Peter Smedley is Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Colonial and Chairman of Colonial State Bank.

Colonial has a presence in 12 key markets internationally and core operations in banking, insurance, superannuation and funds management. The company has a market capitalisation of approximately $6 billion and has assets held and under management in excess of $75 billion. The group was founded in 1873 and today operates in Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Fiji, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Colonial also hopes to begin operations soon in Shanghai and Vietnam in conjunction with local joint venture partners.

Before joining Colonial as the first externally appointed Managing Director, Mr Smedley was Executive Director of Shell Australia, initially running the Coal and Metals operations and, then, the Oil and Chemical business. He has served as a Director with the Australian Mining Industry Council, the Australian Mining Industrial Research Association, the Institute of Petroleum, Lloyds Register of Shipping, the Alumina Development Council and the Life Insurance Federation of Australia. He is currently Deputy Chairman of Newcrest Mining and a Director of the Business/Higher Education Roundtable and the Christian Brothers Foundation for Charitable Works. Mr Smedley is a Councillor for the Business Council of Australia, the Business Council of the National Gallery of Victoria and the President's Council of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He is also a Member of the Management Board, Melbourne University Business School Association. He is a graduate of the University of Western Australia (BCom) and Melbourne University (MBA).