Governance
CGT, negative gearing reforms reflect Australian values
Labor has built a generational political brand, and one that endures in the face of some major challenges here and abroad, Conexus Financial founder and managing director Colin Tate told the 50th ALP National Conference in Adelaide. But it must push back against extreme demands on AI and technology if it is to boost productivity and seize a huge economic growth opportunity.
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.
2026 Insurance in Super Summit
Insurers say super collaboration is key as surging claims test market sustainability
Leading insurers have reiterated their commitment to the Australian market despite rising claims rate, citing collaboration with super funds to attain better insurance coverage among members as a key part of making the industry more “sustainable”, on a high-profile panel at the Investment Magazine Insurance in Super Summit.
2026 Insurance in Super Summit
Insurers pay out $6b through super but awareness gap persists: CALI
New research from the Council of Australian Life Insurers, released ahead of the Investment Magazine Insurance in Super Summit, shows that life insurers paid out almost $6 billion across roughly 54,000 claims through group superannuation policies in the past 12 months – but that most Australians still don’t understand the cover they hold.
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.
Industry & regulation
YFYS performance test has done its dash
The Coalition’s Your Future Your Super reforms, especially the contentious performance test, deserve credit for weeding out poor-performing funds and helping instil a more cost-conscious culture in super. But the test has largely accomplished its mission and its continuation undermines the system’s global competitiveness.
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.
