John Watts

Director - John Watts has spent more than 26 years in and around the Far North and Cape and heads up the largest Financial Services business in North Queensland, ‘Astute Financial’.  He is a master of management, leadership and business diversification. With country roots in Thargomindah, South West Queensland, John has led an interesting journey imbued in a love of combining real estate and customer service. Prior to finance, John spent over 10 years selling real estate in both Toowoomba and Cairns, and is still today an Auctioneer.  Having completed an ‘Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate’ through Harvard University in Boston, John is well placed to speak about new trends in the professional services industries. A highlight of John’s Harvard experience was ‘Design Thinking’ which he  shares extensively with each of his companies. John is also the president of the Cairns Hockey Board and sits on the Centacare FNQ Board.

John's wife Orla and their two daughters together share a love of hockey and snow skiing. Often John can be found either on the hockey field or on the slopes in Japan and if not there, exploring the country and riverways of the North .