Take a closer look at Lisa M. Smith
Hometown: Barnes City, Iowa
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting, Grand View University; attended the master’s program in finance at Drake University.
Family: Three children
Age: 50
Contact: lsmith@bdfs.com
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.
Smith has more than 30 years of experience in the broker-dealer and registered investment adviser (RIA) industry. She succeeded 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.
Smith answered a few questions during a recent Business Record interview exclusively for Lift IOWA readers.
Was it a lot different back then for a woman starting out in a finance career?
Very much so. … My supervisor, the president and CEO of the investment adviser (division), told me, “Lisa, you have three problems: One, you’re young. Two, you’re inexperienced. And three, you’re a woman in this industry. You’ll overcome two of those problems, but the third problem you’ll always have.” That was before sexual discrimination (laws), and I just remember sitting back and going, OK!
Did you have a mentor early on?
As weird as it sounds, this particular supervisor, Ralph Kosmicke, was definitely a mentor and kind of took me under his wing. I had a lot of spreadsheet and financial analysis skills and he had the foresight, so that was a great relationship.
What advice do you have for women getting into the field today?
Work hard, is definitely number one. Perseverance, just never giving up. The biggest piece of advice that they don’t teach you in college is the power of networking and relationships. That was one thing that the prior president and CEO, Mike Sherzan, was really the epitome of. If I ever had a situation where I needed advice or needed to tap into someone professionally, he could always pull someone out of his hat. I’m not sure that young people realize that until they actually get into the workforce.
Did you ever feel you were overlooked because you are a woman?
I’ve always been lucky that way. Mike Sherzan always valued women in the workplace, so for the last 15 years, I was always very fortunate that way. And Principal was even pretty good at that as well. I believe if I was in a small town, that may not be the case.
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