Profile
Every decision at Preston Point Capital comes back to a single question, and Shelley McGinty asks it without hesitation: “Will this make life better for our clients?” As managing director and finance broker, she has built the business around that test, convinced finance can be both highly professional and deeply personal.
What sets her apart comes down to something simple: she genuinely cares. In her view, finance is rarely just about numbers; it is about people, their families and the goals they are working towards. “I’ve always believed technical expertise gets you into the conversation, but empathy, communication and consistency are what build trust,” she says. She wants every client to finish their journey feeling more confident than when they started.
For McGinty, the truest measure of the business is who comes back. Most of the firm’s work comes from repeat clients and referrals, which she counts as the single biggest achievement of her career. “People remember how we made them feel, not just the loan we arranged,” she says, noting that clients trust the firm with some of the biggest financial decisions of their lives and recommend it to the people they care about.
Protecting that experience becomes harder as a business grows, and McGinty is deliberate about it. Preston Point Capital has built systems, clear service standards and a team designed to ensure every client still feels heard and supported. “Growth is important, but if it comes at the expense of the customer experience, it’s not growth I’m interested in,” she says.
She is as curious as she is driven, wary of ever being the most knowledgeable person in the room. “I never want to be the smartest person in the room because I think that’s when growth stops,” she says. She sees achievement the same way. “I believe success isn’t built through one big moment – it’s built through consistently doing the small things well over a very long time,” she adds.
The same instinct shapes how she views the path for other women. Like many in finance, she has had moments of feeling she needed to prove her capability before her experience was recognised, and she is clear about where the real obstacle lies. “Too often, capability isn’t the barrier – confidence is,” she says, pointing to mentorship, visibility and supportive leadership as the things that help more women step into leadership earlier.
McGinty frames the recognition not as standing above her peers but alongside them. What she hopes her firm proves is that success and excellent service are not a trade-off. “You don’t need to choose between commercial success and genuinely caring about people – you can build both,” she says. Her ambition extends past her own firm into mentoring emerging brokers and joining industry conversations in the belief that everyone has a responsibility to lift the profession. Success, as she measures it, is a business that clients trust, a team is proud of and the industry respects.
Level 18, 324 Queen St, Brisbane, Qld 4000
0474 722 722
shelley@prestonpointcapital.com.au
linkedin.com/in/shelleymcginty
prestonpointcapital.com.au
Shelley McGinty
Managing Director
Preston Point Capital
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Bio
Milestones
2019
2025
Present
Present
Present
Founded Preston Point Capital
2019
Better Business Awards: Winner, Best Community Engagement Program (Preston Point Capital); Finalist, Best Customer Service (Shelley McGinty); Finalist, Industry Thought Leader (Shelley McGinty)
Australian Broking Awards: Finalist, Community Engagement Program of the Year (Preston Point Capital)
Named one of MPA’s Elite Women
Featured on the Elite Broker podcast with Annie Kane, broadcast live at the QLD Better Business Awards Summit
2025
MFAA Awards: Finalist, Customer Service (Shelley McGinty)
Named one of MPA’s Elite Women
Present
Head of Sales (Northern Region) at Finsure
Present
MPA’s Elite Woman
Present
Milestones
As a founding member of WOW! (Women. Opportunity. Winning.), an employee resource group created for all women of Ryan Specialty, Phillips Topping has long championed for women in the industry.
“It’s very important to set an example and to not only inspire but mentor other females,” she adds.
In addition to her sharp marketing eye, the key to Phillips Topping’s success lies in her high-energy approach and positive attitude.
“As the leader of a team, it’s important to motivate and encourage your team members. People work very hard and do their best and it’s important to recognize these efforts. For my career overall, my attitude has been one of curiosity. The more you can learn, the better you’ll understand the business, and then the deeper your knowledge will become, making you a better team member.”
Chief underwriting officer of executive risk at Chubb
President of financial insurance solutions at Kemper
Chief underwriting officer at Axis Capital
CEO of global Insurance at Endurance
CEO of global Insurance at Sompo International
Empathy underpins that discipline. Prickett has struggled in the industry. She has felt what it is like when promised support does not materialize. Having worked across almost every function in the company, she understands operational detail and the pressure agents face. That shared experience shapes her leadership.
Structural barriers also shaped her path. As a woman and a mother, she encountered the assumption that serious business building required keeping priorities “out of order for a time.” She also experienced the double standard that frames firm women as difficult while praising similar behaviour in men.
“If you have a choice between being liked and doing the right thing, doing the right thing is always better, even if it’s the unpopular thing,” Prickett says.
She wants to dismantle the expectation that women must choose between career and family, or between strength and kindness. In her view, leadership demands both conviction and care.
Being named an Elite Woman carries weight. Prickett did not have female role models in the industry when she started. She hopes visibility changes that. “I hope I can be an example. Not of perfection, but of persistence. Of building from your values and staying true to who you are.”
The legacy Prickett is still defining centres on proof – proof that a large, profitable company can grow without sacrificing integrity; proof that agents can build real assets while keeping their priorities intact; and proof that leadership does not require abandoning who you are to succeed.
“If you have a choice between being liked and doing the right thing, doing the right thing is always better, even if it’s the unpopular thing”
Lee-Ann Prickett,
Experior Financial Group
“What I’ve learned is that when you build from your values, when you put people first, when you do the right thing even when it’s hard, that becomes your plan”
Lee-Ann Prickett,
Experior Financial Group