Deborah Smith

I am pretty good at seeing opportunity - recognizing a good one from a bad one - and being able to do something with it. As I have gotten older, I have realized there are a lot of talkers out there, but a lot less doers. There is a small group of people who can actually tell a good opportunity from a bad one, and an even smaller group who can execute on it once they have seen it. That is what I attribute my success to - being in both groups. Ideas are everywhere. Good ones are not. Doing something with them is a whole other story.

At the end of the day, no one is responsible for your career except you. People will help you along the way, but it is on you to make of it what you will. Nobody owes you anything.

The other advice that has stuck with me came from a college professor when I got the job at Morgan Stanley. He gave me three pieces. First, never say anything bad about anybody - nothing good can ever come of it. Second, never tell anyone how much money you make - nothing good can come of bragging either. And third, never change who you are, because investment banking could use a girl from the farm in Australia - you will be a breath of fresh air to the industry. I did not fully understand what he meant at the time, but I certainly do now. I am still a country girl at the end of the day, and that advice has served me well.

Banking, finance, and real estate are tough spaces - not for the faint of heart. If you are going to come into this industry, you have to be prepared to stand your ground, speak your mind, and be unafraid.

Stop thinking about what everyone else in the room is thinking. Just think about what you want to say and say it - be unapologetic about it. Women particularly do not do that well. Do not second-guess your decisions. If something feels right, put it out there and run with it. Do not look back.

Be vocal. Be fearless. Ask yourself - why do you care so much about what other people think?

One of the biggest challenges facing everybody right now is how AI is going to impact the labor force, particularly at the entry level. Across banking, investment management, and finance generally, that role is changing and will be redefined. The old way of doing things will not exist a year from now.

So the question is: if you are coming out of college, how do you accommodate for that when you have just spent four years learning the old way, and you are walking into a workforce that requires a new way? For employers, how do you screen for it? You cannot tell from a GPA, or where someone went to school, or the courses they took. A big challenge is thinking through how we make the next generation successful when the way we used to think made them successful no longer holds.

But that is also where the opportunity is. AI is commoditizing information. What it cannot commoditize is judgment - the ability to take information and actually do something with it. We get hired at CenterCap for three reasons: we know the network, we know the people, and we know how to think. Decades of relationships across LPs, GPs, insurance companies, and the broader ecosystem that moves capital in this sector - that does not get replicated overnight. We definitely know our stuff. Honestly, we love finding ourselves on the other side of a competitor - because it usually means we can get a better outcome for our client. People don't know what they don't know. That is a skill set I have spent a career building, and it happens to be the one the next decade is going to reward. As a firm, we are in a sweet spot to capitalize on what is changing in investment banking and investment management, because the commodity aspects no longer matter. Now we see a whole lot of sheep dressed in the lion's clothing.

Integrity and trust are most important to me. If you say you are going to do something, I am expecting you will do it. That sounds basic, but it is rarer in this industry than it should be. Our industry chases the next career bump. What is interesting is that my success has been built on doing the opposite. I have built a career out of relationships - respecting them, committing to them, and today, appreciating they have been the fabric of my success.

I have been very fortunate. My business partner and I have been friends almost as long as I have been in the United States. Our clients tend to be recurring relationships, some dating back to when we started the firm. Our approach is simple: focus on our stable, give them candid advice without the hedge, and they keep coming back and refer others to us. In a world increasingly shaped by AI, I believe those cultivated relationships and our genuine appreciation of them have become the real point of differentiation for us. Information is easy to come by. Trust is not.

I am a relationship person, and I believe every relationship requires two people willing to do their part - and I am willing to do mine. The anchor is simple: do the right thing by people and hope they will treat you the same way - if they do not, move on. Relationships need to be a win-win. Life is too short.