ASFA Budget Briefing – Sydney

Mary Delahunty is the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Limited (ASFA).

ASFA is the peak policy, research and advocacy body for Australia’s superannuation industry. It is a not-for-profit, sector-neutral, and non-party political, national organisation. ASFA’s mission is to continuously improve the superannuation system, so all Australians can enjoy a dignified retirement.

Mary joined ASFA in 2024 after founding Seven Advisory, a specialist ESG and impact advisory service to institutional investors developing their social license to deliver long-term value. Prior to that Mary was Head of Impact at HESTA where she played a key role in shaping strategic policies and responsible investment practices to advance member outcomes in the superannuation system. She was also previously an executive with Link Market Services.

Mary is a member of the Pensions & Investment World Pension Summit International Advisory Board and holds several board positions including in the RegTech and education sectors and was a 2015 Churchill Fellow awarded for international research on gender equity in retirement outcomes.

Mary studied Arts at the University of Melbourne, and later completed a Graduate Diploma of Financial Planning and then a Masters of Applied Finance. 

Paul Karp
NSW Political Correspondent, Australian Financial Review

Paul Karp is the NSW Political Correspondent for the Australian Financial Review. Before that he spent four years reporting on industrial relations at Thomson Reuters, and nine years in the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery at Guardian Australia, including as Chief Political Correspondent.

Shane Oliver
Head of Investment Strategy and Chief Economist, AMP

Shane Oliver joined AMP in 1984, becoming Chief Economist in 1994 and is now Chief Economist and Head of Investment Strategy of AMP. Shane has extensive experience analysing economic and investment cycles and what current positioning means for the return potential for different asset classes such as shares, bonds, property and infrastructure. Shane is a regular media commentator on economic and investment market issues and engages regularly with investors at public events and forums.

Shane is Head of the Investment Strategy and Economics team, responsible for the provision of economic and macro investment analysis which is applied across AMP’s multi-asset funds.

Shane has a PhD in economics which focussed on the validly of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (it isn't) and asset price bubbles (there are). Apart from economics and macro investing, Shane enjoys boating, garden rearrangement, fantasy novels and pop music (particularly Elvis, Burt Bacharach, the Beach Boys, the Pet Shop Boys, Kylie, Katy and Taylor) and is married with two children.