Finance Friends
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That’s exactly what Finance Friends is all about. Each week, we bring you real conversations with industry leaders, sharing insider insights, career advice, and the experiences that shaped their journeys in the world of finance.
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Finance Friends
9: Meet Stefan Galbo, Partner, Corporate Finance at PKF
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Explore the world as a Partner in Corporate Finance with this weeks guest, Stefan Galbo. Stefan shares how his humble beginnings working in a Greek restaurant through high school and university, taught him valuable life lessons, of which he continues to implement into his everyday life, and that ultimately led him to the success he wears every single day.
As a long-time friend of our host, Fabian Ruggieri, Stefan is raw, authentic and incredibly insightful. Listeners gain practical tips for achieving a healthy work-life balance. He emphasises the significance of networking, communication skills, and personal growth. This episode is not just about finance; it’s about understanding the broader world of work and personal life in the pursuit of success. You don’t want to miss it!
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Introduction to Finance Friends Podcast
Speaker 1Welcome to Finance Friends with Fabian , where we give our listeners an opportunity to be a part of our conversation with financial services industry leaders . Hear their stories , the challenges they've overcome and the invaluable advice they have for anyone interested in the financial world . Keep up to date with us by following Finance Friends podcast on Instagram and TikTok . Hello , stefan Galbo . Welcome to Finance Friends with Fabian . How are you today ? Very good , thanks for having me on board Well . Thanks for coming in . Just returned back from a week-long trip in South Korea . You mentioned .
Speaker 2Yeah , seoul Got back on Sunday morning . Really cool city . Got to do it again . Didn't get a chance to see too much , obviously there on business for a conference . But yeah , it's eye-opening when you go to these Asian cities and see how big their population is and just realise how small sometimes we are here down in Australia .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's true . So you're away for a conference , so maybe let's talk about your work . So what do you do ? What's your job ? And give me a bit of a 30-second spiel about what your current profession is .
Speaker 2Sure , obviously , I work at PKF , so one of the large mid-tier accounting firms , which is great , total solution to any sort of business , high net worth , individual . Through , you know , your core accounting services , through your core compliance services , um , I'm one of the partners in corporate finance . Um , a lot of people always say , well , what's corporate finance ? You funding businesses . I think the definition of corporate finance does chop and change a lot . So sometimes I revert back and say you know , I'm just , I'm a corporate . So really , they're trying to provide a total solution to a growing mid-market client looking to grow through that whole life cycle . So how do you grow a business ? How do you value a business ? How do you then divest the business ? So all that whole M&A life cycle the M&A transaction through to the valuation advisory work .
Speaker 2And I think that's the key thing , like a lot of people miss when growing businesses , it's not about growing revenue , it's about how do you actually ? How is , how are you growing value ? That maximizing value concept , yeah , I think that's where that valuation advisory work is so important . Then , obviously , to the tail end of you know , how do you realize ? How do you realize value through a divestment , selling businesses , divesting businesses ?
Speaker 1Yeah , because there's obviously the two main ways is well , I guess you could have a partner buyout or a trade sale or even an IPO listing on the market . So do you give guidance on all those three potential exit strategies ? Yeah , absolutely .
Speaker 2I mean , succession is a big thing right now . I think , especially in Australia so many family businesses that have that that next generation is not taking over businesses anymore and for whatever reason . So , sitting back with the owners of businesses , now I'm really thinking . So what is our succession plan ? Are we bringing in a private equity , a private capital solution provider ? Are we looking at a trade sale ? Who is the better market for a potential trade sale ? And then obviously you've got the NIPO . So , yeah , we look at all that across that initial phase of advising a client and really it's about yes , it's about maximising value , but it's also about finding the right exit strategy for a client .
Speaker 3So an IPO , is that ?
Speaker 2really a great exit strategy for a client who doesn't want to continue operating a business .
Speaker 1Yeah , it's interesting you say that because we've seen in the AFR the press recently around founder-led businesses and there's a couple of listed companies that are founder-led that the executive or the CEO has been pushed out because of maybe doing the wrong thing by the company . But those founder-led businesses tend to perform really well and there's definitely a correlation between performance and founder-led businesses . But what does your typical day look like ? Because maybe I'd imagine , as people say , no day's the same , but maybe just share some insights to your typical day .
Speaker 2Sure , well , I go to bed the night before and I look at my calendar and think , right , my day's set up and it never pans out that way . With young kids you've got to find time for yourself in the corporate world , otherwise you just get burnt out . So really I'm up anywhere between 5 to 5.30 in the morning . I've got certain days where I swim , certain days where I run , certain days where I ride , and then it's kind of online by 7.30 , 8 o'clock , whether it's in the office or on the road on phone calls , and then the day pans out there's a calendar that you follow . That's a bit of a Bible . You try to stick to those meetings .
Speaker 2Like , there's a calendar that you follow . That's a bit of a Bible . You try to stick to those meetings . You need a bit of flexibility to actually get work done as well make phone calls , return phone calls and then pretty quickly the day turns into 5 , 6 o'clock where the wife's messaging and calling and saying the kids are waiting for dinner when you're coming home . So it's trying to get home at
Overview of Corporate Finance Career
Speaker 2a reasonable time to spend some time with the kids before they're in bed , jump back online for a couple of hours and you know , before I get to bed , read a book for an hour or so and then unwind . And then it all starts again the next day .
Speaker 1And it all starts again the next day . That's right . What do you most enjoy about your role ?
Speaker 2I think it's that whole . I'm a bit of an unstructured person , so I love the fact that , yes , there's a calendar and there's people who have got meetings and there's certain things , but it's also what's going to happen in the day . It's such an unknown . Is a new prospective client going to call and there's a new transaction on ? Is it another transaction ? Is there challenges along the way where you've got to put everything aside and really try to find a solution to all these challenges ? Is a deal going to fall over ? Is just that whole the unknown ?
Speaker 2But , I think also the volatility of the unknown too . I love that whole not knowing concept and having to think straight away like what's going to happen .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , that's good . Tell us what did you study and how did you get to where you are today .
Speaker 2Yeah , so someone actually asked me this the other day and I thought back and I said why did I want to study accounting finance ? And I think when I was younger I just remembered I just wanted to wear a suit . I wanted to grow up and I wanted to have a career where I wore a suit and I worked in the city , yeah , and I think I clocked that during uni when I got my first co-op role , actually for a fun research house .
Speaker 3Yep .
Speaker 2So I think you go through school studying subjects that you have a passion for and then you kind of follow that pathway through to uni Like no one at school actually says , okay , you're studying these subjects , this is your career pathway . You kind of need to learn along the way and meet people along the way and ask the right questions . I think that's how I eventually I studied accounting , which was a great course because it gave you that just that broadness across . What does a corporate client really need ? And then the GFC hit when I was midway through uni , so obviously job options became pretty , pretty finite . There wasn't too many options at the time . I'd met someone who introduced me to this fund research house and it's investment partners for those of you who know in finance , had a great opportunity with them , worked for them for a year while still studying , and then you go through a co-op year .
Speaker 2I started RMIT and but the JFC here . So it was what are the options in terms of having accounting rates either insolvency or order at the time . So I dipped my toe in insolvency and the bad , bad world of insolvency just me so much . The first thing it really taught me is how to deal with people . You're just dealing with a lot of irrational people and you're dealing with people that you have to make decisions quickly . So I kind of followed that pathway . By that stage I was really in my early 20s still , so you don't really know too much In your early 20s .
Speaker 2It about you know what are my mates doing and I want to hang out with my mates . Um , you know , really don't really have the hat of thinking about where's my career direction . And then I just I was always into reading books and I just started picking up a few finance book , a few books about stock market , my time at Zenith , kind of you get into , you deal with a lot of fund managers , so you start to learn about the markets , um , and I just started following the markets . I think I bought my first stock when I was in at , when I was probably about 19 years old through a mate of mine , a good mate of mine , who had a similar role at a stockbroking firm , and he goes . You know , let's buy this stock and you know , I think I put two months' worth of wages into this stock at the time .
Speaker 3And Luca .
Speaker 2Resources .
Speaker 1I'll never forget it .
Speaker 2Yeah , I'm not going to mention who my good friend is that bought the stock no , but they were flying back then they were Because I remember , when I was at uni I looked into a Luca too , and I tipped some money into it too .
Speaker 2There you go . I've never looked at the stock since , but anyway it's interesting . Then you start to you dip your toe into something and you start to learn and get an interest in something . So then I started picking up books . There was a great book I read called Bulls , bears and a Croupier . If you've ever read it fantastic book Became friends with the Croupier . I sort of reached out to him as a local guy . And then you start picking up more sophisticated books by you know , more market books written out of the US .
Speaker 2You know , Peter Lynch has a fantastic book one up on Wall Street . I think I've read it about three times and every time I read it I make new notes in it . So then it just , and then it just went from there . I got into evaluation type work and then here I am , in in corporate finance . I met I met the guys at PKF I want to to start with corporate finance division thought this is my chance . Let's use that valuation skill set and apply it to a much broader market offering .
Speaker 1Yeah , and what do you think the the number one or the key skills are to be successful in your current job ?
Speaker 2I think the principles of most corporate jobs have never changed over the last two decades , and that is dealing with people .
Speaker 2You need to be able to communicate and you need to be able to have a network , and I think the best job I actually ever had was working in a Greek tavern when I was a kid , in uni no , I was still in high school .
Speaker 2In high school studying VC , playing football , trying to go out and working this job and it was so good because one you're kind of dealing in a foreign language , you're communicating in a foreign language , but the world of hospitality and for those of you who've never really had the pleasure of having having to to serve europeans in the hospitality environment it's , it's very demanding . So I think that that job taught me a lot of things in terms of how to deal with people , but also not being afraid that people are just people with different titles . So when you find that commonality with someone , you just open . You just open the discussion up , and I and I've always used that philosophy it doesn't matter what meeting or what networking event or what function I go to , and even now I look forward to most going to functions where I don't know anyone , because I'm going to meet someone new .
Speaker 1Yeah , opportunity to meet someone new . And it's good to have that mindset because a lot of people that go to events they're a bit reluctant to go to events because they might not know anyone there , but it's good to meet . And one thing you said to me a few years ago was you've built your network by reaching out to people and offering a bar and a coffee and getting to know them and understanding who they are and what they do and how they got to where they are today . And ultimately , this is the whole concept of Finance Friends with Fabian is giving people an opportunity to sit at the table and learn from you know , professional , successful professionals like yourself about how you got to where you are today and what you do . So what would be your biggest advice for someone that maybe wants to work in corporate finance one day in their career and hopefully become a partner at a , you know , global , mid-tier accounting firm ?
Speaker 2yeah , I think the number one thing is having that ability to communicate with people , um and and network with people .
Speaker 2So I think that that's always the top of my list .
Speaker 2And a lot of um you know a lot of people , excuse me , a lot of people that I catch up with and people that reach out to me just for for some advice that's always the top of my list because you can't teach that skill set . And then obviously , the technical skill set you need , but I think that can be gained so much through reading and the beauty about you know the opportunities with just reading the amount of investor presentations I read . Still it's sitting down , printing out investor presentation , understanding a market or just thinking about how is a business articulating themselves to the market . So there's just so much value you can get from reading and I think these days a lot of people want the simple solution and obviously the tech enablement of running businesses these days and no doubt that changes how you still work . But going back to dealing with people , that face-to-face personal relationship and doing the hard work and actually reading to understand yourself , I think they're the two number one for me , the two number one learnings that I would advise anyone to focus on .
Speaker 1Yeah , communication , building a network , getting to know people and be willing to put yourself out there . Yeah , absolutely I think that's important and , susie , I wonder where that comes from . Is that something that you've gained over your career ? Or is it something that was embedded in you from a ? Because I remember you when we played footy together . You were a pretty shy kind of guy , but you've grown and you've become super confident now and obviously super successful . So is that something that you've learnt along your journey ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I think it's funny you say shy , because maybe some people think the other way , but I think you're right . Like at the time when you're younger and dealing with older people is much harder , yeah , whereas now it's so much easier . So I think somewhere along the way something changed and maybe it was moving into that workforce when you're such a young age and just having to then deal with people . I think that definitely helped . And I don't know what younger people do these days . Do they still ? Do they have the pressure of studying and work , or do they not do that ? Like ? I think that's also a key thing . It's not trying to do too much , but making sure you've got that balance
Understanding Business Valuation and Growth
Speaker 2. Where you are working , you have some sort of social life , you play a sport or do some sort of team event and you're focused on studying , because it gives you that organisational structure , yeah , but it gives you that benefit of communicating with people .
Speaker 1Yeah , so a combination of having to prioritise . You know managing multiple things at once as well . As you've said , you know working and dealing with people . I think the early on in your career that you can actually work and be accountable and start dealing with people , the better you'll be longer term , Like I've always worked from the age of , you know , 49 months , when I could .
Speaker 2Back at Coles . You were at the Coles thing , yeah we were .
Speaker 1We were , yeah , coles for a period of time , and you know I've worked in hospitality . I really enjoyed working in hospitality . I love dealing with people . I worked at a retail shop in sales , and I think that's really important . And when I see people now , when I meet with junior people that have finished university and still have never had any work experience , I ask the question well , what have you been doing ? Like , how can you not work ? What do you do all your spare time ? So it's quite interesting . So a bit of advice from me . I would say you know , know , if you can get a part-time job , even when you're at high school , I highly encourage you to do it yeah , no , I think that's .
Speaker 2That's so true , because even a lot of the resumes that I'm and cvs that come across my desk , it's especially with younger people it's okay , you're not going to have that real technical experience . But what have you done ? Like what is it ? What does it say about you as a person ? What have you been doing with your time ? So it's definitely important . You , just all those soft skills you learn , you just they're . You can't .
Speaker 1You can't teach a soft skill yeah , yeah , I agree , I think it's learned over time in different environments but you have to put yourself in those hard positions .
Speaker 2You have to put yourself in in the Greek restaurant and having to speak Greek , you have to put yourself in these uncomfortable situations to deal . And a good story . Actually , I think one thing that I always think about and it changed me . When I was young I had the opportunity to .
Speaker 2I was working for someone at the time and he said I can't go to this event . It's full of lawyers and barristers go along . And I think I was trying to psych myself out that it was not going on . But I rolled up to the law firm that was full of barristers and lawyers and I just thought to myself no one's going to want to talk to some guy that's 22 years old , you're dealing with barristers and the top of the legal profession . And I thought how am I going to approach this ? And in my head it was there's someone else who's going to be there that doesn't know anyone . So you walk into a room , you look for someone else that's on their own , or there's two people in a conversation , because it's much easier to enter a two-person conversation than it is to stand there and sweat it out , that no one's going to talk to you .
Speaker 2So I think that learning I actually still apply that today . I went to a function a couple of weeks ago when they had the defense conference out . A UK client invited me along and I didn't know anyone because it's not really my profession , and I rolled in and there you go . There was someone sitting there on his own and had a great conversation with him and then you get introduced to the next person and it just rolls in like that .
Speaker 1Yeah , exactly right , and I think it's easy to spot that you know that person that is on their own and go and introduce yourself and then they have a lot of respect for you because they know they're in a situation where , you know , they feel maybe a little bit uncomfortable and if you've made an effort to go and say hello to them and get to know them , then it makes them feel more comfortable and they have a lot more respect for you as a result .
Speaker 1Yeah , I learned when I finished my , my undergraduate degree , I just took a backpack and went traveling through South America and and um and Europe and I said to my mum I said , mum , you know I'm not taking my phone , I'll call you , don't worry about me , I'll call you every three or four days . But , um , my , my late cousin , was a mentor to me and he said you know , just go and just explore and just go to a backpackers . And you know , just go and say hi to people and get to know people and put yourself out there . You know , just go and just explore and just go to a backpackers . And you know , just go and say hi to people and get to know people and put yourself out there and you know , if they don't want to talk to you , they're not right for you anyway , who cares ? Move on to the next person , which was great , and tell us maybe a little bit you mentioned you've got . Let's go a bit on a personal level , you so you're into cycling , you're into running .
Speaker 2The morning is my spare time , so if I'm not up early , unfortunately I miss out on some of my own time . And then obviously , working hours , where the kids are in bed , relatively the time you get home . You try to spend a bit of time with them , whether it's read them a book or do a puzzle together or just have a chat to them . They're kind of at that age now you can just talk to them about their day . So I kind of really push the kids to let's read a book together , let's do a puzzle together , just to get them into something a little bit different rather than just sitting and watching TV or something .
Speaker 2So that's typically Monday to Friday , but Saturdays I love to get out with the kids . So again , saturday mornings I'm up early , same as Sunday mornings , to ride or with the kids . So again Saturday mornings I'm up early , saturday mornings to ride or run , and then you're home , spend time with the kids . So it can be anything from going for a scooter , going for a bike ride , going down to the cafe , going out to a park , the kids sometimes will pick certain parks they'll go to and we'll go there .
Speaker 2Love spending time outside with the kids . Obviously it probably doesn't surprise you , but got a big backyard so you know whether it's mowing the lawns and the kids are running around playing soccer . The other day we were putting the tomato steaks in because it's tomato
Exit Strategies for Businesses
Speaker 2season , so getting the tomatoes going Bit of gardening . Bit of gardening with the kids . You know , let them running around yeah .
Speaker 1And how important is that for you to have that balance in life where you get to spend time with your kids and time outdoors ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I think as you progress through the stages of life , your responsibilities change . I think once you have kids , it really changes your response . You don't have a responsibility just to yourself or to your partner anymore . There's these little people that you need to raise and you need to impart whatever wisdom you can , or really the learning . So I don't want to be the type of person that that comes in and sometimes I am , that you , you walk in the house and you're on the phone yeah , um , you're on a phone call because you're trying to finish phone calls from the day . Yeah , um , and so it's being mindful of those things and just putting putting the laptop , putting the phone aside and just being outside with the kids . And I love it on the weekends and you know , we do barbecues and the kids are running around .
Speaker 1Yeah , well , I think that's important because it can be easy when you're , you know , a professional that works hard and really committed to your work . To also , you know to lose sight of what else is important in life , but , yeah , it's great that you're able to do that and have time with your kids and take them to the park , and I think that's really important . And what about sports ? Do you follow in the footy ?
Speaker 2Footy . I'm a diehard Bomber supporter . I think I've probably been to about five full games in the last five years , so still plugging away there at the Bombers . Avid Liverpool supporter . So we're doing well .
Speaker 1Yeah , top of the table at the moment . Top of the table .
Speaker 2It was a good week . The other week we had a bye . Obviously it was a bye week , so that was fantastic to see the other team sort of drop some points and we picked up yeah , a Ravens fan , and unfortunately we lost the divisional game this morning to the Steelers , so that's a big loss for us . So , yeah , I love my sport as well .
Speaker 3Ravens fan .
Speaker 1We're doing well picking up Cat and a few other players , have you been to the US and watched some American sports ? I have , I've been to .
Speaker 2I have I watched the Lakers , just probably about five years ago and they do sports so much different there . Yeah , this was probably about five years ago . They do sports so much different there .
Speaker 1It's unreal . It's entertainment at its finest . It's fantastic . They know how to entertain the Americans don't they ?
Speaker 2I'd love to get over there for a gridiron game , so I think that would be next on the list .
Speaker 1Yeah , I went and watched Buffalo Bills' opening game this year and it was an incredible atmosphere . Highly highly recommend it .
Speaker 2Great team as well . Buffalo .
Speaker 1Yeah , they're doing well . Well , they're playing this morning .
Speaker 2Kansas .
Speaker 1City . Yeah , so it's top of the table clash . It's been interesting to see how that plays out we might have to get a live score check . Thanks , jenna , but anyway , on that note , thank you very much for coming in . Stefan , it's been a pleasure . I , stefan , it's been a pleasure . I'm Stefan Galbo from PKF . It's been a pleasure having you in . We've known each other for , I don't know , probably 30 odd years it's been a while , very long time it's good to see your career prosper and you're doing some exceptional things and thank you .
Speaker 1Thank you for coming , appreciate it .
Speaker 2Thanks for having me on board and I've got to come along to one of those .
Speaker 1The fun , the runs that you do yeah , definitely me on board and I've got to come along to one of those fun the runs that you do . Yeah , definitely the Riva runs on Wednesday morning . Keep an eye on our socials for that . Thank you again and enjoy the rest of your day Thanks mate Cheers , cheers .
Speaker 3Disclaimer this podcast exists for informational and entertainment purposes only . The personal opinions of the speaker and guests do not represent the view of any other party . If this recording contains reference to financial products , that reference does not constitute advice nor recommendations and may not be relied upon .