Profile
Guy Smith is the founder and Managing Director of BMG Financial Services, a boutique debt advisory and broking business established in 2012.
As an investment banking executive and qualified lawyer with over 30 years of experience in the banking and financial services industry, Guy has advised on, developed, structured, managed, and executed domestic and international financial transactions for leading institutions such as Ernst & Young, Allen & Overy, NAB and Macquarie Bank.
Guy offers a unique combination of transaction experience across financial markets and a comprehensive commercial and legal understanding of financial transactions, together with the benefit of a broad perspective gained from exposure to the retail and investment banking environments and also from acting in an advisory capacity. He possesses a detailed understanding of, and transactional skills across, all parameters, including accounting, tax, legal, regulatory, risk and pricing.
At BMG, Guy is focused on commercial finance and business loans and structuring solutions for his clients, predominantly in the Commercial Property and Professional Services sectors, and specialises in arranging and advising on acquisition funding for financial planning and accounting firms.
Level 26, 1 Bligh Street, Sydney, NSW
0403 464 587
gsmith@bmgfinancial.com.au
linkedin.com/in/guywsmith
bmgfinancial.com.au
Guy Smith
Managing Director BMG Financial Services
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Special Report
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Bio
Milestones
1995–2001
2001–2007
2007–2009
2010–2012
Present
Tax Adviser at Ernst & Young, including a secondment to the New York office
1995–2001
Senior Manager, Global Structured Finance at NAB Corporate and Institutional Banking
2001–2007
Associate Director, Equity Markets Group at Macquarie Bank
2007–2009
Consultant at Westpac/BT Financial Group and Allen & Overy (UK law firm)
2010–2012
Managing Director at BMG Financial Services since 2012
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