2026 Insurance in Super Summit
Group insurance faces paradigm shift, not mental health ‘blip’: AIA chief
The surge in mental health claims moving through group insurance is not another cyclical blip that can be repriced away, according to AIA Australia chief executive Damien Mu, who says the issue demands benefits be redesigned from the ground up and a rebalancing of who is responsible for doing it.
Investments
ART CIO says balance sheet management will reshape super investing
Ian Patrick, chief investment officer of the $370 billion Australian Retirement Trust, says that integrated balance sheet management will “beyond a shadow of a doubt” become a more prominent feature in the superannuation industry as funds grapple with the compounding effects of their growing size, systemic importance and the liquidity needs of servicing a larger cohort of retirees.
2026 Insurance in Super Summit
How a strained system can deal with new wave of mental health claims
Super funds and insurers are already dealing with a surge in mental health-related insurance claims, but they might just be the tip of the iceberg, with changes to state-based personal injury schemes pushing more people towards super and insurance for claims.
Policy and Regulation
Super, AI policy centre-stage at Labor Party conference
Such is the hallowed place superannuation enjoys on Labor’s policy platform that a motion extending the super guarantee to young casual workers was the first item of business at the party’s historic 50th convention in Adelaide on Thursday. But debate over AI and data centres could spell trouble down the track for investors.
19 August, 2026
Retirement Leaders Summit
13 – 15 October, 2026
Fiduciary Investors Symposium
3 – 4 February, 2027
Chair Forum
Leadership & profiles
Former HESTA exec takes top job at legalsuper
legalsuper has appointed HESTA chief operating officer Stephen Reilly as its new chief executive and former Qantas Super deputy chief investment officer Chris Grogan as chief investment officer.
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.
Member engagement
Lack of courage – not clarity – hinders retirement regulation
The Retirement Income Covenant’s radically principles-based approach has confounded the very leaders and lobbyists who warned against prescription. More than three years after its commencement, a demonstrable lack of progress is costing the first generation of Australians who should be enjoying the fruits of a world-class system. If poorly drafted prescriptive law follows, industry leaders will have only themselves to blame.
Governance
HESTA seeks answers over ‘deeply concerning’ Richard White allegations
HESTA wants answers from WiseTech on how it will manage the role of executive chair Richard White after reports emerged that the Australian Federal Police are investigating him over human trafficking and visa fraud allegations.
Governance
Shield, First Guardian reforms must not become a covert operation to restrict competition
There is broad consensus in industry and Canberra that the collapses of the Shield and First Guardian master funds – and failures that led to them – demand a regulatory response. But getting that response wrong could create an uneven playing field in the industry and some counterproductive consumer outcomes.
2026 Insurance in Super Summit
Govt to include insurance rules in mandatory super member standards
The government will have specific member service standards for insurance as a part of its broader reform package for superannuation funds, though the regulatory response to Shield and First Guardian will take priority with changes due to be announced next month.
Investments
Robeco CIO says AI winners and losers will be decided within a year
Asset managers that underestimate the importance of artificial intelligence to their businesses do so at their own peril, according to Anton Eser, global chief investment officer of Robeco, who thinks that many have less than a year to get across the “most important transformation” the industry has seen since the beginning of the index business more than 25 years ago.
Investments
Mercer Super expands into frontier market debt, builds out PE program
The $80 billion Mercer Super has delivered a fourth consecutive year of double-digit returns to most members of its SmartPath lifecycle product. Global equities did a lot of heavy lifting, but chief investment officer Graeme Miller tells Investment Magazine that the fund is now looking further afield for returns.
