Michael Pennisi, QSuper’s long serving chief strategy officer has been appointed as the group’s new chief executive. Pennisi who was the main internal candidate for the role has been confirmed just six weeks after Vilgan announced her resignation. He has spent close to 19 years at QSuper and has been responsible for setting QSuper’s strategic … Read more
First State Super has invested 0.3 per cent of its $53 billion fund in a purchase and lease back of mature almond orchards in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The single transaction of $150 million was made with the listed company Select Harvest and gives First State Super access to what is Australia’s … Read more
Tom Garcia, chief executive of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees, sees headaches ahead from proposals to mandate more independent trustees. After some years of debating the board composition of superannuation funds – in particular, the true meaning of director independence – we now have draft proposals from both the government and the regulator to … Read more
Sustainable group insurance is a scale game that needs significant resources, Richard Weatherhead, head of group insurance at AustralianSuper, told delegates at the Group Insurance Summit. He revealed how in the fund’s bid to weather a storm of rising claims, lawyer intervention in such claims and higher premiums it had raised the numbers employed in … Read more
The group insurance industry had a wake-up call at the 4th annual Group Insurance Summit yesterday, hearing from claimants about the slow, drawn out, and impersonal claims process and the debilitating experience it can prove to be. At age 32 Jay Allen, a former TWU Super member, was diagnosed with melanoma. An initial claim in … Read more
Insurance claims at QSuper involving legal representation has fallen across all types of claim since 2013 due to higher member service levels. Legal representation in income protection claims fell from 4.1 per cent in FY2013 to 1.9 per cent in FY2015, while involvement in death claims fell from 3.3 per cent in FY 2013 to … Read more
The extent to which severe disablement is not permanent has been measured by Sunsuper in a survey of TPD recipients. The fund quizzed 330 TPD claimants aged 41-60 years old on their lifestyles five years after their claims had been paid. It found 19 per cent had since found part-time work, 3 per cent had … Read more
The 50 per cent of Australian funds that disclose holdings on a regular basis stand to gain from the growing priority investors place on transparency and open business practices, according to the chief executive of Morningstar Australia. Heather Brilliant, whose background is in equity analysis in the USA, believes such practices should be a hygiene … Read more
State Super Financial Services (SSFS) is putting the finishing touches on a $50 million overhaul of its processes and systems in a move it says will significantly enhance the delivery of advice through its 160 financial planners across the country and enable it to begin looking outside its traditional NSW public sector client base. SSFS … Read more
There has been an increase in votes against remunerations reports for the ASX 200 in 2015 according to the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI). The companies with the highest votes against were Spark Infrastructure (24.7 per cent), Technology One (24.3 per cent) and Santos (23.4 per cent), all of which were close to the … Read more
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Investment Magazine provides in-depth, monthly analysis of trends and developments for all the businesses in which superannuation funds engage‚ including asset allocation, investment manager selection, custody and fund accounting, member administration, group insurance and compliance.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land upon which Conexus Financial sits, the Cadigal of the Eora Nation. We recognise their continuing connection and unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and community. We pay our deepest respects to them and their culture, and to Elders both past and present.
