Leadership & profiles
Super fund executives, regulator honoured on King’s Birthday
The long-serving CEOs of HESTA and Hostplus have both been made Members of the Order of Australia in a move that signals the growing presence of super funds in the Australian political landscape. APRA deputy chair Margaret Cole, who is set to leave the regulator at the end of this month, has also been honoured for her service to the industry.
Leadership & profiles
New Brighter Super CIO says $37 billion fund still looking to grow
In his first public comments since taking the top investment job at the $37 billion Brighter Super, CIO Damien Webb says he will look to generate alpha through smart investing in small caps and the Sunshine State, but that the fund is still looking to grow.
Featured Homepage Posts
Aware Super gets new head of international for offshore push
Aware Super has promoted Mathieu Elshout to the role of head of international as the $235 billion fund shifts from building its London presence to consolidating the gains made since the office opened in 2023.
Leadership & profiles
Aware Super bulks up risk function with deputy CRO role
Aware Super is adding a new management layer to its risk function, naming internal leader and former Medibank chief risk officer Greg Gokavi-Whaley as its new deputy CRO, Investment Magazine can reveal. The deputy position, unusual in superannuation, is a sign that funds are preparing for a more volatile risk environment.
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Leadership & profiles
AustralianSuper’s new CIO faces $410b renovation job
Shaun Manuell becomes chief investment officer at AustralianSuper at a point when the nation’s largest super fund is under pressure on short-term investment and member performance. With the fund projected to hit $1 trillion in assets by 2035, the AustralianSuper insider’s legacy in the role will be defined by whether the fund can become more operationally sharp, globally coordinated and high-returning as its portfolio and the investment landscape grow increasingly complex.
Leadership & profiles
GESB CEO calls time: ‘Past regime of default super’ no longer sustainable
GESB chief executive Ben Palmer is set to leave the Western Australian government super fund, ending a 13-year tenure after steering the fund through the most significant change in its history. In a rare interview, Palmer examines the past, present and future of super and explains why GESB is treating platforms, not profit-to-member funds, as its benchmark.
Profiles
Why HESTA’s ‘joined-up thinking’ is one of its CIO’s favourite things
Sonya Sawtell-Rickson joined HESTA as the health industry workers’ super fund was taking steps towards investment internalisation and a total portfolio approach. She says the moves have been vindicated not only by member returns but in the “joined-up” conversations the now-$96 billion fund has with the companies it invests in.
Retirement
The biggest game in town: Inside AustralianSuper’s retirement income strategy
Since Jacki Ellis joined the nation’s biggest profit-to-member super fund as head of retirement just over one year ago, she’s been assessing and building the fund’s capabilities with the aim of delivering a fully personalised experience to all members by 2035. But that’s not to say there won’t be benefits for members who retire before that.
Industry & regulation
Super complaints expected to reach 8000 in 2026: AFCA
Superannuation complaints to AFCA are on track to exceed 8000 this year, a second consecutive year of around 30 per cent increases. Heather Gray, who is retiring in May after six years as lead ombudsman for superannuation, told the authority’s Member Forum that the answer to reducing complaints lies in empowering funds’ IDR teams and communicating with complainants and AFCA early. The forum heard that handling unreasonable people is a critical skill.
Governance
Third HESTA exec heads for the door in less than 12 months
The departure of the $100 billion HESTA’s chief operating officer Stephen Reilly follows those of chief executive Debby Blakey and chief risk officer Andrew Major, and is part of a shake-up among the broader senior ranks of Australian super funds.
Business strategy
Aware in growth mode after TelstraSuper merger, bucks outflow trend
The $237 billion megafund says that it’s ready for more mergers but that it won’t be a “buyer of complexity” in an already rapidly consolidating super system – even as it reverse the competitive outflow trend that has dogged profit-to-member super for years.
Investments
How asset owners are looking through private equity pain
The dispersion between private equity and listed market returns is near the widest in history. For some asset owners, that’s a reason to hold on through the pain – even as the SaaSpocalypse looms in the background.
ESG and sustainability
PRI turns 20 as responsible investment enters a contested era
The Principles for Responsible Investment has marked its 20th anniversary in an ASX bell-ringing ceremony today, underscoring the mainstream acknowledgement responsible investment has gained over the past two decade even though the movement faces persistent political headwinds in the US.
