SuperTalk Edition 15

Edition 15 – July 2014

AIST Member Newsletter

ACCUMULATION

BENEFIT SECURITY

RETIREMENT CAPS

FUTURE SAVINGS EMPLOYMENT CONTRIBUTIONS INVESTMENTS PENSION MONEY TTR CHOICE

HEALTH

or just better data?

Growing support for LISC

Top tweeting funds

Profile: Greg Sword

Twitter challenge: Win an iPad mini

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CONTENTS

AIST Member Newsletter Edition 15 – July 2014

From the CEO 02 Super News 03 Cover Story – Big data or just better data?

08 Global Dialogue – China up close 13

08

Trustee of the Year – John Brumby 15 Leaders in super’s twittersphere 16 Profile – Greg Sword 18 Trustee Lifetime Achievement Award – Elana Rubin 21

12

CMSF 2014 wrap up 22 Rising Star Award – Tom Stewart 25 Women’s Super Summit 2014 26 AIST Awards 2013 29

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Member news 31

EDITORIAL:

COPYRIGHT:

Editor: Janet de Silva 03 8677 3800, jdesilva@aist.asn.au Staff Writer: Sarah Goodwin

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise without the permission of the publisher.

Contributing Writer: Penny Pryor

DISCLAIMER:

Graphic Design: Renae Tindill facebook.com/aistbuzz twitter.com/@aistbuzz

AIST does not necessarily recommend the products and services advertised in SuperTalk.

All details were correct at the time of printing.

SUPERTALK - July 2014

01

From the

CEO

It wasn’t all that long ago, that the front cover of SuperTalk featured the weathered face of an older construction worker contemplating having to work until age 67 to qualify for the Age Pension. Less than five years on, the goal posts are shifting again, with the Government proposing lifting the Pension Age to 70, tightening the means testing of pensions and changing indexation arrangements so that the value of pensions will decline over time.

Superannuation is also in the Government’s sights with talk to lift the Preservation Age – the age at which people can access their nest eggs – and peg it to within five years of Pension Age. Among the hardest hit will be those currently aged in their forties on low or average incomes.

Having only had the benefit of nine percent superannuation for the past 11 years, this group will struggle to retire with adequate levels of superannuation and many will still be heavily reliant on the Age Pension in retirement. A three year delay to lift the Superannuation Guarantee to 12 percent will only make matters worse.

While these changes represent a fundamental shift in retirement policy, no one has produced any hard data to support them. The Commission of Audit recently recommended raising the Pension Age to 70 by 2053 but the Budget

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Tom Garcia Chief Executive Officer AIST

stated age 70 by 2035. There is a whopping 18 years difference between these two sets of numbers – numbers that will have a real impact on real people in their old age. Which are correct? And why is 70 the correct Pension Age other than it being a nice round number?

No OECD country has a retirement age above 68, and interestingly the German Government has just announced it will cut the retirement age by four years, allowing people who have worked for 45 years to access its pension at the age of 63.

Our Government is not alone in worrying about the long term sustainability of pension payments in an ageing society. Pension reform has been high on political agendas across the globe for many years and many countries have taken, or are considering, drastic action to ensure pension sustainability.

But, according to recent research into the sustainability of pension systems around the globe, Australia has the least pressure to reform.

Indeed, Australia currently sits at the very top of the 2014 Allianz Pension Sustainability Index – a well-respected global index that ranks the pension systems in 50 countries. A key reason why the Index authors conclude that Australia’s ‘lean’ public pension “seems to be the most sustainable in the long run”

is that it is complemented by a fully-funded superannuation system. The view that our pension is far from generous is supported by the latest OECD data which shows that Australia’s Age pension replacement rate is lower than the OECD average.

AIST acknowledges that we must have a sustainable retirement income system, which includes a sustainable superannuation system.

But before we target the poorest and most vulnerable retirees in the name of sustainability, we need to see hard evidence of the need for change. Retirement policy is not just a numbers game. Any changes to the Age Pension or the Preservation Age should be part of a holistic review of the retirement incomes system that examines the superannuation tax regime, ways to simplify the system and the postretirement environment.

This year’s Women in Super Mother’s Day Classic launched a unique ‘boardroom challenge’ that asked Corporate Australia to take up the challenge to raise money for breast cancer research.

The challenge was for corporate teams to participate in either the 4km or 8km walk or run, and to raise as much money as possible in doing so.

Michelle McLean from Cornwall Stodart topped the leader board, raising $55,000 in much needed funds – a whopping $25,000 more than her goal. Almost 250 people donated through Michelle’s fundraising page, with efforts including donation tins, selling wristbands and a ladies’ luncheon.

Mother’s Day Classic CEO Sharon Morris said it was great to see so much support from businesses.

SUPER NEWS

MOTHER’S DAY CLASSIC BOARDROOM CHALLENGE RAISES OVER $100,000

Michelle McLean with proud friends and family

“In 2013, our website received over 650,000 hits so joining the Boardroom Challenge was a positive way for corporate Australia to promote to a wide audience their involvement in the cause,” said Ms Morris.

Paul Zahra from David Jones, David Elia from HOSTPLUS, Kevin O’Sullivan from UniSuper, and Jamie McPhee from ME Bank also made the top five fundraisers, raising almost $75,000 for the

worthy cause.

Every extra dollar raised through fundraising goes towards vital research into the prevention and cure of breast cancer.

A staggering $4.5 million was raised at this year’s Mother’s Day Classic bringing the total amount of funds raised by Women in Super for research into breast cancer programs and the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) to $24.3 million.

CHRISTIAN SUPER FUNDS MERGE Christian Super, a boutique ethical superannuation fund, has announced a merger with the superannuation provider for Australian Christian Churches, Australian Christian Super – scheduled for 1 October 2014.

Christian Super CEO, Peter Murphy, said “We look forward to growing the fund strategically and organically through this merger.

Our membership will increase by 20% and the demographics of our members will also change, moving towards a younger membership.

This is largely due to the composite of churches within the Australian Christian Churches movement that has a high proportion of younger Christians.”

Christian Super is an industry fund that was originally set up for Christian Schools in 1984 and

has since grown in excess of $850 million funds under management with over 21,000 members. The Fund is uniquely positioned by its commitment to ethical investments – including renewable energy and clean technologies - without sacrificing financial performance.

Christian Super has in recent years sought to see how impact investing can make a difference, whilst providing good returns to members.

Australian Christian Super commenced in 1994 to serve the church and not for profit community with their superannuation needs, within the Australian Christian Church movement, the fastest growing denominational group with the Christian faith in Australia.

“The decision to merge with Christian Super has occurred after many months of discussion.

Peter Murphy, Christian Super CEO

It makes sense given the strong values alignment particularly through ethical investment. Our members will benefit in the areas of fees and insurance,” said Scott Haslem, a Director of Australian Christian Super.

The combined fund will represent over 25,000 members, providing an aligned investment product to its members, many of whom are ministers and full time Christian workers.

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SUPER NEWS

GROWING SUPPORT FOR LISC AS BATTLE HEATS UP As the battle to retain the Low Income Super Contribution (LISC) scheme heats up in the Senate, public support for the Scheme – which currently provides a super boost of up to $500 a year for nearly one third of the workforce - is growing.

So far, Women in Super’s Keep Super Fair website has attracted more than 26,000 signatories to its online petition, which automatically sends an email to MPs and Senators to request their support to retain the LISC. The website is one of several industry initiatives aimed at reversing the Government’s plan to drop the LISC, which is part of the Minerals resource rent tax (MRRT) repeal bill currently before the Senate.

To coincide with the Senate changeover on 1 July, an Open letter was sent to Clive Palmer urging the Palmer United Party senators to withhold support for the Coalition’s bill repealing the mining

Readers can sign the petition at www.keepsuperfair.com.au

tax unless the LISC is retained.

The Letter – organised by AIST and WIS - was signed by more than 35 prominent representatives from super funds, women’s groups and academia.

AIST CEO Tom Garcia said there was broad consensus across the financial services sector that the LISC scheme – which costs the Government about $1 billion a year – was good policy.

“We’ve heard a lot about the need for sustainability and equity in our retirement incomes system.

This is exactly what the LISC scheme is all about.”

For more information on the campaign – which has been strongly supported by many AIST member funds - visit www.keepsuperfair.com.au

RESTORING A NATIONAL ICON Media Super, the industry fund for those in print, media, arts and entertainment, has joined the campaign to restore Australia’s most recognisable icon – the Sydney Opera House. Each member of the fund’s management team has purchased a virtual roof tile as part of the ‘Own Our House’ campaign to raise restoration funds.

The Opera House, which hosted its first performance in 1973, is in need of some TLC and requires a raft of upgrades and restorations to ensure it remains the world class venue known the world over. The campaign allows members of the public to ‘purchase’ virtual tiles on the Opera House, paying for their repair.

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Media Super’s General Manager of Communications and Marketing, Joel Clapham, said the team wanted to lend support to the restoration program and help the funding campaign gain extra exposure.

“The Sydney Opera House has been a creative home for countless Media Super members - as performers as well as members of the audience - and we wanted to do what we could to help that continue for many more years,” Mr Clapham said.

The ‘Own Our House’ campaign will run during the Opera House’s decade of restoration, culminating in the icon’s 50th birthday in 2023.

Sydney Opera House

Readers can join the campaign at ownourhouse.com.au or visit mediasuper.com.au/community to find out more about Media Super’s support for creative communities.

CareSuper has launched a range of new online calculators to help members plan for their future. The calculators use key details such as age, salary and current super balance to provide estimates of retirement income. Results are then displayed as both an income stream and a lump sum to make it easier for the member to see if they are on the right track to achieving their desired retirement outcome.

Members can also explore how making simple changes – such as contributing extra to super – could affect their retirement income, and ultimately their future lifestyle.

CareSuper’s General Manager of Marketing & Client Services, Peter Theodorakopoulos, said that simple registration encourages members to come back to the calculators regularly.

“The calculators retain the member’s details, making it easy

SUPER NEWS

CARESUPER INTRODUCES SUPERANNUATION PLANNING CALCULATORS

The calculator generates an easy to read graph

to check in on their results and adjust their details as their situation changes,” he said.

The superannuation planning calculators were developed by Industry Fund Services Limited, which also provides financial

planning services to CareSuper members. They are available to members and non-members alike via the CareSuper website at caresuper.com.au/supercalculators.

MOCK BOARD EXERCISE TACKLES THE ‘PERFECT STORM’ Members of Australia’s superannuation fund community have come together to take part in a board meeting role play that considers concrete steps for integrating climate change risk into the portfolio.

Delegates formed the board of “The Perfect Storm Pension Fund” and debated seven resolutions at the mock trustee meeting covering investment policy, implementation, investment strategy, time frames, investment allocations, measurement and disclosure.

The board exercise –facilitated by the Investor Group on Climate Change and Mercer – was attended by six trustees, including CEO of Catholic Super, Frank Pegan and board member of Vision Super Geoff Lake. Other attendees included the Chair of IFM, Gary Weaven, Deputy President of AIST Cate Wood, and past director of

Cate Wood, Cath Bowtell and Frank Pegan

AustralianSuper, Cath Bowtell.

Ms Bowtell said that the mock board meeting addressed key issues that all super funds should be considering.

“All funds should be thinking about climate change and this sort of exercise may help some trustees gain a better understanding of the

complexities of the issues,” said Ms Bowtell.

Videos and transcripts of the meeting, which are available as a training resource, can be found on the IGCC website: www.igcc.org.au

SUPERTALK - July 2014

05

SUPER NEWS

NGS SUPER SCHOLARSHIP AWARD ATTRACTS ONLINE VOTES NGS Super have announced the winners of their Super Scholarship awards which give members the chance to win six scholarships – each to the value of $5,000 – to embark on a professional development project, course or study tour of their choice.

This year a People’s Choice award category was added to the scholarship program. The Award was voted for by the general public on NGS Super’s Facebook page and drew over 1,200 votes.

One of the six 2013 winners, Henrietta Miller of Roseville College, will use the funds to attend Ulearn14, a modern learning and teaching conference in New Zealand.

“This scholarship will allow me to attend a conference to build my technical skills and also to visit a school in New Zealand that is at the forefront of using technology in its classrooms,” Ms Miller said.

NGS CEO Anthony Rodwell-Ball congratulated all the scholarship winners and applicants in the 2013 awards.

“This year’s winners showed an exceptional amount of enthusiasm and creativity in the work they are doing in their classrooms and schools in the projects they

Scholarship winner Henrietta Miller with Myriam Chrystal from NGS

want to use the scholarship money for,” Mr RodwellBall said. “It’s an honour to be able to support such great employees and help to facilitate their professional development.”

INVESTING IN AUSTRALIA’S FILM AND TV INDUSTRY The much-anticipated ‘The Gods of Wheat Street’ premiered on ABC1 on 12 April, and is the most recent premiere of a screen project supported by Media Super in partnership with Fulcrum Film Finance.

The series – staring Kelton Pell – is an intimate journey into the lives, hearts and humour of the Freeburns, a modern Aboriginal family of local legends.

Media Super CEO Graeme Russell said that the fund was pleased to invest in the creative communities in which its members worked, including film, television, stage and in print.

“The partnership between Media Super and Fulcrum is a landmark partnership in which the fund provides a multi-million dollar facility to cash flow the ‘Producer Offset’ for a range of Australian film and television projects,” Mr Russell said.

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The cast of The Gods of Wheat Street; Back: Isolde Freeburn (Shari Sebbens), Ares Freeburn (Bruce Carter) Front: Tristan Freeburn (Mark Coles-Smith), Eden Freeburn (Ursula Yovich) and Odin Freeburn (Kelton Pell)

The investment forms part of Media Super’s Alpha Opportunities portfolio and has so far supported both acclaimed and popular productions such as The Railway Man (starring Colin Firth), Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

(starring Essie Davis), and the big screen adaptation of Tim Winton’s The Turning.

For more on Media Super’s support for the Australian film and television industry, visit mediasuper.com.au/filmtv

AustSafe Super has brought together the agricultural sectors of the Bundaberg region for the third year in a row at their unique Unifying Agriculture Race Day. The event has attracted the local community and raised over $10,000 for local charities.

AustSafe Super’s Regional Manager for Central Queensland, Stacey Watson said the fund was proud to be a part of such an iconic event in the local community for another year.

“Unifying Agriculture is about working with growers, service providers, retailers, corporate and industry groups to put on a great race day which will provide excellent networking opportunities for participants and also showcase the local industries and product,” said Watson.

The day was complete with Fashions on the Field event, raffles, and even a fruit and vegetable auction that managed to raise over $3,000.

SUPER NEWS

AUSTSAFE RACE-DAY TRIFECTA

Local produce for the auction at AustSafe’s Race Day

While the day was also open to general members of the public, AustSafe Super members received free entry to the track on presentation of their membership card.

AUSSIE FUNDS TAKE PART IN INTERNATIONAL PENSION PLAN PILOT Cbus, VicSuper, and AustralianSuper have come together with a number of international pension funds to take part in the Integrated Reporting Pension Fund Network that will use the International Integrated Reporting Framework.

The framework - launched in Australia at the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds - will make reports more meaningful to investors and members and has been an important milestone in the market-led evolution of corporate reporting.

Speaking at CMSF earlier this year, John Stanhope, Chair of Australia Post and the Australian Business Reporting Leaders Forum, said Integrated Reporting has been used in South Africa for four years on an if-not-why-not basis. Whilst there wasn’t a push for mandating this style of reporting in Australia, Mr Stanhope said it would help investors make informed decisions about companies.

He advised funds investigating integrated reporting to examine recent examples from South Africa because “they are getting it right

John Stanhope and Tom Garcia share the framework with delegates

now.” “[if you use the framework] don’t be slavish about it, it is supposed to be a guide” he said.

South Africa’s Sentinel Mining Industry Retirement Fund is the first pension fund to use Integrated Reporting (now in their second year).

In Australia, VicSuper will be the first superannuation fund to do an Integrated Report, reporting for the 2013/14 financial year.

The framework is available at www.theiirc.org or members can contact AIST Executive Manager, Leadership & Governance Eva Scheerlinck at escheerlinck@aist.asn.au for more information.

SUPERTALK - July 2014

07

BIG DATA

BIG DATA OR JUST BETTER DATA?

SuperTalk talks to a leading data scientist about Big Data and what it could mean for super funds.

Y

ou would think Rayid Ghani, chief scientist for the Obama 2012 Campaign (USA), would be one of the strongest advocates for the new buzz term – Big Data.

After all, by collecting and analysing information about millions of Americans, he was able to improve voter engagement and increase

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fundraising efforts for the US President.

However Mr Ghani opened up his plenary session at AIST’s CMSF 2014 stating that Big Data was mostly marketing hype.

“There hasn’t been any real revolution,” he said.

“Data has always been useful

and this is just another evolution in that path,” he said.

What there has been, is a gradual improvement and a better understanding of how to collate, match and integrate existing data sets of information.

This is a useful development for super funds that have been

BIG DATA complaining for years about engaging their large numbers of members.

Big Data analysis helps funds to better understand their members, and hopefully for members to improve their fund engagement levels as well.

It should come as no surprise then that the largest not-for-profit super fund, AustralianSuper, has already created a team – called the strategy, performance and analytics team – within its trustee office to analyse and integrate data.

“We sort of think about it as centralised analytics hub,” Paul Schroder, AustralianSuper group executive - membership says.

The team will eventually have six members, all “deep on data” according to Mr Schroder, which will include existing AustralianSuper

personnel as well.

Mr Schroder likens using, or analysing Big Data, to changing fuel.

“It’s a bit like swapping from leaded fuel to unleaded fuel.

You’re still driving the car but you’re probably doing it a bit more efficiently,” he says.

And AIST CEO, Tom Garcia, also stresses that it simply enables a better allocation of resources through a better knowledge of members and their behaviours.

“So rather than just sending 500,000 emails to everybody, you might send 200,000 emails saying a particular thing to a particular market group – so it might halve the cost with twice the outcome,” Mr Garcia says.

AustralianSuper is currently trying to determine behaviours of certain sets of members and what

that behaviour may be correlated to.

“The thing that we’re trying to unlock, and which is very revealing, is that it seems likely that there is a style of people or attitudinal sets that are unrelated to your age or your balance,” Mr Schroder says.

For example, an ‘independent controller’ type person will always want to make their own decisions based on finding out as much information as possible.

AustralianSuper is looking at identifying a number of different behavioural sets.

“We’re just currently testing the reliability with which we can connect people to one or other groups,” Mr Schroder says.

“Five looks likely…currently testing how tight it is.”

SUPERTALK - July 2014

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BIG DATA

THE CREEPINESS FACTOR Testing is key for funds that are looking at effective analysis of data.

In a concurrent session on “Using data to make magic happen” at AIST’s CMSF 2014, Mr Ghani used an example to highlight the importance of testing.

During the Obama campaign a series of emails were sent out to try and discover if the “creepiness factor” was a problem.

An initial email was sent out to a number of people asking them to get their friends to vote or donate. A second email was then sent, to the same people, using the names of their friends from a social media profile (that they had been given permission to access), and requesting they ask those specific people to vote or donate; the third email used actual public profiles and pictures of that person’s friends.

“For each level of personalisation, the response rate doubled,” Mr Ghani told the session.

Previously it had been thought that being so specific, and actually using photos of target’s friends in emails, would be too “creepy” but the testing showed otherwise. Or that even if it was creepy, it was still effective. legalsuper is a smaller legal industry focussed fund with $2.2 billion in funds under management and 40,000 members.

We mine our own database in terms of the profile of our members and that determines a lot of things we do Chief executive Andrew Proebstl says the fund is in the very fortunate position of having email addresses for a very high proportion of its members, which it often uses

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Rayid Ghani captivated delegates at CMSF 2014

to canvas their views. Recently it approached them with a survey about developing a phone App and whether or not they wanted one.

“The resounding clear result from them, was that they don’t need one,” he says.

Mr Proebstl was encouraged that their members were viewing superannuation as a long-term investment, rather than something that needed to be checked more frequently.

The fund also now has valuable resources to use elsewhere, instead of developing the App. But legalsuper has been analysing its members’ behaviour for some time.

“We mine our own database in terms of the profile of our members and that determines a lot of things we do,” Mr Proebstl says.

Diligent analysis of the database has also helped the fund be more responsive to members needs. legalsuper hasn’t hired anyone internally as a “data” specialist yet but does use the services of a number of consultants in this space.

CATCH-UP Mr Garcia says super funds are now catching up to other industries in the scoping of their market, through better analysis of existing data.

“They are really beginning to understand who their members are, and information about them,” he says.

“The next step for them is to start working out the attitudinal behaviours of the member cohorts.

What are they likely to do? When are they likely to do it? And then they can target market them because that is what your Coles and your Woollies are doing.”

He likes to use the example of the Greater Manchester Police force’s analysis of weather pattern and football game data, to predict criminal activity, and therefore prevent it, as an illustration of the great potential of data analysis.

In his final session, despite its name, Mr Ghani cautioned against funds expecting “magic” and answers.

“I think there is a misconception that people that work with data sit around finding insights,” he said.

“What data lets you do is improve things continuously, to do micro things.”

But if a fancy marketing term or buzz term like “Big Data” helps funds do that, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.  pp

TOP 5 TWEETS

BIG DATA

Get to the crunch AIST’s marketing and partnerships manager, Theresa Hoogland, reflects on some of the key learnings about Big Data from AIST’s inaugural USA marketing study tour involving representatives from 10 AIST member funds.

Wade Matterson @mattersonw Mar 24

Big data is more than just a buzz word, it is the ultimate conquest tool. What came across loud and clear from our tour of leading global companies and household brands - including Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, IBM and Disney – is that crunching data is transforming their businesses. Australian companies still have much to learn but the potential is enormous.

Key from #CMSF14 @ rayidghani appears that #bigdata isn’t about creating a “killer app”, it must be part of a broader engagement strategy.

KEY LEARNINGS WE BROUGHT BACK HOME INCLUDE:

Natasha Norton @NatashaNorton73 Mar 24 Data sources, channels and goals, know your demographics and what they will engage with, and respond to #CMSF14

»» »»

ronmullins_iq Group

»»

@ronmullins75 Mar 24 If your hear this term in your fund ‘our members don’t use technology’ challenge it.

They do. Full stop. #cmsf14 #superannuation

»»

Richard Webb

»»

@Richard_M_Webb Mar 24 Ghani: There really hasn’t actually been any major data revolution. It’s really a marketing term. #cmsf14

»»

Danielle Stewart

Funds need to evaluate Big Data the same way you evaluate product benefits. What can your data collection do for your members?

Don’t have enough data to crunch? Check out social media. What content is trending in your followers’ networks? This will provide insight on what people are reading and help you tailor content to meet your members’ interests.

Start with the end in mind. When you decide to begin harnessing the power of your data, have a clear plan of what you want to achieve, and work closely with your IT and data teams to clearly articulate what you are looking to get out of the data.

Go beyond simple demographics and account balance when segmenting your database. Behavioural Economics is used strongly by US organisations to develop product offerings. Build member behavioural prototypes, test them and redesign until you have it right.

Understand the control, dignity and personal issues of your members in relation to money and finances - empathise with your members.

Think beyond just member engagement, Big data has big business applications, from product development to providing insight into investment trends, the uses are endless, and for those funds that learn how to harness and maximise the power of their data will see huge rewards.

@DGKStewart Mar 24 #cmsf14 @superpartners Rayid Ghani; test, test, test.

Be sure to experiment and use a control group. Sounds simple but many don’t do it.

On 26 and 27 August, 2014, AIST will be holding our inaugural two-day Data and Technology Symposium in Melbourne to further explore the issues facing funds in this growing space.

Visit www.aist.asn.au for more details.

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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO NEXT? Every day a new challenge. Every day a new opportunity. Our global reputation is built on the knowledge and expertise of our people. And our global capabilities across our Corporate and Investment Bank allow us to add more depth, breadth and integrity to our client relationships. With insights drawn from doing business in 100 international markets, and 140 years’ experience in Australia, we understand what you want to do next. And just as importantly, we know how to make it happen.

To see how we can help, visit jpmorgan.com/australia

Š2013 JPMorgan Chase & Co.

GLOBAL DIALOGUE

GLOBAL DIALOGUE

China up close AIST’s recent Global Dialogue to Shanghai and Beijing is set to have long lasting effects on the 60 plus delegates who attended, as well as the retirement savings of the super fund members they represent. Here’s an overview of key highlights and take-outs.

For super fund representatives who attended AISTs Global Dialogue in Beijing and Shanghai last month there was much to absorb and plenty to be awestruck about.

As Peggy Liu, founder of the environment group, JUUCE and one of China’s leading ‘green’ voices, noted: “China is a new country every five years – even local Chinese struggle to keep pace.”

Over the eight day Global Dialogue program – that included a day

criss-crossing Shanghai’s vast freeway network to visit local and international companies - delegates heard from trade representatives, economists, legal experts, former ambassadors, business entrepreneurs, fund managers and many others on how they think super funds could benefit from the China story and what it means to Australia.

Just about every speaker at the Dialogue brought along some big

numbers to share; We learnt that China has plans for 55 new airports and 177 urban train networks over the next few years. We heard that in the next 10 years, half of the world’s new commercial property will be built in China and the length of new roads planned could circle the earth 25 times.

Driving this infrastructure development is a rising Chinese middle class, now tipped to reach 320 million by 2020.

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GLOBAL DIALOGUE

We were told that while coal use is set to triple by 2035, China leads the world in solar, wind and nuclear power production, with 26 nuclear plants under construction.

We heard the Government is committed to greening China. In a matter of months, a Government directive succeeded in having 68 billion plastic bags destroyed. As Ms Liu noted, China is run like a multi-national company with KPIs – things get done.

At General Motors’ Shanghai plant, we observed a well-oiled production line that spits out 75 new cars every hour. At Huawei, we learnt that this employeeowned company serves one third of the world’s technology and has spent $24 billion on research and development in the past 10 years.

It’s a fact of life that in China, relationships trump contracts every time We learnt from David Wei, a former CEO of China’s e-commerce giant, Alibaba, that China’s eBay equivalent, Taoboa, is now bigger in size than eBay and Amazon combined. We were told that the Chinese have embraced texting to the extent that WeChat, a popular messaging app, gained 200 million subscribers within weeks of its launch.

China has modernized at a pace that many of us would never have expected to see in our lifetimes.

Even if GDP growth “slows” to 6% - as some economists at the Dialogue predicted – China’s economy will still double in 12 years. Moreover, the rise of the Chinese consumer should ensure that demand for goods and service continues to grow.

Clearly, this will create further investment opportunities. But less clear, is whether the timing is right for Australian super funds to be investing in China.

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Many of the speakers at the Dialogue spoke openly about China’s opaque business and investment landscape. Everyone agreed, there are no quick results and lots of effort is required in order to reap rewards.

Jamie Allen, from the Asian Corporate Governance Association, noted that China ranks a low 9 on corporate governance out of 11 Asian countries.

Sun Hong, a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, pointed out that China ranks 151 out of 185 countries in the ‘Start a Business Category’ of the OECD’s latest ‘Doing Business Study’. By contrast, Australia sits at number 2.

Not surprisingly in a country with no independent judiciary, the regulatory system is very different from that of most Western countries.

We were told that China’s stilldeveloping legal system is vague and that the enforcement of the law is weak. One speaker commented that a contract signed today, might not be valid tomorrow. Indeed, far more important than signatures on a contract, are personal connections or guanxi. Such connections are seen as critical at all stages of business. As Dr Geoff Raby, a former Australian ambassador to China noted: “It’s a fact of life that in China, relationships trump contracts every time.”

Buying Chinese equities seems like an obvious way for a super fund to gain exposure to China, but the process is far from straightforward. While the Central Government is moving to make China’s mainland stock exchanges more open to foreign investors, the markets are extremely volatile and not representative of all of China’s industries. Moreover, while Chinese equities are the cheapest in Asia, there is some pessimism about their short term outlook.

Direct investment into China, through private equity or infrastructure for example, can be equally challenging. Doing business in China requires local expertise and

resources. We heard that dealing with local government officials can be tricky and the attitude to foreign investment varies widely from province to province. We were told that the business environment is extremely competitive and insecure and that the Chinese like to take profits quickly.

For investors keen on property, some concerns were raised about oversupply issues. Haibin Zhu, Chief China Economist with J.P. Morgan, described a property downturn as a “major macro risk”.

The Dialogue also provided insight into how China’s growth is creating investment opportunities back in Australia. Ken Morrison, head of the Tourist & Transport Forum, TTF, was bullish on the growth of the inbound Chinese tourist to Australia, predicting this would create investment opportunities in aviation, infrastructure, convention facilities, casinos and hotels. Similarly, Austrade’s Bing Liu, spoke of opportunities in Australia’s educational sector, with Australia being the third top destination for Chinese wanting to study abroad.

Delegates also gained a more accurate picture about China from a macro-economic point of view.

As AustralianSuper’s Stephen Joske who is based in Beijing noted, global asset returns will increasingly be determined by events in China.

At the end of the Dialogue, the feeling among delegates was one of cautious optimism. No one is rushing in, but most delegates expressed an interest in further investigating China’s opportunities.

Everyone returned to Australia acutely aware that China is too big a market to be ignored.

Eventually, all super funds will significantly increase their exposure to China. It’s not a matter of if, but when.  jds

John Brumby After a long career that includes nearly 11 years as Treasurer and then as Premier of Victoria, and three years as chair of MTAA Super, John Brumby has been awarded AIST’s Trustee of the Year award for 2014. SuperTalk spoke to Brumby about his career, insights into industry and what we can expect from him in years to come.

In your early career, you spent a lot of time in rural Victoria working on your parents’ farm, then as a secondary school teacher in Bendigo and then working for the Victorian Teachers’ Union. What sort of impact, if any, did this have on your later career?

These years instilled in me a very strong sense of community – the farming community, school community, etc. I also learnt that most working families were able to save only very little for their retirement and most ended up relying completely on the age pension. From these years I also learnt about leadership – being open to new ideas and believing that change for the better is always possible.

You said in your acceptance speech for the Award that you had found “your place” in super.

What is it that makes super so special for you?

Super is special to me because I have always felt strongly about the need to lift national savings as well as people’s retirement incomes. I was part of the Hawke Government in the 1980s when super and the Accord were first devised. It’s been very satisfying to see super develop over more than 20 years and to now have a ‘hands on’ role in making it work for MTAA Super.

Do you think there are any lessons you have learnt from your time in the political sphere that have been useful in super?

Ray Macken (Schroders), award winner John Brumby, and Tom Garcia (AIST)

Super is about the long term and a successful super system can make a huge difference to a person’s life circumstances. With anything long term, certainty is crucial – it’s important that the rules and regulations are clear and that governments don’t fiddle with the rules to meet shorter term political or budgetary requirements.

Throughout your time as a trustee you have been an advocate for good governance.

What are the key ingredients to getting it right?

No issue is as important as good governance – it’s the key ingredient in the trustee/beneficiary relationship. Good governance means having good people with the right skills and attitudes who are totally committed to the best possible outcomes for their fund.

For the Board, it means agreed strategic goals, a commitment to continuous improvement and skills development, and respect for the views of other Trustees and stakeholders. Being open to new

ideas and best practice is also vital – it’s why the role of AIST is so important and our Board has determined that each Trustee must complete either the AIST or AICD Directors’ course.

You have three grown up children. Have you discussed working to 70 with your children? Do you expect the Age Pension to still be about by the time they reach retirement and what advice would you give them about saving for retirement?

I think young people and their attitude to super is a big issue. My children are in their mid-twenties and are probably no different to most – they have two or three super accounts (from various part-time jobs, etc), they are paying off HECS and they really don’t think about retirement savings way off in 2060!

However, I’ve made some progress in talking about the power of superannuation savings with them … and I think at least one might now increase her contribution rate!

SUPERTALK - July 2014

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TRUSTEE OF YEAR

TRUSTEE OF THE YEAR

TWITTERSPHERE

Leaders in super’s twittersphere These days there is plenty of twitter conversation about super, as anyone who has been at a recent AIST event can attest. But which tweets have the greatest impact and who are the personalities behind some of the best super tweets?

TOP FIVE TWEETING FUNDS: 01. NGS Super – 2088 tweets The most active fund on twitter, NGS Super shares what’s going on with their fund, including plenty of event and seminar invites for members.

02. Sunsuper- 2053 tweets From voting in competitions, to advertising jobs, Sunsuper encourages interaction through their twitter account. Also a big fan of photos and videos, it’s no wonder members are interacting.

03. HOSTPLUS – 1198 tweets

A quick look at what’s happening in super and twitter reveals that only a handful of not-for-profit funds out of about 20 funds with twitter accounts - are active. While social media isn’t all about ‘likes’ and ‘follows’, a few funds dominate with more than 1000 followers, while the most inactive funds have less than 10 followers. Here’s a snap shot of who is tweeting, following, and worth a follow: Please note: numbers were correct at the time of writing.

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Shares anything hospitality related including fun food facts, award updates and the occasional Master Chef pic. Recipes are also on the agenda.

04. Australian Catholic Super1114 tweets Tweeting with a family focus is done best from this team who share info on the hot topics of the week. They also post the occasional feel good story or helpful hint.

05. UniSuper- 893 tweets These guys tweet with a news style as their twitter handle suggests, posting member content and updates including plenty of videos.

Education is often a feature but not necessarily the focus.

WHO’S GOT FRIENDS? While not all ‘followers’ will actually engage with posts, it is interesting to see which funds have the most.

Size and demographic of the fund will always be a contributing factor to these results, but the way the fund engages with members is most important.

Here are the five AIST member funds with the most “followers”: HOSTPLUS- 2699 followers AustralianSuper- 2357 followers Sunsuper- 1803 followers NGS Super- 1167 followers CareSuper- 1143 followers (AIST, itself, has 1314 followers)

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE RE-TWEET Of the top tweeting funds, NGS Super’s post below received the most interaction. However our research shows that it is still rare for a fund to attract more than 10 re-tweets. This suggests funds still have a way to go in creating interesting, engaging content.

TWITTERSPHERE

WHO SHOULD YOU FOLLOW? We hate to play favourites but here’s a list of individuals who are among the most active tweeters in the super/ financial services space.

Andrew Whiley

Christopher Joye

Stephen Huppert

@WhileyAndrew

@cjoye

@stephenhuppert

“Comms around Superannuation, Pensions, Climate & ESG. Views are personal. Any retweets you don’t like are disowned in advance.”

“AFR contributing editor/ fund mger. News Ltd: Fin’s most serious security analyst; Aust’s most idiosyncratic economist; pollie’s Svengali; pungently accurate”

“music fan | @StKildaFC fan | Partner Deloitte Consulting | actuary | superannuation | @ Green_Dot”

He may be in the UK but Andrew is super active on twitter. Tweets include news articles of interest, commentary on big issues, and of course a decent retweet.

As a journalist, Christopher shares plenty of news stories but also offers pithy comments of his own on all things hot topic. He’s a pro at filtering his news feed and re-tweeting interesting content of others.

SuperGuide.com.au

Author of over 11,000 tweets, Stephen is great for Australian and International content. Also a fan of the twitter-pic, expect witty insights and plenty of articles. Be warned, you will have to cope with the occasional footy post.

Johanna Neilsen

@SuperGuide_au “Simple independent superannuation information - written by Trish Power, author of Superannuation for Dummies.”

Rebecca Monforte @MsMonforte “Marketing Professional | Superannuation. Inspired by family & friends, all things digital, and an advocate for equality! #GoDons *views are my own*”

A master at getting to the nub of complex superannuation rules and explaining them in user-friendly language.

Trish keeps a close eye on superannuation policy changes and is great at drilling down on how these changes impact on real people.

Loves a good twitter pic and knows how to use a hashtag.

Rebecca often tweets in real time at conferences, making her definitely one to follow.

@JohannaNeilsen “HR Professional | I tweet about superannuation, gender quality and my views on a range on issues| Like everyone else, all my tweets are my own opinion.”

A regular in the twittersphere, Johanna shares engaging and sometimes inspirational pieces with her followers.

Keeps a close eye on super commentators and re-tweets to share.

WANT A CHANCE TO WIN AN IPAD MINI? See page 31 for details.

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PROFILE

PROFILE

Greg Sword reflects on his career in super Greg Sword’s long and successful career in superannuation began with a fight for the pension rights of migrants working in the skin and hide industry.

It was the 1970s and Greg Sword, a fresh young recruit with the Storemen & Packers Union, was struck by the unfairness of a pension system that effectively denied hard working migrants in the work sheds at Derrimut the right to keep their pension savings.

At the time, the pension was only available to those who worked 20 or 30 years full time in the same company.

If the employee left the job before this period, no pension would be paid at all. “The superannuation system was irrelevant to the needs of working people at that time,” Mr Sword says.

Mr Sword decided that the union could help by creating an arrangement whereby the employer’s superannuation contribution was negotiated through the union to give ‘ownership’ to the worker employee.

“The money would become the employees’ right, not a privilege. It would be their money – that was the key,” Mr Sword explains.

“I used to tell workers it doesn’t matter if you punch the boss on the nose or burn the place down, that money in your account is yours.

They can’t take it off you, it’s part of your pay,” says Mr Sword.

During its heyday, the skin and hide industry attracted migrants of different nationalities. English wasn’t typically their first language, and while many genuinely thought these workers wouldn’t understand super, mostly they did. “They wanted better outcomes for their families,”

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Greg Sword AM was instrumental in the history of LUCRF

recalls Mr Sword.

The union fund took off and in 1978 the Labour Union Co-operative Retirement Fund (LUCRF) was formed, an industry super fund with the aim to be transparent and portable. “We didn’t mean to create a revolution that would change everything; we wanted to do something for our members - that’s what unions do,” he says.

Looking back on his career, Mr Sword has many fond memories, many centred around the ties between the union movement and superannuation. A member of the Labor Party from his early twenties, Sword went on to become National President of the Australian Labor Party, Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and General Secretary of the National Union of Workers.

“I’ve never thought of myself

as being in the superannuation business, I’ve thought of myself as being in the union business,” he stresses.

During the late 1970s and early 80s the Storemen and Packers Union was involved in a number of industry strikes and campaigns that fought for super, including the rights to super in the oil and paint industries. Greg Sword was involved in every battle, even marching in May Day strikes along with his wife on the first day of their honeymoon!

It doesn’t matter if you punch the boss on the nose or burn the place down, that money in your account is yours

It’s your social conscious isn’t it?

That’s why I became a trade unionist in the first place Mr Sword has spent the last few years ensuring that LUCRF stays in touch with these values, forming partnerships with the community. This includes a three year partnership with the Australian Jockeys’ Association that will provide financial support for the National Jockeys’ Trust (NJT), through the sponsorship of jockeys’ breeches.

The LUCRF call centre was set up outside Mr Sword’s office window, so he maintains a sense of closeness to his members. “If the phones start ringing off the hook I know something is going on,” he explains.

According to Mr Sword, the super industry will always change

PROFILE

In fighting for super in the Grocery Warehouse Award in the late 1970s, Mr Sword always felt that while negotiating a wage increase was important, negotiating the right for employees to choose if that extra money went in the employer fund or the union superannuation fund was even more important. “I guess you could say that between 1978 and 1981, if you wanted to be a member of the fund you would most probably have to go on strike for at least a week to win that right,” says Mr Sword.

Mr Sword’s more recent achievements are just as impressive. LUCRF currently holds approximately $4 billion in funds under management, has more than 180,000 members and more than 16,000 participating employers.

Mr Sword maintains that LUCRF’s ethos remains closely aligned with its founding unions. “It hasn’t moved away from its fundamental philosophical underpinning, and you see that in most of the things we do.”

Union business rules over honeymoon. Greg (with the pipe) and his wife (marching behind) on the first day of their honeymoon

and evolve, and technology will play a key role. He is optimistic for the future of super funds and believes that while the banks previously had easy access to potential clients through their branches, the advent of new technology means that this former advantage will disappear.

“Technology is available to industry super funds as well, and they will be smart enough to take advantage of that technology. In the technology space, everyone is the same size,” he said.

“You don’t want four big super funds like in the banking world. That isn’t effective competition. You want a diverse industry that with the right policy settings will help Australia prosper.”

“Everything will continue to change, so LUCRF is preparing for that change, that’s the main thing.”

Today, Mr Sword is ready for retirement and looks forward to” ‘’A bit more time to talk to the dog,

watch TV, pay more attention to my family and make space for the range of voluntary jobs I have,” he says.

After all his high energy roles he says it’s his time.

“As a CEO you have to have the energy, you have to give everyone the energy every day to do the work they need to do. I’m making a decision that it’s my time to step back from that; I’ve been in that sort of role since 1982” he said.

Mr Sword will continue his role as trustee at the National Jockeys’ Trust, trustee at the Caulfield Racecourse, member of the VESKI board and as the campaign director of the Labour Party (seat of Eildon).

Even at 66, he remains passionately involved with his local football club – we hope the dog and TV watching get a look in!  sg

Greg Sword retired as CEO of LUCRF on 30 June 2014.

SUPERTALK - July 2014

19

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PROFILE

AIST TRUSTEE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Elana Rubin The inaugural AIST Trustee Lifetime Achievement Award has been awarded to Elana Rubin, who retired last year as the chair of AustralianSuper after more than 20 years as a trustee director of industry super funds.

You have had an incredible career over the past 20 years –working as a nanny in Italy to becoming chair of one of Australia’s biggest funds. What was your biggest career break?

My luckiest break was working for Bill Kelty at the ACTU who introduced me to super. At the time, I was more interested in law than super; in fact I barely knew what super was! But Bill recognised something in me that he believed would find super interesting, and he was right. Working in super allowed me to pursue my interest in social policy and reform but also my interests in economics, capital markets and innovation.

Your passion for gender equality is well known and throughout your time we have seen more women serve on boards. But is there still a ‘boys club’ in super?

I often reflect that in the early days of super, it was still a new sector and many men were not prepared to leave their careers in finance and banking for something not yet proven. This gave women the opportunity to step into leadership roles. Today super is worth over $1.8T and plays a key role in the economy. I feel we’ve lost our edge around diversity. While there are more women on trustee boards than on ASX companies boards, we are a long way from equal participation and even more so when looking at senior management roles. This is an area where funds really need to step up and commit to achieving better diversity.

It’s often said that a lack of confidence holds back many women when it comes to managing their finances. What can super funds do to help?

Super funds can encourage women to be more active about their super and to take advantage of some simple strategies to maximise their retirement savings such as consolidating multiple accounts and the impact of salary sacrifice.

Funds need to connect with women through targeted promotions and social media rather than waiting for women to take the first step of seeking out information. But if we’re really serious about addressing the fact that women retire with less super than men, we need to look at the underlying reasons and existing policy barriers, and think of new solutions such as higher contributions for women or lifetime contribution caps.

You’ve been in senior positions during pivotal changes for various organisations, including the merger between AustralianSuper and AGEST. What is the key to a successful business decision?

Successful decisions require clarity of purpose, alignment of values and goals, good analysis and risk mitigation, clear implementation plans and the right resources. But the real key is more cultural than analytical.

Organisations that manage these pivotal decisions successfully have a culture whereby their people, at Board level and within the

Elana Rubin, FAIST

organisation, embrace change and innovation as a means of delivering better outcomes for members.

How do you see your own retirement? Ideally, what would you do?

I see retirement as the opportunity to do all the things I would like to do today but somehow don’t. I’d love to study interior design, travel for extended periods, learn Italian, read all those books piling up in my study, get fit, mentor younger women, do more volunteer work. Hopefully my super will let me do most of these things!

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CMSF 2014

CMSF 2014 With an impressive line-up and record number of tweets, this year’s Conference of Major Superannuation Funds had plenty of focus on the future of super. David Gonski wowed delegates with an empowering speech on good governance, while Tony Jones led a lively debate on how the nation and super funds should be tackling our ageing population. Delegates agreed the conference ticked all the right boxes.

Peter Treseder, AustralianSuper, tackles the big debate: reducing debt vs saving for retirement

APRA’s Helen Rowell at the Regulator Update session

Amanda Lamb, JP Morgan, at the winning stall with Berocca

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One of our diligent volunteers scans Mike Lester, APRA, into the session

Raise your hand if you’re John Piggott delving into the age quake debate

Cassandra Goldie, ACOSS, notes the growing inequality among both old and young Australians

Sam Sicilia, Helen Conway, Ed John and Elizabeth Proust take a closer look at gender diversity and improved corporate transparency

CMSF 2014 Tony Jones was a favourite with delegates - especially on twitter

David Gonski wowed delegates with a powerful opening on good governance

Michael Armitage, Milliman, Justine Gorman, APRA and Wade Matterson, Milliman

Gavin Blake from Fever Picture turned our sessions into infographics, live!

The SuperGrads stood out in their ‘trendy’ green t-shirts

The expo hall proved popular with delegates

Participants sent in a record number of tweets using the hashtag #CMSF14

Tony Beck, Zach May, Ellen Fanning, Nick Sherry and Anne-Marie Corboy discuss the Financial Systems Inquiry

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11&12 September Alice Springs Convention Centre

AIST’s Super Investment conference (ASI) announces new speakers and sessions ASI Program and speaker highlights include:

Jim Rickards (USA), New York Times Best Selling Author: The Currency Wars and The Death of Money will give us his perspective on the US dollar and how will growth in sovereign wealth funds impact on asset market.

Emerging Markets a decade on. Jeppe Ladekarl, First Quadrant (USA) will give us insight into how the regions have developed and if they’re still an attractive investment option today, and for the future.

What ESG trends are emerging in Nordic Funds when it comes to sustainability investing and low carbon equity investment strategies?

Mikael Johansson (SWE), AP4 will provide his global pension fund perspectives.

The role Big Data can play on investment strategies and asset class risk and reward profiles with Dr Ian Oppermann, SIRCATech.

How will Bitcoin and digital currencies shape investment markets? Jason Williams from Bitcoin Australia will tell us how.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER VISIT WWW.AIST.ASN.AU

SuperTalk spoke with Tom Stewart, Investment Manager at CareSuper and the 2013 winner of the inaugural AIST Investment Rising Star Award, sponsored by Hermes. Tom – who at 30 years old is one of just three investment specialists at CareSuper - travelled to the UK on a leadership study tour that involved meeting UK pension fund representatives.

What was the highlight of your UK Study tour?

As part of the tour, I completed a corporate governance course with EuroMoney. Participants in this course came from five other countries – including directors of listed companies, so it was very interesting to hear everyone’s different perspectives on governance.

The course really solidified the importance of good governance, both from a super fund investment perspective and a director perspective. I work in a small team that doesn’t travel much, as fund managers tend to come to us. The Award enabled me to do something I wouldn’t normally do.

What UK pension funds did you visit?

I met with people from the British Telecom Pension Scheme, as well as RailPen – both large defined benefit funds. Despite this, there were similarities with Australian defined contribution funds in terms of their investment process and also broader aspects - they are starting to see similar fee pressures, with some proponents calling for a 75bps cap. Yet a few years ago fees were not questioned. I also met with NEST which is a relatively new government DC fund which used Australian funds as a model for their structure.

They were interested in the

RISING STAR AWARD

Investment Rising Star Award recipient returns from UK Study tour

CareSuper Investment Manager Tom Stewart

Australian pension market as the UK government recently announced plans to wind-back the obligation to buy an annuity at retirement, giving more flexibility to retirees - similar to what we have here. I also visited the London office of the UNPRI.

the opportunity is huge - when I started we were just shy of $4B, now we are knocking on the door of $9B.

What makes a good super fund investment manager?

The CareSuper board has a very clear objective – to achieve our CPI+3% objective and protect capital when markets are falling and keep up as much as we can when markets are rising. We think that is a sound strategy and it has delivered for members. Furthermore the Fund has delivered the investment strategy to achieve this objective.

You have to be flexible and know where to focus your time. Working in a small team of investment specialists at CareSuper that outsources fund management and asset allocation, we need to be very confident in selecting providers. We don’t micro manage our providers, preferring to give them time to fulfil their investment strategy.

How long have you been at CareSuper and what got you into super?

I’ve been at CareSuper for four years, and prior to that spent two years with ANZ in their graduate program. I didn’t know anyone who worked in the industry but when I moved across I quickly realised just how large and important it is. I think it would be fair to say even the financial services sector is relatively disengaged with their super, so it is not surprising the general public is and that’s our challenge. So the decision to move has definitely been vindicated. In terms of growth alone

Despite being a relatively small fund, CareSuper has been a top performer over the years. What do you put this success down to?

What challenges ahead do you see for the not-for-profit sector?

I think there will be more mergers, but mergers take time and you can only do one at time.

So the industry consolidation might be slower than many people would think and rising markets may prolong this. Regardless, the industry is becoming much more competitive and there will be challenges ahead for funds in building post-retirement options.

Nominations for the 2014 Investment Rising Star Award are now open. Visit ww.aist.asn.au for more details.

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SUPER SUMMIT

Women’s Super Summit Earlier this year, AIST and Women in Super joined forces to hold the first ever Women’s Super Summit on the gender retirement savings gap. The full-day event attracted nearly 100 commentators and leading thinkers from Government agencies, universities, research organisations and super funds.

Business leader Carol Schwartz began the day with a panel discussion on key issues, which was then followed by 13 “big idea” presentations and further discussion. A report of findings from the summit was later presented to Government.

8 KEY TAKE-OUTS FROM THE DAY COLLABORATION IS KEY From savings plans to carers’ credits and a higher superannuation guarantee (SG) for women; 13 big ideas from various organisations were presented and discussed with delegates, allowing organisations to think outside the box when it comes to fixing the problem. All agreed that it won’t just take one organisation to fix the problem; it needs to be a collaborative effort.

CONSENSUS ON THE LOW INCOME SUPERANNUATION CONTRIBUTION SCHEME (LISC) Most agreed that the LISC was a vital concession for many Australian women, and should be fought for. The LISC provides a super tax rebate of up to $500 a year for those earning $37,000 or less. This much needed equity measure benefits more than half of the Australian female workforce.

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CAMPAIGNING ON LISC As per the point above, as well as agreeing that the LISC should be saved, it was decided that a campaign to save the measure was vital. As a result, Women in Super – with much support from industry – launched the keep super fair campaign (details are in Super News page 04) Over 26,000 people have signed the petition at www. keepsuperfair.com.au (and we encourage you to sign and share too!)

INVITE MALES ON BOARD The problem needs as much support as possible, so it was decided that approaching networks such as the ‘Males Champions of Change’ to advocate for employment based initiatives to improve women’s super savings outcomes was an important step.

SUPPORT FOR CARERS There are a number of key factors behind the gender gap in retirement savings, including taking a career break to care for children and other family members.

Far more women than men work part time to meet their caring responsibilities. The idea of a type of ‘caring credits’ was raised by Elizabeth Broderick, Sex Discrimination Commissioner, with delegates agreeing something needs to change.

EDUCATION WILL ALWAYS PLAY A ROLE There was emphasis on the need for more financial literacy programs and product innovation to help individual women lift their savings rates, but most acknowledged that such developments have limited scope to significantly improve outcomes for low-to-middle income earners who typically do not have the capacity to make extra contributions into their super. Gender-specific early education on insurance, asset allocation and the benefits of saving more was also suggested.

SUPPORT FROM FUNDS IS VITAL It was decided funds need to share ways for women to consolidate accounts, avoiding fee duplication, as well as implementing savings programs aimed at women.

Funds were encouraged to ask women to take an hour to sort out their super. The ATO has also launched their five step super check campaign, and delegates agreed it was a great tool to pass on to members.

19 BOARD-READY WOMEN GRADUATE 12 MONTH PROGRAM

The graduates and some keen supporters

Helen Conway from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency has addressed 19 board-ready women who celebrated the completion of the Super Springboard program at a graduation ceremony held on the Gold Coast.

Ms Conway congratulated the participants, and stressed the importance of promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces.

The twelve month program – a joint initiative of AIST and Women in Super – offered comprehensive training, mentoring and networking opportunities for women interested in obtaining a board role.

Five of the women have already transitioned into board roles at HESTA, Vision Super, AUSCOAL, CareSuper and First Super.

Ten full scholarships were offered funded by the Federal Government valued at $150,000

and nine positions were partially funded by AIST and WIS. Women in the program also completed AIST’s Trustee Director Course.

AIST Executive Manager Leadership & Governance, Eva Scheerlinck said the Super Springboard program was a response to the poor representation of women on super boards. “Whilst the industry average may be around 22%, the number of funds with no female representation remains disappointing,” she said.

AIST has applied for another year of government funding for the program but is yet to receive a definitive response.

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SUPER SUMMIT

$450 THRESHOLD HAS TO GO Currently, employees who make less than $450 a month are not entitled to employer superannuation contributions. Most summit delegates think this has to go, as many women return to work part- time and are missing out on valuable retirement savings. AIST and Women in Super have recently met with Senator Michaelia Cash, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women, to discuss this and other issues.

Take 10 minutes and win up to $10,000

Nominations for the 2014 AIST Awards for Excellence and Leader Development Scholarships are now open.

With the following awards & scholarships up for grabs, why wouldn’t you enter? $5,000 Awards for Excellence categories Investment, Finance, Business Development, Member Services, Operations/Administration. $10,000 Leader Development Scholarship categories Trustee Director and Fund Staff Member.

There are also four categories in the hotly contested Communication Awards.

Entry is easy and our quick and simple nomination process puts you one step closer to a great reward for all of your hard work in the last year.

Full details and to submit your entry visit www.aistawards.asn.au

Nominations close Friday 17 October, 2014.

With thanks to the 2014 Awards for Excellence and Leader Development Scholarship Industry Partners for their support.

AIST’s 2013 Awards recognised super funds for innovative communication strategies. HESTA swept the pool winning three awards with other winning funds including Cbus, ESSSuper, MTAA Super, AMIST, REST and Christian Super.

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1. K atarina Mucic from Equip accepts the Communications Campaign/Project Award for funds over $10B FUM. 2.

Shane Pearse, ESSSuper thanks his team for winning the Super Member Services Award for Excellence.

5.

Paul Murphy, from Christian Super, on behalf of Mark Spencer, and Brenda Mills from REST accept Leader Development Scholarships, from State Street’s Peter Mitchell.

3.

Leonie Curtis from AMIST Super and Garnet Meekings with the Communications Campaign/Project Award for funds over $5B FUM.

6.

Michael Irving, Leanne Turner, Phillip Brown and Chris Porter from MTAA Super show off their Super Investment Award for Excellence.

4.

Kylie Whicher from ME Bank presents David Constable and Rebecca Montforte from Cbus with the Communication Award for Excellence – Annual Report.

7. The HESTA team with their three awards- Communications campaign/project (funds over $10B FUM), Platinum Communication Award, and Super Operations/Administration Award for Excellence.

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AIST AWARDS

AIST Awards 2013

Data and Technology Symposium 2014 Tuesday 26 – Wednesday 27 August RACV Club, Melbourne

Join us at AIST’s inaugural Data and Technology Symposium with speakers from Google, IBM, Australia Post and Telstra covering critical issues including: • What are you seeing in the tea leaves? A practical guide to interpreting and implementing a big data strategy • Data security and safety – what you need to know • The digital investor – how the technology shift is impacting the super industry • Maximising social, mobile, analytics and the cloud for fund growth • Changing face of digital media

Paul Ormonde-James Head of Data, Insight Services Capability & Commercialisation, Australia Post

Rocky Scopelliti

Dan Metcalf

Group General Manager, Industry Executive, Telstra

Industry Manager, Business & Consumer Services, Google

Nigel Phair

Ahmed Fattah

Director - Centre for Internet Safety

Executive Analytics Architect, IBM Australia

Allie Rose Senior Analytical Lead, Google

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER VISIT WWW.AIST.ASN.AU

INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS 2014 Health Industry Plan (HIP) Super chief executive Ross Bernays resigned from his role in March ahead of the super fund merger with Prime Super.

LUCRF CEO, Greg Sword AM retired from his position on June 30 2014 following eight years of service. Former LUCRF board member Charles Donnelly has been appointed to the role.

WA Super has appointed a new independent director, Tim Shanahan to replace Nick Catania as chairman of the fund. Mr Shanahan has been a part of the fund since 2004 serving as the chair of the fund’s compliance and risk committee. He commenced the role on July 1.

UniSuper has appointed a new executive manager, technology and projects, Shane Collister. The fund has also appointed Jack McCartney, Steven Leach and Tim Anderson into executive roles.

Sunsuper has announced Lounarda David will be taking on the newly created investment operations manager role. Ms David has more than 29 years of experience in the industry and will be responsible

for managing and monitoring investments in the fund.

Super SA has announced John Montague as new general manager, replacing Stephen Rowe who is now CEO of Vision Super.

Superpartners were pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Box to the role of executive general manager, fund service who commenced in February. Mr Box is responsible for Superpartners key operational functions including fund operations, national contact centres and operations support.

AUSCOAL Super has created a new chief investment officer role that will be filled by David Bell. Mr Bell will be responsible for the investment portfolio as well as managing and enhancing the exisiting investment team. Mr Bell commences his new role this month.

REST Industry Super has appointed Ken Marshman to its board as an independent director. Mr Marshman has a long history with JANA Investment Advisers, which he left in late 2013. He will also be a member of REST’s investment committee.

AIST have announced Angela Emslie as new president. Previous president Cate Wood has been appointed as deputy President. Debora Jackson,

Greg Cantor and Alix Sachinidis have resigned from the board with other changes including the appointment of Sue Gould and David Smith as trustee representative directors, and Stephen Pratt as a fund staff representative. Kate Andrews has also joined as the board appointed director.

CareSuper has appointed Cate Wood as the first female chair of the fund.

David Michaelis has been appointed deputy chair. Director John Burge has resigned from his role on the board to retire.

Equip chief financial officer John Rodd has stepped down and the position has been changed into chief risk offer that will cover compliance, financial and market risk. Nick Vamvakas has been appointed to the new role.

HOSTPLUS has appointed Rebecca Stark to the board following the departure of Troy Burton who stepped down at the end of November 2013.

Vision Super has appointed Michael Wrysch as its new chief investment officer. Mr Wrysch began the position in June after a long career with Frontier Advisors.

TWEET TO WIN AN IPAD MINI SuperTalk challenges readers to come up with a clever and engaging tweet about superannuation, post it, and gain more than 50 retweets.

The first reader to contact AIST, meeting the above criteria, will win an iPad Mini.

The rules: 1. It must be posted from your individual account (not a company page!)

2. The tweet must be about superannuation and contain #superannuation 3. You are not allowed to mention you’re posting the tweet to try and win an iPad or ask your follwers to retweet.

Please contact sgoodwin@aist.asn.au or on (03) 8677 3843 when you are eligible. Competition closes December 1st 2014. For full terms and conditions please contact AIST on +61 3 8677 3800.

SUPERTALK - July 2014

31

MEMBER NEWS

Member news

AIST’S FLAGSHIP EDUCATION OFFERING

Trustee Director Course Designed in consultation with leading superannuation experts, this program will provide directors with the skills, knowledge and confidence to immediately improve their performance at board level and become more dynamic contributors.

Why the TDC ticks all the boxes: “This course recognises the unique skills and heavy responsibilities required of today’s trustee directors – it should be on every trustee’s radar.”

“Trustee directors need to be armed with their own knowledge, not just go through the motions, so courses like this are invaluable to equip them for their role.”

`` John Brumby – Chair, MTAA Super

`` Pam McAlister – Partner, Hall & Wilcox

“All directors and all chairs should make sure that even existing directors have a taste of what’s in this course. I will be doing that for my own directors on our board.“ `` David Galbally AM QC – Chair, TWUSUPER

“Boards are full of people with great technical skills, but they seem to lack the soft skills … the ability to think independently but act collegiately; the ability to probe and question without rancour; and the ability to objectively listen to another’s point of view. This is where the course excels.” `` Sandy Grant – Chair, CareSuper “The course is relevant, very comprehensive and addresses not only investments but also the governance requirements and finance, which is historically an area that has been under-done.” `` David Coogan – Partner, PwC “The industry has changed so much, it’s important that we stay contemporary and really take the responsibility and personal accountability to make sure that we do have the professional training required to fulfil our proper duty.”

What recent TDC graduates have to say: “This course is just amazing; it covers all facets, from both the strategic, down to the regulatory. I will be going back to my policy committee and nominating that we should do this as a minimum standard.” `` Cathy Doyle – Graduate 2013 Head of Human Resources, BNP Paribas (Aust/NZ) “It’s been incredible gaining access to some of the great minds in the industry through the course – a rare opportunity.” `` Julie Bignell – Graduate 2013 Trustee Director, CareSuper

“The facilitators are all seasoned experts who give generously of their time and skill ensuring that the learning objectives are fully met.

Be prepared to be worked hard and you will be well-rewarded.” `` Keith Harvey – Graduate 2013 Alternate Trustee Director, CareSuper

`` Jay Bonnington – Trustee Director, HESTA

Visit our website for more information or contact Meegan George on 03 8677 3800 or training@aist.asn.au

Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees Ground Floor, 215 Spring Street Melbourne VIC 3000 T +61 3 8677 3800 F +61 3 8677 3801 info@aist.asn.au www.aist.asn.au

Copyright Š 2014, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST).All rights reserved. You may use this material for your personal, non-commercial use. Any other use of this content requires written consent from AIST.