Sunsuper has continued the transformation of its board with the appointment of Jenni Mack as its first ever independent trustee.
Mack, the founder of consumer advocacy group the Superannuation Consumers Centre, recently raised her profile with a speech on the need to create two new consumer rights, that was delivered to super fund representatives at the Conexus Financial Superannuation Awards Evening.
She called for the right to corporate responsibility and the right to privacy for the consumer to join the four foundational consumer rights in law and policy globally.
Mack said one of the factors that attracted her to the role of trustee was the commitment Sunsuper is making to ongoing governance improvements and being at the forefront of best practice.
“Funds are at a point in their evolution, where they recognise they will benefit from diversity and alternate views. Sunsuper is actively engaged with good governance at the moment,” she said.
Two year’s ago Sunsuper was notorious for the lack of gender and geographic diversity on its board, but since then has seen the appointment of Elizabeth Hallett and Paul Lahiff, both of whom were selected externally from the employer groups they represent for the fund.
Hallett, Lahiff and Mack are all Sydney based and reflect the fund’s desire to expand from its Queensland base.
Mack was unanimously selected to the role by the entire Sunsuper board following an external recruitment process overseen by Bronwyn Fulton of the global executive search firm Egon Zehnder.
She has more than two decades of board experience, including eight years in chair positions, with particular expertise in advising member-based, not-for-profit organisations, which, like Sunsuper, operate in a commercial environment.
She is the chair of Job Futures, and sits on the Australian Securities and Investment Commission’s External Advisory Panel. Until recently, she was best known for her role as chair of Australia’s biggest consumer advocacy group Choice.
Scott Hartley, chief executive of Sunsuper, said Mack’s acceptance of the directorship was a major coup for Sunsuper.
“Ms Mack’s influence in financial services and, in particular her deep understanding of consumer policy and advocacy needs, and public policy, as well as her extensive experience in leading digital transformation of business models, will perfectly complement the current board make-up,” he said.
Sunsuper has $32 billion in funds under management and 1.2 million members.
