Board of directors
Gary Dransfield — Chair
- Appointed Chair in February 2022
- Policy Committee member
- Finance & Risk Committee member
- Human Resources & Remuneration Committee member
- Fund Advisory Panel Chair
- Professional Director
Mr Gary Dransfield is currently a non-executive director of Hollard Insurance and of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). He was formerly the Chief Executive of Insurance Australia for the Suncorp Group, has been both board member and Chair of the Insurance Council of Australia and the Insurance Council of New Zealand, and held numerous other board directorships. He has also held executive roles with IAG, Lend Lease, and AMP.
Paula Benson AM — Director
- Joined ASFA Board in April 2024
- Representing – Industry sector funds
- Policy Committee member
- Chief Officer Strategy and Corporate Affairs, AustralianSuper
Paula Benson is an experienced senior Strategy, Corporate Affairs and Marketing executive and Non-Executive Director in top NYSE and ASX firms. She has twenty-five years of experience across Superannuation, Banking and Financial Services, Mining and Resources, Infrastructure, Health, Education and Media.
She is a strategic, proactive and energetic leader of high performing teams and is known as a creative and innovative thinker. She is passionate about people working together to create opportunities that deliver tangible financial and societal outcomes.
Paula is the Chief Officer Strategy and Corporate Affairs at AustralianSuper. Paula has served as a Director of the Victorian Funds Management Corporation, a Trustee of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre Trust, Director of the Port of Melbourne and was Chair of Ovarian Cancer Australia for 8 years. Her executive roles included Head of Global Marketing, Brand & Communications, IFM Investors, Executive General Manager Corporate Affairs and General Manager Corporate Responsibility at NAB and General Manager of Corporate Affairs at Alcoa of Australia.
Paula holds a Master of Arts from the University of Technology, Sydney and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Company Directors.
Nick Callil — Director
Joined ASFA Board in December 2023
Representing – Service Providers
Policy Committee member
Nick Callil has been an advisor and thought leader within the superannuation industry for over 35 years, most recently as Head of Retirement Solutions for WTW Australia where he managed key relationships and provides strategic advice to some of Australian leading superannuation funds.
Nick has conducted and led research in the area of retirement strategy and consults to funds and financial institutions on retirement and related matters spanning topics such as default investment option design, longevity risk, safe spending rates in retirement, evaluation of retirement income strategies and asset allocation for retirees.
He also consults on risk tolerance modelling, demographic and retirement adequacy analysis, dynamic lifecycle strategies, retirement income projections and the use of fintech to devise retirement strategies and present retirement risks effectively.
Nick is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars in Australia and globally on risk, retirement, investment, and longevity related issues, and is the author of a number of papers on these topics.
A qualified actuary, Nick is a member of ASFA’s Super System Design Policy Council, and an Adjunct Fellow of Macquarie University’s Applied Finance Centre. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia and holds a first-class Science degree with Honours in pure and applied mathematics from Monash University.
Jane Couchman — Director
- Joined ASFA Board in December 2023
- Representing – Public sector funds
- Policy Committee member
- Chief Risk Officer, Aware Super
Before joining Aware Super, Jane was the Executive General Manager, Compliance at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) where she was responsible for leading the bank’s Global Compliance Function, including the Conduct Program, Privacy Program and Conflicts of Interest Program. During this time, she also co-led CBA’s response to APRA’s Prudential Inquiry into CBA; as well as the new Banking Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR) and was a key member of CBA’s Royal Commission Taskforce.
Prior to her time at CBA Jane was the Global COO, Compliance and Head of Enterprise Compliance at Macquarie Bank. She was part of the global executive leadership team for the Compliance Division and drove the strategy and programme of work for the Division globally. Prior to Macquarie, she was Chief Risk Officer at BT Financial Group, and before that General Counsel at Perpetual.
Vicki Doyle — Director
- Joined ASFA Board in July 2022
- Representing – Industry funds
- Policy Committee member
- Chief Executive Officer, Rest
Vicki joined Rest as Chief Executive Officer in May 2018, bringing more than 20 years of senior executive leadership experience in superannuation, life insurance, wealth management and banking.
Vicki’s experience includes executive leadership roles at some of Australia’s largest financial services organisations. She has an extensive background in distribution, strategic marketing, digital, fund operations and contact centres, customer strategy and design and product management.
Vicki is passionate about simplifying and demystifying superannuation to help all Australians achieve their best retirement outcomes.
Vicki holds an Executive MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management and a diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has been a Non- executive Director of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors since 2018 and a Director of The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia since 2022.
Adam Gee — Director
- Joined ASFA Board in November 2021
- Representing – Service Providers
- Policy Committee member
- Finance & Risk Committee member
- Deputy CEO/Head of Strategy, GROW Super
Adam joined GROW Super as the Head of Strategy in May 2019 and, prior to this, was the lead Partner in KPMG’s Superannuation Advisory practice. Adam has over 25 years’ experience in the superannuation industry and has a detailed understanding of superannuation legislation and industry standards as well as a detailed working knowledge of many of the superannuation funds and their service providers within the industry, having been the Chief Executive Officer of SuperRatings before moving to KPMG.
At GROW, Adam is responsible for supporting the development and commercialisation of the TINA Platform, which is a blockchain enabled superannuation registry platform that will change the landscape of administration in the Australian market.
Adam has extensive experience working across all sectors of the superannuation industry, including funds management, international pension markets, insurance and administration. He has provided both legislative and strategic advice on a range of matters from risk management and governance to strategic industry changes.
Adam is also responsible for developing GROW’s strategy within the domestic market as well as pursuing opportunities globally, given the flexible nature of the TINA Platform and its ability to be configured for any jurisdiction.
Adam has also regularly presented to more than 50 superannuation fund trustee boards and senior executives on benchmarking, industry trends and product development and has presented at a range of industry conferences, including ASFA, FSC, FINSIA, CMSF, FEAL and WSSA. Adam has had representation on several industry roundtables, including the Productivity Commission, Treasury, APRA, ASIC and sits on the ASFA NSW State Committee. Moreover, Adam has provided oversight of industry press releases and regular communication with a range of media outlets. He was also recently elected as the Chair of the ASFA NSW State Committee.
Bryony Hayes — Director
- Joined ASFA Board in February 2024
- Representing – Corporate funds
- Policy Committee member
Bryony is TelstraSuper’s Chief Risk Officer and has accountability for the Risk Management Framework. She leads the Risk and Compliance team, and manages the relationships with key regulators, including APRA and ASIC. Bryony is also the Fund’s AML/CTF Compliance Officer.
Bryony was appointed to the role in February 2020. An experienced executive in managing governance functions across global locations, through strategic expansions and operational transformations. She was previously the Chief Risk Officer at VFMC, was the Head of Risk and Compliance with Hastings Funds Management and held senior compliance roles with Capital International, and prior to that was in private legal practice. Bryony holds a Bachelor of Arts/Laws (Hons).
Damian Hill — Director
- Joined ASFA Board in October 2020
- Representing – Public sector funds
- Policy Committee member
- ASFA-ASP Services Committee Chair
- Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC)
Damian Hill is the Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC).
Damian joined CSC in 2020. Before his appointment he was the Chief Executive Officer for the REST Superannuation Fund for over 11 years. He has over 30 years’ experience in financial services serving in senior management roles with AMP and Suncorp.
Damian has a Bachelor Degree in Science from the University of Queensland, a Diploma of Superannuation Management from Macquarie University and is a Certified Investment Management Analyst. He has completed a series of Executive Management and Strategy programs through INSEAD and the Harvard Business School.
Damian is also Chairman of the ASFA ASP Services Committee. He is a Life Member of ASFA.
Edwina Maloney — Director
- Joined ASFA Board in September 2022
- Representing – Retail funds
- Policy Committee member
- Group Executive, Platforms at AMP
Edwina was appointed Group Executive Platforms in July 2023. The Platforms business provides superannuation, retirement and investment solutions to advisers and their clients.
Edwina is a seasoned executive, board director, consultant, and transformational leader having held senior executive roles across wealth management; superannuation and funds management businesses. In June 2021, Edwina was appointed Director, Platforms at AMP, with end-to-end accountability for AMP’s Wealth Superannuation Fund, Wrap Platforms and SuperConcepts SMSF business (which was sold on 30 June 2023).
Previously, Edwina led AMP Capital’s Global Product function, responsible for its Managed Investment Schemes, offshore domiciled funds and separate accounts. Before AMP, Edwina held various senior leadership roles at Perpetual Investments responsible for strategy; business development; product innovation and management functions. She was also a management consultant with Accenture specialising in wealth management and began her career as a lawyer with DLA Piper (then Phillips Fox).
Edwina holds a Bachelor of Laws (QUT) and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investment (FINSIA). She is a Director of NMMT Limited and ASFA.
Andrew Spence — Director
- Joined ASFA Board in November 2022
- Representing – Corporate funds
- Policy Committee member
- Chief Investment Officer, Qantas Super
Andrew Spence was appointed as the inaugural Chief Investment Officer of Qantas Superannuation Limited on 28 July 2008. In this role Andrew is directly responsible for investment governance, objectives, strategy and risk, portfolio construction, manager selection within the agreed delegation matrix, investment implementation and liquidity management.
Prior to joining Qantas Super, Andrew had 23 years’ experience in all aspects of professional money management with leadership roles in investment management and investment consulting. This included 20 years of hands-on portfolio management experience in both Australia and the UK including being sole portfolio manager for MLC’s high conviction, growth strategy with responsibility for over $1.5 billion in assets split between approximately 20 stocks.
Andrew also spent three years at investment consultant Willis Towers Watson with responsibility for key superannuation client relationships, strategic and people management across the investment consulting team, as well as being a decision-making member of the Australian equities manager research team.
Andrew is an independent member of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Investment Committee which he joined in October 2019, as well as a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Andrew was previously an independent member of The University of Sydney’s Investment Committee from August 2010 to November 2020.
Educated at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, Andrew holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Accounting and Finance. He completed Cornell University’s High Performance Leadership certificate in June 2016 and was awarded the prestigious 2017 London School of Economics Executive Education Scholarship.
