Spotlight on Retirement

Hazel Bateman
Professor, UNSW Business School; Director, UniSuper

Hazel Bateman is a Professor of Pension Economics and Finance in the School of Risk & Actuarial Studies, UNSW Business School. Between 2017 and 2024 she was Deputy Director of CEPAR – the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research. Hazel’s research interests focus on consumer financial decision making especially as it relates to retirement accumulation and decumulation. Her current research investigates the demand for retirement income products, aged care financing and home equity release. She is the author of over 130 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and reports and has consulted on retirement income issues to international organisations including the OECD and the World Bank. She is the Chair of Netspar’s Scientific Council and President of the International Pension Research Association (IPRA). She also serves on the Advisory Boards of the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index and the Conexus Institute. In 2024 she was appointed to the Board of UniSuper and currently serves on the Member Services Committee.

Shaun Bransdon
General Manager, Retirement & Wealth, TAL

Shaun has over 16 years’ experience across investment platforms, superannuation and life investment products at TAL and the Macquarie Group. In his current role, Shaun leads a team of product, investment and operational specialists who develop and deliver retirement income solutions to Australian superannuation funds. He also leads the teams responsible for managing and growing TAL’s wealth partnerships.

Ross Clare
Head of Research, ASFA

In this role Ross has been responsible for preparation of research papers across a range of superannuation and retirement income issues, including adequacy of retirement income and the structure of the Australian retirement income system. 

He is responsible, amongst other things, for the development and maintenance of the ASFA Retirement Standard, which is now very commonly used.

Prior to joining the staff of ASFA he held senior positions with the Australian Treasury and an Australian Government research agency, the Economic Planning Advisory Commission.

Ross has degrees in Economics and Law from the Australian National University. 

Andrew Dadswell
Senior Specialist - Moneysmart, Australian Securities and Investments Commission

Andrew has worked in the field of financial education for over 20 years in the private and public sectors. Andrew’s experience is across all aspects of ASIC’s financial education initiatives, including communications, research, digital and strategy.

Andrew leads ASIC’s Moneysmart Program team which is responsible for the recent Super in Retirement campaign.

Angela Hartl
Retirement Income Consulting Leader, Mercer

Angie is a Principal and Retirement Income Consulting leader at Mercer Consulting and a qualified Actuary based in Sydney. She specialises in helping trustees enhance member outcomes during the retirement phase and frequently speaks at retirement conferences while publishing thought leadership pieces. Alongside her retirement-focused work, she is also a defined benefit Actuary. With over 25 years of experience at Mercer, her international career spans both the United Kingdom and Australia.

Emma Higgs
Special Counsel, Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Emma is an experienced superannuation and life insurance lawyer, bringing a combination of deep technical expertise and international pensions experience to her practice. She advises superannuation fund trustees, life insurers, employers and industry service providers on complex transactional, regulatory, disputes and governance matters. Emma’s practice includes advising on fund mergers, scheme restructures, retirement income strategies, life insurance arrangements and regulatory compliance. She serves as a member of the Victorian Committee of Women in Super.

Ben Hillier
Director, Retirement, AMP

Bachelor of Commerce with majors in Politics and Public Policy, Marketing, and Organisational Psychology

Ben Hillier, joined the fund in 2021. He has 16 years’ experience in every sector of superannuation, with prior roles at ANZ (corporate and SAFs), Super Concepts (SMSFs), Sunsuper (multi-industry fund) and QSuper (public sector).

Prior to working within superannuation, Ben worked in the banking, property and energy sectors with a focus on innovation and product development.

Ben has been at the forefront of innovation in superannuation, having led the following initiatives:

- First fund to be awarded a MySuper authorisation (Sunsuper)
- First fund to offer a retirement bonus (Sunsuper)
- First fund to offer an Innovative Retirement Income Stream (QSuper)
- First fund to offer complete investment choice in a lifetime income stream (North)
- First fund to offer deferred lifetime income in accumulation phase (North)
- First fund to default members into a deferred lifetime income stream (AMP)

Erica Hobson
Product and Technical Manager, Retirement Solutions, Generation Life

Erica joined Generation Life in October 2020, as part of the team to bring Generation Life’s LifeIncome - an innovative investment-linked lifetime annuity, to market.

Erica has over 20 years’ experience in the superannuation industry as a technical specialist in legislative and product development, product management and strategic leadership roles.

Peter Hogg
General Manager, Guidance & Advice, Aware Super

Peter Hogg is a highly experienced financial adviser and advice executive with more than two decades in the financial services industry. He currently serves as Aware Super’s General Manager, Guidance and Advice, focusing on the delivery of high quality advice to members and creating innovative approaches to delivering high-quality advice at scale.

Peter has worked extensively with Australians approaching or transitioning into retirement, helping them understand their options around income, superannuation, work, and lifestyle choices. He is a strong advocate for affordable and accessible financial advice and believes good advice should be available when it matters most, not just to a select few.

Ashton Jones
Director of Retirement Innovation, MLC

Ashton has nearly 20 years of experience in financial services spanning the full wealth management product lifecycle. He is a leading voice in the retirement industry and is passionate about getting Australians excited about and engaged with their wealth and retirement savings, leading to a more dignified retirement. After 8 years at TAL Australia as a General Manager where he launched several new retirement propositions, he joined Insignia Financial at the end of 2024 and is now leading its retirement strategy and customer innovation. Ashton is a qualified chartered accountant and was awarded the FSC Young Achiever Award in 2018.

Hari Hara Priya Kannan
Data Scientist, Demographer & Speaker

Hari Haran is Chief Data Scientist at The Demographics Group and the analytical force behind the data-rich columns of Bernard Salt and Simon Kuestenmacher. A master of data science (RMIT University), Hari writes a monthly column for The Australian and is a sought-after speaker, delivering keynote presentations and panel appearances across Australia.

She engages audiences with expert insights on housing, migration, international education, ageing, regional opportunities, workforce change, and the rise of AI and digital skills. Hari prepares bespoke, data-driven presentations, translating complex trends into clear, actionable take-outs. A trusted media commentator, she appears regularly on podcasts, radio, and national TV, and is occasionally commissioned to produce data-based thought leadership for client publications.

Natalie Kim
Head of Structured Solutions, Hannover Re

Natalie Kim is Head of Structured Solutions at Hannover Re and a qualified actuary
with over a decade of experience. She specialises in developing innovative retirement
solutions and delivering tailored risk management strategies for clients across
Australia and New Zealand.

Gary Wood
Head of Advice Delivery & Digital, UniSuper

In this role, James works with BlackRock’s partners and clients across the Australasian region to lead the development and delivery of retirement solutions. These solutions incorporate the firm’s global investment management and technology platforms, alongside BlackRock’s proprietary research and insights. They include BlackRock's lifecycle and decumulation investment strategies, retirement-focused and risk-based model portfolios and managed accounts, educational programs, business consulting and insights and a suite of digital services and tools powered by Aladdin.

Prior to his current role, James led a team focused on delivering BlackRock’s solutions and insights to Wealth businesses in Australasia, including Aladdin Wealth, Digital Solutions, and Practice Management consulting. He has also served as Head of iShares in Australia and Head of BlackRock's APAC Portfolio Consulting team. Before relocating to Australia, James was a senior member of BlackRock’s EMEA Portfolio Consulting team in London. His earlier experience includes roles in ETF Strategy at Credit Suisse and Fund Derivative Structuring at the Royal Bank of Scotland/ABN AMRO.

James holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Mathematics and Physics with Astrophysics from King's College London, and an M.Sc. in Astrophysics from University College London, where he specialised in Theoretical Cosmology and Quantum Mechanics.

James Koval
Chief Policy & Advocacy Officer, ASFA

James joined the ASFA team in 2024 to lead policy, research and advocacy. James brings over a decade of public policy experience working for government, peak-body organisations, and other key policy and strategic roles.  

ASFA is the peak policy, research and advocacy body for Australia’s superannuation sector, and the role of James’ team is to advocate for efficiency, sustainability and trust in Australia’s world-class retirement income system and to ensure all Australians are able to enjoy a dignified retirement. 

Prior to joining ASFA, James has worked as a government engagement specialist in the Vice-Chancellor’s office at the University of Sydney and prior to that worked in various roles across government, including for treasurers, government leaders, and senior cabinet ministers.

James holds qualifications from the Australian National University and has undertaken further learning with the London School of Economics and the University of Sydney. 

Aaron Minney
Head of Retirement Income Research, Challenger

Aaron is the Head of Retirement Income for Challenger where he is responsible for research and advocacy for retirement income for Australian retirees. For 14 years he has been researching ways to generate income from investments in retirement. He has worked with super funds on developing retirement solutions, has published academic research in the area and is a sought-after spokesperson on retirement income.

Aaron has 30 years’ experience as an investment strategist and researcher, across a wide range of asset classes. Prior to Challenger, Aaron has held roles managing investment portfolios, led investment product innovations, and worked with clients to develop bespoke investment solutions.

Aaron is also an Honorary Fellow at the Macquarie Business School’s Applied Finance Centre where he is an adjunct lecturer in Advanced Investment Management.

Hon. Dr. Daniel Mulino MP
Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Financial Services

Born in Brindisi, Italy, Daniel was a young child when he moved with his family to Australia. He grew up in Canberra and completed his first degrees – arts and law – at the ANU. He then completed a Master of Economics (University of Sydney) and a PhD in economics from Yale.

He lectured at Monash University, was an economic adviser in the Gillard government and was a Victorian MP from 2014 to 2018. As Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer of Victoria, Daniel helped deliver major infrastructure projects and developed innovative financing structures for community projects.

In 2018 he was preselected for the new federal seat of Fraser and became its first MP at the 2019 election, re-elected in 2022 and 2025. From 2022 to 2025, Daniel was chair of the House of Representatives’ Standing Economics Committee in which he chaired inquiries; economic dynamism, competition and business formation and insurers’ responses to 2022 major floods claims.

In 2025, he became the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services.

In August 2022, Daniel published ‘Safety Net: The Future of Welfare in Australia’, which aims to explore the ways in which an insurance approach can improve the effectiveness of government service delivery.

<bKatherine Salih
Senior Manager, Retirement Proposition, AustralianSuper

Katherine Salih is the Senior Manager, Retirement Proposition at AustralianSuper, where she is responsible for shaping the Fund’s strategic approach to retirement. This includes defining and enhancing the proposition to members, ensuring an integrated, member centric approach through the development of retirement pathways that support members to and through retirement.

She joined the Fund in 2018 and has held senior roles in corporate strategy and public policy, with a focus on retirement strategy and advocacy. Prior to AustralianSuper, she held roles in financial services regulation in the UK, and in economics and policy across government and industry in Australia. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Adelaide and an MBA from Melbourne Business School

Rayna Wiggenhauser
Actuary, Global Longevity Reinsurance, Hannover Re

Rayna Wiggenhauser is part of the Global Longevity Department at Hannover Re based in Germany, where she brings several years of experience in Australian longevity market.
She specializes in developing innovative longevity risk transfer solutions for individual annuities worldwide, with particular expertise in investment-linked products.
Rayna holds a degree in Financial Mathematics and is an Associate of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA).

Matt Willis
EGM Growth, HUB24

Matt Willis leads HUB24’s platform growth team, which includes retail distribution, key account management, private wealth and broker, strategic sales, and sales enablement. In his role, Matt works alongside product, operations, and marketing teams to continue delivering innovative products and solutions that enable financial professionals to provide accessible advice to more Australians. Matt has over 20 years of experience in financial services, including previous leaderships roles at Vanguard Australia and Aware Super.

Gary Wood
Head of Advice Delivery & Digital, UniSuper

Gary has spent more than 20 years in wealth management, spanning advice strategy, service design and how it all gets delivered. Originally trained as an educator, he brings a strong bias for clarity and practical application to the way he works. He believes advice should make a difference for everyone, so his focus is on making advice more accessible, removing friction from the advice process, and building systems that deliver high-quality advice at scale.