Our Story – Your Team

With over a decade of experience in the property market as both a homeowner and investor, I understand exactly how valuable a quality mortgage adviser is when it comes to making the process as smooth as possible throughout your home ownership journey.

With a career path centred around providing excellent customer service, I have a genuine passion for helping people to achieve their goals, and have the knowledge and communication skills to guide you through each and every step of the property purchasing process, making what can seem like a daunting process as seamless and stress free as possible.

Whether you are on the hunt for your first home, your next home or looking to build an investment portfolio, I’ll take great pride in offering knowledge, advice and support to help you achieve your goals.

Hey, I’m Ella, a mortgage advisor at Guardian Smith Mortgages with over a decade of experience in the financial services industry. My passion for property began early—I purchased my first home at just 21 and have since built an impressive investment portfolio. I’m dedicated to helping New Zealanders achieve their financial goals, whether that means buying their first home or expanding their existing investments.

Throughout my career, I’ve earned numerous awards in the mortgage space, including Rookie of the Year, NZ Woman Advisor of the Year, and a recent nomination for the NZ Excellence Advisor Award.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending my weekends helping out on the farm and soaking in the beautiful North Canterbury landscape.

With a decade in the Navy and extensive experience in property investing and renovations, I bring practical, no-nonsense mortgage advice to the table. My deep understanding of the construction industry allows me to guide you through the mortgage process with confidence and clarity. Whether you’re buying your first home, refinancing, or expanding your property portfolio, I’m here to offer tailored solutions and straightforward support every step of the way. Let’s work together to achieve your property goals.

Ashley joins our Christchurch based team with prior experience across a range of industries, her favourite being her role in data analytics & visualisation for the agricultural sector. When working with Ashley, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of the lending process and how it applies to your specific circumstances. Attention to detail, a genuine curiosity and high standard of accuracy are among the key pillars Ashley has developed throughout her career. These factors have created the perfect runway to support you through your home ownership journey, whether that be fast tracking your mortgage application or establishing a foolproof game plan to get you on track for future success. For a seamless personalised mortgage advice experience, contact Ashley today.

Cam is one of our Guardian Smith Mortgage Advisors. Cam spent 11 years in one of the big banks, with various roles in Lending and Leadership, with his most recent role in Private Banking as a Private Advisor, looking after high net worth clients.

“My initial goal when joining the bank was to support my community by increasing financial literacy. Joining Guardian Smith is the next step on my mission to support as many people as I can achieve their financial dreams. Whether that’s purchasing your first home, your forever home or an investment property, I’m here to look after your lending needs and ensure you focus on what’s important to you.

Patrick is one of our Canterbury based Mortgage Advisers located in the famous Cranford St Christchurch office. Coming from a 7 year career in the NZ Defence Force, Patrick knows that being the best at what you do is paramount. Having been through the home ownership journey before alongside having a great interest in finance, Patrick is here to make sure you not only get the result you’re after, but come out of the other side with a stronger understanding of yourself. Knowing the home ownership journey from personal experience and combining this with his array of Financial Advice qualifications means Patrick is going to provide his clients alot of value when it comes to home ownership.

Sarah is one of our Guardian Smith Mortgage Advisors that is here to help advise and specialise in getting your home loan approved. Her background is in teaching economics and is qualified in finance.

She has been a home owner herself from a young age, been through a renovation process so understands what it is like on the client’s side of things just as much as the adviser side. We are mostly impressed with her attention to detail and proud of her high approval rate. If you do want a top mortgage adviser working for you make sure you touch base with Sarah and get her to help you achieve your financial goals.

Matt is one of our Guardian Smith mortgage advisors that has a knack for negotiation and will provide sound advice to your home buying process. Also having been through the process of buying his own home, he understands how to translate the complicated terms of finance into easy to understand advice so you get educated about the process of getting a mortgage approval and are sure of the process of buying from start to finish. Looking for a mortgage advisor that is on your side? Contact Matt today.

Hi, I’m Natalie aka Nat, a Mortgage Adviser here at Guardian Smith Mortgages. I have spent the last 14 years in the Financial Industry within various roles from lending through to quality assurance. My passions are helping others achieve their property ownership goals and guiding them through the property finance process. I am also in the process of growing my investment portfolio with my husband and always keen to learn different strategies to improve. When I’m not working, you will find me on the sideline of the football field supporting my son or at a theatre/dance studio cheering on my daughter who is a keen competitive dancer – both kids definitely take up a lot of my free time. On the weekends we enjoy getting out and about with friends and exploring our Hobby Point neighbourhood.

Marcel has a lifetime of experience in the property sector, owning property, doing renos and selling. His ability to help clients navigate the steep learning curve they are about to go through while buying a home is second nature for him and is a true valuable person to have on your team.

So if you want an adviser that knows the ins and outs of the process then Marcel is your man to help you get on this financial journey.