In October, Lisa M. Smith was named president and CEO of BDFSC Holding Corp.’s three operating subsidiaries: Broker Dealer Financial Services Corp., Investment Advisors Corp. and Bankers Financial Services LLC. She is also a board member of BDFSC Holding Corp. With 150 local licensed advisers and a 95-person staff, the West Des Moines-based financial services companies provide commission- and fee-based advice and insurance platforms to independent, proprietary and bank/credit union financial advisers. Smith has more than 30 years of experience in the broker-dealer and registered investment adviser (RIA) industry. She succeeds Mike Sherzan, who launched BDFSC in 1979 and remains the majority owner of the employee-owned company. Before joining the firm in 2001, Smith worked for Principal Financial Group Inc., where she was financial and compliance officer for Principal’s RIA division. 

What initially brought you into this profession?  
I’m an Iowa farmer’s daughter, so at an early age I was very active with bookkeeping and record keeping for the farm. I remember years ago going into the bank with my dad and actually getting ag loans, and sitting there listening to the questions and observing banking. During high school, I worked in the school’s business office, and at Indian Hills Community College, I worked in the financial aid office. … I ended up starting in the steno pool at Principal Financial Group (then Bankers Life). I loved the idea of getting to know the company better. My supervisor at the time asked if I would like to fill in when various people were taking vacation, and ultimately I took a portfolio accounting position in that department. So really at a very early age — I was probably 21 at the time — I had great exposure to the financial industry and absolutely loved it. 

What’s your favorite part about the brokerage business? 
Making a difference. Recently, I was meeting with a new bank (prospective client) in northeast Iowa, and I was just very upfront early in the meeting with the directors and CEO. I said, “I have a nice PowerPoint presentation I can go through with you. But honestly, if I was in your shoes, I would want a side-by-side comparison of how our firm stacks up to your current service provider.” We ultimately won the business with that. It’s knowing your competition, knowing their strengths and weaknesses as well as yours, and having it drive your human and technical resources, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. 

Lessons learned from the financial crisis, and what do you see ahead? 
I was working at Principal on Black Friday (in 1987), so I’ve seen lots of ups and downs in the market. Probably what it taught me was the power of diversification and risk, to really know the purpose of each of your accounts and the power of financial planning. … As for the future, being a presidential election year is always a good sign for the market, so I have hopes for 2016 even though it hasn’t started out so well. 

Your objectives as you move into this new role? 
My primary objectives are recruiting, developing a scalable process for recruiting and onboarding of new advisers. More training, (creating) much more of a performance-driven company where each department will have metrics they can monitor on a daily basis. It’s no longer a year-end review type of approach. Risk mitigation is probably one of my primary objectives. And much more PR and marketing and community involvement. 

In what ways have you been involved in the community? 
I have three children who have been very active in school and athletic activities. From a timing perspective, I’m very lucky that I’m going to wind down and become an empty nester in the next few years. So I look forward to having much more community involvement than I have had; it’s primarily been school and athletic activities. 

Hobbies you enjoy? 
Primarily working out. We’re fortunate to have a gym here in the building, and I live three minutes away, so that’s very handy. The farm girl in me still enjoys being outside. Nature, water, those are really my biggest enjoyment, doing some sort of water activities, mainly boating. 

What else is on your mind? 
My motto is, there is no I in team. Good hiring, good development of employees is one of the keys to success. Trying to develop employees to think more like leaders do. What I’ve asked our employees to do is to be forward thinkers, leaders and representatives of the company. And to be positive. It’s easy to always dwell on the negative. My key word for 2016 is impact — how we can make an impact for the company and for our advisers that we serve.