2026 Insurance in Super Summit
Super funds fail to turn the page on claims handling
Every time the superannuation sector attempts to flip the script on insurance and death benefit claims handling, it somehow keeps getting dragged back into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Investments
How Cbus built its new Australian equity strategy from scratch
Ryan Riedler, head of ASX core strategy, Australian equities at Cbus, says the fund will look to generate alpha locally through engagement and that internalisation will help it strengthen its connection with other market participants, as well as its brokers and service providers.
Leadership & profiles
AustralianSuper real assets head jumps ship
AustralianSuper’s head of Australian real assets, Nick O’Neil, is leaving the fund to become group chief executive officer and managing director of the ASX-listed global real estate and infrastructure group Lendlease.
Roundtables
Super funds get practical on mental health by meeting members where they are
Super funds are in a prime position to promote more open conversations around mental health among members and employers, serving as a conduit between two worlds where the topic is both a personal wellbeing issue and a business challenge. One of the sector’s unique features is that it has broad exposure to the Australian economy,
21 July, 2026
Insurance in Super Summit
19 August, 2026
Retirement Leaders Summit
13 – 15 October, 2026
Fiduciary Investors Symposium
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
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
Personalised member retirement needs will stretch some funds
One of the major tasks in meeting the retirement challenge is creating more service-led organisations which assist members into an appropriate retirement solution. Default settings do much of the heavy lifting in the accumulation phase. As the situation faced by many retirees is idiosyncratic, most would benefit from a more tailored approach from both financial
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.
Policy and Regulation
Super funds hold the capital the world needs: NSW Treasurer
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey says last year’s Citi A50 summit is converting investor interest into firm approvals, as the state pushes data centre, renewable energy and electrification projects through a fast-track process and positions Sydney as a global financial centre.
Investments
The twin forces rewriting the rules of investing
Portfolios built for the old world will be severely tested as emerging forces rewrite the rules of investing. The Top1000Funds.com Fiduciary Investors Symposium heard that geopolitical and macroeconomic upheaval, together with the disruption wrought by AI, should force asset owners to rethink the structure and composition of portfolios.
Infrastructure
Why super funds must prepare portfolios for an electricity shock
Australia’s energy system was largely built in the late 80s and needs to be replaced almost entirely, according to Sam Reynolds, chief executive of Octopus Australia, who said the need is even more pressing with electricity demand set to soar amidst the data centre boom.
