most people misunderstand about it?
Niaz Cannoth:There are two or three different things we can talk about here. I know NDIA and the government encourages mum and dad or astute investors to build SDA properties. That's because there are so much demand for participants to be moved out of legacy homes where they are just modified. They live in there. As I mentioned before, it's in a very shabby condition in many ways. Some of the participants are in the hospitals for many months. So I believe NDIA has identified that there is a need for it and they encourage the mom-and-dad investors our student investors, as I mentioned to build houses and they actually give great returns In terms of returns, I would probably say, depending on region to region. If you build a four-bedroom house with three participants, one care room, depending on the category, you can get $55,000 to up to $80,000, depending on the region. Again, that's a great income. So they encourage investors to get into that sector and they reward for it. But reward comes with risk. This is where I want to differentiate how I approach the market altogether Pre-COVID, I think in 2014-15, that's when all these things were introduced in terms of SDA housing investors coming on board, queensland was the first adopter.
Niaz Cannoth:At that point of time, I was not project managing anything. I used to get clients. I was in finance sector, as you know. They would ask me Niaz, can you assist in getting a great investment properties anywhere in Australia?
Niaz Cannoth:Based on little knowledge at that point of time, I used to work with NDIS developers and I would say, yeah, I've done my basic research and this looks good. This is the returns, and returns are very transparent. You can just go into the NDIS website and it will give you all the details suburb wise, region wise, what are the participants, what it looks like, what not. And as a developer, I can just show that to any investors and say, hey, there is a demand, just I'm building a property there for X amount and you invest this and your investment returns is going to be three participants into, let's say, on average, $150,000 on high physical support and investors can just bite into it and get into it. That's what happened with a couple of investors I actually referred to. The challenge was, after the completion of the dwelling, there are no participants moving in.
Niaz Cannoth:Who would they first call Me, not the developer, because I'm the one who said it looks good. I was not able to understand why, when so much demand through a transparent source says that you can get participants but you can't get anyone.
Leon Goltsman:And this is the problem, a lot of people don't delve deep enough or under the surface. They just see something, read it, and they just kind of take it as gospel absolutely right.
Niaz Cannoth:I don't blame the investors, because when you present something to them from the data point of view, or the demand point of view, or the housing point of view, it looks real and it's real, and I don't blame the developers to to sell something showing that, and that's what everyone would do. For me, it was a very uncomfortable position to be in. I said, no, this is something wrong there. I have to dwell more into it. That's when I really started doing my own R&D side of things. What data means to investors, what data means to participants, what data means to the other stakeholders like CIL providers, sda, who actually leases this, and what are the cross links between all these stakeholders?
Niaz Cannoth:In my opinion, when I concluded concluded, everyone has to play a role. You just can't build something and say that's done, I'm done with it. The demand is that it's not my problem. I believe project managers or developers can't do that in my term. So that's when I said you know what? Let me do an end-to-end solution, because I had so many people still coming back to me and saying can we do something? Can you show me where to invest and what is the best thing? I believe NDIS is the investment, if done right, is the best thing you can ever get into.
Leon Goltsman:So you're clearly demonstrating some responsibility and, most of all, integrity. This is more or less your point of difference, as well than some of the others who just enter the market.
Niaz Cannoth:Absolutely. Again, I'll reiterate that there is nothing wrong with who does what right. It's about building ecosystem, ethical ecosystem Not that I will get or anyone can get 100% right, but putting a body of work and, as I mentioned before, building that ecosystem is the most important thing and that's what we did in Mildura. That was my first project right.
Leon Goltsman:What we did was we looked at data and you've had a few projects since then.
Niaz Cannoth:Yes, I do, I do, but Mildura has been my favorite thing because that's been my first.
Niaz Cannoth:And when you have done all this R&D, you think that you have learned everything and you can do anything you want to do, but I'll explain the challenges after that. But the good thing is when you have created that ecosystem to bring all the stakeholders going with the demand, especially the demand which you actually see. It's transparent. When I present something to you as an example, I show the data which is available and there is no other data we go through. But, as mentioned before, you could see that interpret and say, wow, this is great, I'm going to invest my million dollar into it. I mean, you get finance and that could be the beginning end of it. But if you have not worked with all the stakeholders I mentioned from day one of curating this project, you will fail 80% of the time, doesn't matter what the data says, doesn't matter what it presents to yourself, and so I suppose, when people are going into something like this, it's always better to come in knowing what you're getting yourself into and suddenly having the right people on your team.
Niaz Cannoth:Absolutely. That's what I do with my investors. I actually walk them through the data. They say, oh, we have seen that Someone else presented this. I get that. I said there is more to it. And then we walk through the challenges they would potentially have, irrespective of what they see. We explain to them what are the minimum thing they can get out of it, what is the maximum they can expect out of it. But the beauty is the ecosystem we built and how we bring the stakeholders from day one when we curate the project for a specific area.
Leon Goltsman:Nias, it's clear you've been a champion for ensuring that regional Australians don't fall through the cracks. What financial and social challenges do these communities face that often go unnoticed?
Niaz Cannoth:I love regional areas. Most of my projects are in regional. I think the need factor for this in regional is very, very high. I understand balancing the investor side of things. I think the need factor for this in regional is very, very high. Right, I understand balancing the investor side of things. At the same time, I would go to a regional area where the demand for this kind of investment building SDA property exceeds supply. I would look at if anyone has done anything there or not.
Niaz Cannoth:I work with SIL and SDA providers in the local regional area to understand the demand factor, the social, responsible side of things. I think it falls with everyone, from the local politicians to industry leaders in that area, the developers in that area, the SIL providers, sda providers, as mentioned, the social responsibilities. I identify that as the most important thing. That's the reason I always stress building an ecosystem consisting of all these key stakeholders decision makers, enablers, developers, service providers coming together and making a difference. And the most biggest difference or the most benefit which comes out of this is to the participants. That's, the participants. Who requires a specialized dwelling? I mean they need to be treated with respect, just like us. I mean we have an open home, we walk into it. We have choices. We say this house is better than that, this house is better than that. But as much as they need choice, we are the one we should drive that and give them the best of the best they can get into.
Leon Goltsman:This is why people trust you because of your integrity and transparency. How do you maintain that trust and ensure ethical standards in all your dealings?
Niaz Cannoth:Good question, very good question. Transparency is the most important thing in finance ethical investment. I always loved to be part of the community. I dedicate my Friday half a day, every day of the week doing some kind of social work. A good example is I was the former secretary of a school with 1,500 students, and being in that environment and working towards the education sector it's a non-profit school is something that I love to do.
Niaz Cannoth:During the ravaging fire incident which took place in New South Wales, I believe 2019-20, batemans Bay and all those regions were ravaged completely down. This is something I would like to say. At that point of time, I was going through a health crisis. I was diagnosed with rectal cancer, stage three to stage four progression. During that time, I was going through neoadjuvant therapy, which is chemo and radiation, and I just can't believe. At that point of time, when I was in the midst of doing the radiation I think it was in the fifth or sixth week of doing radiation we were able to get about 20 volunteers women, men, children as a part of a team from New South Wales, we went to Batemans Bay. We coordinated with local coordinators. We were coordinating with all the needy things which is required. We collected some money but rather than shopping here in Sydney and taking everything back there, we had a list of things which is of immediate need. We went to Batemans Bay and we did the shopping there so that we can encourage the local retail.
Leon Goltsman:Well, that speaks volumes about your character helping communities, building communities, even the areas that you don't live in yourself, being where the people need you. You've obviously putting a lot of people first and you understand people's needs.
Niaz Cannoth:Absolutely, you wouldn't be able to understand 100% of the needs, but you have to start somewhere. I believe the best way to start is engaging with the local community, providing them the platform. You have to create a platform, whether it's through an association or working with an existing association or organization, being part of that organization and understanding the local needs. It's very important that you have to get up, go there, be there and then get things done.
Leon Goltsman:So I suppose that's how you got into doing what you're doing away from finance, just finance and getting into NDIA property development. You've worked with a wide range of stakeholders, from government bodies to families seeking life-changing support. What have these experiences taught you about leadership and responsibility?
Niaz Cannoth:A lot In the field I am in. Leadership is essential. It can come in any form or shape, but leading from the front and providing the right framework to give the best to your investors or the stakeholders, which I explained before, is very important and you have to be in the forefront. The subject matter understanding the environment, understanding different stakeholders you work with, which I mentioned, understanding the ever-changing dynamics in that industry and the stakeholders. You have to be a good leader. If you don't, you will fall through the cracks. That's what leadership means. It's about understanding the culture, local culture, the values, the requirements, the challenges and having a plan and a vision and being transparent with the people you work with. That's what leadership means to me.
Leon Goltsman:Well, what I noticed about you and your style of leadership is you lead by example. I've never seen you tell people what to do. You show them. That is the testament to your character.
Niaz Cannoth:Absolutely. I believe in empowering individuals. It's such a strong word it seems like, but the empowerment comes from trust and the trust comes from the way you engage with the people, different industry bodies, having that comfort level in the engagement. As I mentioned before, empowering is all about leadership. If I'm working with key stakeholders, of course it starts from identifying them and then trusting them. After you identify and then when they're part of the ecosystem they are the specialist in that field I need to empower them to make decision so that the end stakeholders, the participants and the investors get benefit out of it.
Leon Goltsman:You've certainly worked closely with politicians, community leaders and lots of investors. What leadership qualities do you admire in others and how have they influenced your own approach For me?
Niaz Cannoth:leadership is very dynamic. You change leadership style or engagement based on the scenarios and circumstances you are in and you want to deal with. You can't take one mindset of leadership and say this would fit for all purposes. It just doesn't work. The politicians and the leaders I've worked with the people who lead best of the best organization, a non-profit organization, who are community leaders. I've learned a lot. It's a need factor that gives you the best outcome from your leadership.
Leon Goltsman:So what I'm noticing is, and what you're saying is, being flexible and adapting to different situations.
Niaz Cannoth:Absolutely, you have to. I believe in that and I've seen that making a big difference. A good example would be my leadership when I engage with investors. It is different to when I show my leadership when I'm engaging with politicians or the stakeholders, like SIL, sda. There's always a common element which, as I said, empowerment, trust and believing in the vision, and then you frame your leadership around the vision and the execution part of it.
Leon Goltsman:So many people might be hearing your name for the first time through this conversation. How would you like to be remembered by?
Niaz Cannoth:I want to remember me as a trustworthy person, and trust comes through transparency. I want people to remember me as a visionary, whereby I understand what we're doing together and integrity is the most important part of it. That is working with people from different walk of life, bringing them together and be natural, be yourself and present things the way you see it and explain to them. This is how I see things. Can you be part of that? Everyone would have different vision For me. Once I framework the vision, I'm very transparent about it. This is what it looks like. Let's be part of that system together. Any challenges, let's work together. Any outcomes we get out of it, let's enjoy that outcome together. That's how I think I would love everyone to remember me as.
Leon Goltsman:And so, niaz, looking ahead, what's next for you? What legacy do you hope to leave? Not just in business, but in life?
Niaz Cannoth:The work we do is not about me or my organisation. It has such a great impact across sectors we deal with.
Niaz Cannoth:It helps the politician to enable the vision. It helps the local industries from the employment point of view, everywhere we go we create jobs in the health sector, which is such critical stuff. It provides the participants a home for 20 years. I can imagine a world where we have done the project, where the participants not only enjoy the great environment to live in but they are with their family, seeing their kids growing up, because that's the environment they've never been in. In my opinion, I've seen where they are at this point of time. It creates engagement across different sectors. I've seen politicians admiring the projects we have done because it frees up the hospital and the local industries, for example, the SIL, the SDA. In the local industry they get to engage with the development we have done. Basically, it creates a legacy for a long period of time. What my goal in my life is to empower people and give them the best opportunity and fair chance to succeed in life.
Leon Goltsman:Well, that's very, very admirable, and that is why I've seen it firsthand, why you've earned your trust and respect from people and, nias, I'm very grateful for all your support that you've given us and taking the time to speak with me and connecting with our audience and helping everybody else along the way. So thank you so much, niaz.
Niaz Cannoth:Thanks, Leon. My pleasure to have a chat with you and it's wonderful to be here.
Leon Goltsman:And that's a wrap on another incredible episode of Engaging Conversations. What an inspiring chat with Niaz. His insights on leadership, integrity and making a real impact really did hit home. If there's one thing to take away from today's conversation, it's that leadership isn't just about having a vision. It's about showing up, taking action and lifting others along the way. Niaz's story is proof of what's possible when dedication, trust and community come together. He reminds us that success isn't just about what we achieve. It's about the opportunities we create for others as well.
Leon Goltsman:And that idea carries through to our next episode, where I'll be sitting down with Cherilyn Beaver from Hunter Adult Financial Collaborative. We'll be talking about why giving people a go isn't just an Aussie value. It's a powerful way to help more people like Niaz succeed and, in turn, help others to do the same. If this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to be part of the conversation, follow the show, share the episode and tag someone who'd appreciate the insights. Every connection we make, every conversation we have. It all adds up to something bigger. A huge thank you to all of you, our listeners, our guests, our sponsors and the amazing team behind the scenes who make the show happen. I'm your host Leon Goltsman, and until next time, stay safe, stay inspired and let's keep making a difference together.
