2026 Fiduciary Investors Symposium NSW
Why super could be a ‘1000-pound gorilla’ in a fragmented world
Australia’s superannuation funds have the financial weight to shape geopolitical outcomes but need to band together to avoid being “divided and conquered”, according to Tom Gregg, former senior UN official and mediator, and senior international adviser at Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check.
Investments
With YFYS changes, the nation-building poker game is reaching showdown
The performance test ‘side pocket’ proposal in the just-released Your Future Your Super consultation paper removes barriers to investing in nation-building, but that does not mean that there will be more investment as a result. Understanding why requires looking at both sides of the table.
Opinion
What I took away from the world’s ‘festival of private capital’
The on- and off-stage antics at the extravagant Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles tell us a lot about where institutional capital is right on the money – and where it is putting its head in the sand. And while the event retains the extraordinary intellectual and financial firepower that has always been its signature, something has shifted. The absences are as instructive as what’s on the program.
CIO Series
Why Mercer Super’s CIO won’t sweat US tech dominance
While other asset owners grow increasingly cautious on the United States – even as regulation, peer comparison and plain old FOMO keep them from moving away from it – Mercer Super chief investment officer Graeme Miller told Investment Magazine’s CIO Series podcast that those worried about concentration risk are missing a bigger picture.
21 July, 2026
Insurance in Super Summit
19 August, 2026
Retirement Leaders Summit
13 – 15 October, 2026
Fiduciary Investors Symposium
Leadership & profiles
JANA gets new CIO as Frontier plots OCIO land grab
Former Morningstar Investment Management APAC chief investment officer Matt Wacher will join JANA as its new CIO as rival asset consultant Frontier Advisors prepares to bring its own outsourced CIO solution, powered by the former State Super investment team, to market.
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
Retirement income products off the performance test hook – for now
Treasury has deferred extending the superannuation performance test to retirement-phase products until the Retirement Reporting Framework begins publishing data in 2028, leaving about $500 billion in assets and 1.4 million member accounts outside the test’s scope.
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
Super switching paranoia drives misinformation campaign
The Super Members Council representing profit-to-member funds claims younger and lower-balance Australians are being transitioned by advisers to “risky” platforms and SMSFs, while the Financial Services Council has fired back with data suggesting it is mostly older, wealthier consumers being advised to switch their super. Aleks Vickovich writes the truth, as usual, is probably somewhere in between.
Industry & regulation
Diversa applies for $239m First Guardian government bailout
Diversa Trustees has applied to the government for a bailout of First Guardian investors worth approximately $239 million, arguing the losses were a result of fraud and it will be in the best financial interest to members.
Investments
Future Fund outruns Iran crisis, stagflation fears to return 11.7 per cent
Australia’s sovereign wealth fund has returned 11.7 per cent over the last 12 months, growing to a record $269.1 billion and shrugging off a turbulent March quarter shaped by the Iran conflict and stagflation fears.
Equities
Future Fund boosts active equity program with new EM manager
Australia’s sovereign wealth fund has added an active equity strategy from a local boutique manager to its emerging markets allocation and dropped one of its existing providers after signaling it had identified “inefficiencies” in the space.
