If a super fund chair is doing the job properly, most members should only hear from them once a year at the annual members’ meeting – if they attend at all. But just like in any business, the chair’s role becomes much more visible when things go wrong.
A prime example is Cbus chair Wayne Swan, who in the past year was firmly in the spotlight over the fund’s board governance issues and insurance handling process. In a Senate inquiry last year, he defended the fund’s board skills and composition following the CFMEU fallout and apologised to members for any delays in claims payout.
As the $4 trillion retirement sector continues to expand in Australia, it will only face more fierce scrutiny and more growing pains, including the need for better member service systems, comprehensive retirement strategy, sound investment valuation and anti-scam measures.
ASIC commissioner Simone Constant’s speech at the Investment Magazine Chair Forum has made it clear that chairs will be critical to drive a “step-change” in super funds’ pivot from being stewards of retirement savings to more sophisticated service providers. They must show leadership in guiding funds through operational challenges while upholding strong governance standards.
Against this backdrop, chair remuneration offers a useful lens on how the superannuation industry acknowledges the evolving responsibility and values accountability on the board level. And an Investment Magazine analysis of super fund annual reports shows chairs’ salary packages slightly increased overall FY2024 compared to FY2023.
Chair remuneration - Table 1
Notes:
Total rem includes cash salary and may also include elements of short-term incentives including cash; other short-term bonuses; deferred incentives; shares, options and rights; one-off payments (including termination); non-monetary benefits; super; and other benefits including long-service leave. Some remuneration components may be accrued but not paid.
Jan Swinhoe retired 30 June 2024
James Minto appointed 1 July 2024 (previously non-executive director)
Michael Cameron appointed 1 November 2023
Danny Casey retired 31 October 2023
Australian Food Super formerly AMIST
Mike Radda and Michael O’Connor (First Super) are co-chairs
Peter Costello ceased 3 February 2024
Greg Combet appointed 1 June 2024
The annual Salary Survey, which also includes analyses of CEO and CIO remunerations, shows that Colonial First State’s Gregory Cooper was the top-paid chair during the 2024 financial year with a $352,048 package. Cooper is the chair of Avanteos Investments, the trustee of the CFS super and pension products. He is followed by AustralianSuper’s Don Russell with $337,233 and UniSuper’s Mark Armour with $278,406.
Of the top 10 paid chairs, three are women. Of some 40 funds surveyed, only a quarter have female chairs served a full or partial year in FY2024.
Chairs of bigger funds tend to receive higher remuneration packages, but with a few exceptions.
CFS and UniSuper are within the category of “very large” funds, defined by the Conexus Institute* as having between $100-$200 billion in assets under management (AUM) in its State of Super report. The six funds in this category now account for 35.4 per cent of the total superannuation assets. Meanwhile, AustralianSuper is one of the two “mega-funds” with over $200 billion in AUM, and alongside Australian Retirement Trust (ART), they account for 27.2 per cent of the total super assets.
Big funds have more complex operations, including overseas offices and larger member bases, which naturally makes stakeholder management more demanding for chairs. But that is not to say leading a smaller fund is an easy feat.
Mine Super, TelstraSuper, and Qantas Super were all funds under $30 billion in AUM, yet their respective chairs, Christina Langby ($232,386), Anne-Marie O’Loghlin ($229,992) and John Atkin ($211,645) were among the 10 top paid board heads. All three funds went through complex merger processes recently, but while Mine Super’s and Qantas Super’s efforts resulted in the creation of new funds with respective merger partners TWUSuper and ART, TelstraSuper abandoned its process with Equip Super this May.
The official reason TelstraSuper’s board gave for pulling out after due diligence was that the merger with Equip Super would not have “achieved our objectives”, which was to enhance “employer servicing, retirement planning, investments and tailored corporate arrangements”. While the fund was tight-lipped on why board didn’t spot the incompatibility before signing the binding heads of agreement, it is a reminder that despite market and regulatory pressure to scale up, fund boards and chairs leading them should be discerning and not mindlessly chase M&A activities without clear member benefits.
With the beginning of the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR) this March, directors will be held more accountable for decisions leading to member or governance failures, and chairs are no longer just a low-profile, behind-the-scenes character within a fund offering quiet leadership. Leading a modern trustee board means anticipating risk, navigating change and earning members’ trust rather than merely ensuring compliance.
One way to achieve that is by hiring directors with the right skills, and APRA has already flagged tougher scrutiny on experience, tenure and conflict of interests on boards. The skill matrix is an important measurement of a trustee board’s capabilities so far, but observers, including leading governance advocate and company director David Gonski, argued that it is too dependent on self-assessment. At the Investment Magazine Chair Forum he said chairs are critical to ensuring a smooth-functioning board and a key aspect is to avoid the temptation to “appoint mates” to it.
As more and more Australians head to retirement, the quality of leadership at the top of the superannuation sector has never mattered more.
The Salary Survey methodology takes into account executives’ cash salary, short-term incentives (STI), deferred incentives, shares, options and rights, one-off payments, non-monetary benefits and super where data is available. The total remuneration package reflects all the categories combined.
*The Conexus Institute is a think tank philanthropically funded by Conexus Financial, publisher of Investment Magazine.
