Profile
Suzanne Wood currently serves as head of home lending, Victoria/Tasmania at Westpac and Bank of Melbourne. With more than 20 years of experience, she has developed deep expertise across home lending, broker distribution, retail banking, strategy, product and marketing, with a strong focus on performance, customer outcomes and people leadership.
Throughout her career, Wood has held senior roles at Westpac, ANZ and Veda (now Equifax), including state general manager, mortgage broker distribution, and head of marketing for ANZ small business. In these roles, she has led large, geographically dispersed teams and delivered growth across highly competitive and complex markets.
150 Collins Street, Melbourne, Vic 3000
0466 423 769
suzanne.wood@westpac.com.au
linkedin.com/in/woodsuzanne
westpac.com.au
Suzanne Wood
Head of Home Lending, Victoria/Tasmania
Westpac
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2003–2016
2016–2017
2017–2025
Present
2026
Senior Manager at ANZ
2003–2016
Regional General Manager at Westpac
2016–2017
State General Manager and Mortgage Broker at Westpac
2017–2025
Head of Home Lending, Victoria/Tasmania at Westpac
Present
MPA’s Elite Woman
2026
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