Technology, agility, and communication

14 min read
14 min read

It’s just over three months since Australia’s borders were closed, but in that time, what started as a health crisis has morphed into an economic and social crisis on a scale we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. According to the IMF, just as 75 per cent of countries are reopening, the pandemic is intensifying in developing countries. In the absence of a medical solution, it predicts a deeper than expected recession in 2020, and a slower recovery in 2021. Global output is projected to decline by almost 5 per cent this year and 95 per cent of countries are predicted to have negative per capita growth).

Looking forward, the news isn’t much better. The global nature of the crisis is hampering recovery prospects for export-dependent economies, and geopolitical and trade tensions could damage global relationships at the same time as trade is projected to collapse by around 12 per cent.

If there is good news, it’s that Australia’s response to the pandemic has been among the most successful in the world – our health response has kept the spread down, and a massive government stimulus program, including JobKeeper, JobSeeker and early access to super, has kept our economy ticking over.

Our superannuation system has played an important role in Australia’s economic response. This put unprecedented pressure on funds as they implemented the early access to super while at the same time operating at full capacity, moving staff and call centres out of the office, and managing member outcomes and concerns as investment portfolios fell in line with chaotic, volatile financial markets.

The speed with which the pandemic hit gave the funds very little time to debate the sweeping changes. Within a week many “non-essential businesses” were closed, employees who could were working from home, and businesses were facing decisions not only about how to operate on a day-to-day basis, but how to lead their employees and their organisations through the crisis.

Our focus this month is on funds’ use of innovation and technology, and next month, in Part 2, we will look at leadership, the role of the executive team, their focus and initiatives during the pandemic. With both topics in mind, we interviewed senior executives from eight of our member funds to ask how they have innovated and used technology in response to COVID-19.

Our aim is to identify similarities and differences in responses, to highlight game changing moments – and to share these insights with our members. For most funds, the reality was that the pandemic did not fundamentally change their business strategy, but it did accelerate a strategy check-up and change some of the processes and rhythms. In many ways, this boiled down to a concept that First State Super termed “Emerging Stronger”; using the data on what worked to turn the pre-pandemic office into the flexible, digital, workplace of the future.

The same, but different

On one level, COVID-19 has affected every fund in the same way, so to some extent every fund has had the same experience. We found there were many similarities in the way funds responded. Conversely, there were also marked differences; some linked to the fund’s purpose, its vision and DNA, and some to the differences in the make-up of members, and their specific requirements.

Three themes emerged from conversations with super funds:

  • Technology
  • Agility
  • Communication

Technology and rapid change

Every fund spoke of their reliance on technology during this time; not just administration and operations, but the BAU use of technology by all employees. They all spoke of their concerns when the pandemic hit: How well would their technology stand up to the challenge? And how would it respond to the need for more communication – with members, but also between team members and leadership? At any time of crisis, regular, transparent communication is essential, but how much is lost when face-to-face communication becomes Zoom?

First State Super found that technology enabled the business to work from home while continuing to service its members. However, what was lost was the “instant bump” meetings of being physically together as interactions moved into the virtual world, said group executive for finance, strategy & transformation, Tim Elliott

“With all interactions via a virtual meeting now, I miss the quick in person problem solutioning to resolution from being in the office. With a solid diary of virtual meetings, the work day has expanded, which really puts managing time closely into focus,” said Elliott.

The upside, Elliott said, is that productivity improved even in the face of massively increased call volumes and the necessity of moving the 100 members of the service centre to work from home, where they were expected to work as a team from vastly different locations, in the space of two weeks. The business rhythm changed, for the better. Gone were the three to four-hour management meetings usually held at the beginning of the week. As the executive team embraced a true agile approach, these became a brief outline from each executive of his/her top three crucial actions for the week, followed by an update on progress and any stumbling blocks, at the end of the week. In Elliott’s words, “we hit, sprint and report back. We’re always on topic”.

Cbus chief technology and digital officer, Rob Pickering, spoke of the challenges of moving from a partial legacy system to a cloud-based contact centre overnight. It was the ultimate stress test for the technology, and a very quick way of finding out if a new platform worked, but also the impetus to develop new ways of responding to huge volumes of inbound calls. At a time when markets were in chaos, member questions naturally rose (everyone said this) and a focus on member outcomes became crucial. In the case of Cbus, this meant creating a more sophisticated chat bot to deal with the standard questions, so that complex questions could be dealt with by humans.

“We historically had a legacy telephony platform that was partially in the cloud but we weren’t confident that we would be able to handle the kind of volumes we were talking about at the quality levels we needed for staff working from home. Also, it didn’t have the capability to quickly turn on additional channel capability like chat and chat bots which we considered important as an alternate way for our members to communicate with us. We knew that the work to get the legacy platform operating the way that we might want it to was probably going to be more than the work to build up a new platform on the cloud infrastructure we had available to us and so we took a decision with the business to make that change and to scale up really quickly. So we launched it in under a week, and we’ve been running on that really successfully for the last twelve weeks”, Rob Pickering, Cbus

Tim Elliott from First State Super acknowledged that the extra pressure on call centres did cause a drop in service standards – but within acceptable limits, given that the leaderships team’s focus was on making sure that the operators in the call centre were ready to receive calls, and had the information they needed to answer questions.

We put a lot of effort into ensuring that the service centre were set up to help members so that we were providing the right messages to members about the impact of withdrawing from Super early but also helping members in need by having the process in place to ensure they were receiving the payments.
Tim Elliott, First State Super

One thing all funds agreed on was the importance of controlling the touch points with members – not doing everything but looking carefully at, and focusing on, what you do well.

At Sunsuper, for example, the fact
that administration is managed inhouse gave the team scope to create daily reports based on member questions across different dimensions: general statistics, demographic breakdowns and how members were using the technology and their experience of that. It also meant that significant changes could be implemented within 24 hours.

But it wasn’t only funds with in-house administration who were able to act quickly. Although some mentioned hiccups with external administrators delivering the ‘frictionless inbound customer experience’ they were looking for, increased pressure allowed funds to identify weaknesses in administrators and other service providers, which they said will help them pick and choose in the future, according to skill and area of expertise.

Another interesting point to emerge from the increased use of technology was that it highlighted differences in the way we talk about flexible work practices, and the unspoken reality of what is expected. According to chief strategy & impact officer at Sunsuper, Teifi Whatley, there are unwritten rules about how we work. She gave the example of the inconsistency between offering flexibility but still expecting that employees need to be officebound to attend meetings in meeting rooms. For Teifi, the challenge going forward will be to embrace real flexibility, acknowledge the gaps in words compared with practice and to make sure real flexibility is embedded in workplace process.

Agility and a speedy response

“We haven’t changed our strategy – but we’ve changed how we deliver our strategy”, Lisa Samuels, Chief Experience Officer, HESTA

Every fund, without exception, spoke of the need to move quickly and the necessity of agility and real-time responses. Speed was of the essence in getting administration and day-to-day operations up and running, with the use of technology, but it was also crucial in terms of strategy and communication. Lisa Samuels from HESTA highlighted a common theme when she said that HESTA had just finished building a new online member platform when the pandemic hit, “which meant that we could update the platform within 24 hours as the situation evolved.”

From a member outcome perspective, recognising that strategies or initiatives that needed to be changed due to changing circumstances is key. One of HESTA’s key areas of focus is helping members build financial confidence. This often means campaigning, and helping educate members about taking action to improve their retirement outcomes, for example by increasing contributions.

All of this had to change overnight, because as Lisa Samuels said, “we can’t be trying to talk to members about making contributions if they are facing financial hardship and are needing to access their super. We needed to reassess our normal program of communications and plot a new course. This didn’t mean stopping all communication – it meant tailoring the message to members’ new concerns and reality.”

For Phil Stockwell from Local Government Super, the main challenge was speed of response. Part of the solution was giving the team the confidence to believe they can do what is needed, because “yesterday’s answer may not be tomorrow’s answer, and the team need to be ok with that.”

The main challenge was speed of response – increasing the frequency of communication to members and staff, while at the same time, implementing a new mix of communication channels like webinars, social media, phone consultations, as well the traditional channels such as website, emails, and letters to some members.
Phil Stockwell, LGS

Again, administrators were called out for their speedy response. Alexander Hutchison, CEO for EISS Super, acknowledged the pressure their administrators were under, and the fact that they didn’t break should be commended because of it.

At the end of the day, account-based pensions were paid, contributions were still processed, the early release payment was dealt with, in no way did the system fall over.
Alexander Hutchison, EISS Super

The bottom line for Phil Stockwell, as for so many we spoke to was that funds need to be able to emulate the kind of speed and agility we usually associate with technology and innovation companies.

The pandemic has accelerated the pace of change for us, as for many others. We were already thinking about the future quite deeply and this has accelerated that – it hasn’t changed our strategy, but it has changed the emphasis.

Communicate, communicate, communicate

The intersection of technology and communication

“So often, digital environments are about doing things quickly and efficiently, but I think it needs to be more than that. We focus on making an emotional connection and ensuring our members feel supported, even if we’re operating virtually,” Lisa Samuels, HESTA

One of the biggest challenges for funds was that at the very moment members needed increased support, more education and more communication, call centres and staff members were being sent home, operating differently and sometimes with new technology. While challenging, keeping connections was key. According to Rob Pickering, the importance of owning the touch points with members has always been understood, but COVID-19 sped up the process, by helping funds see the true value of an in-depth understanding of member pain points, and what they need to get right.

There were marked differences in the way different funds communicated – largely in line with their different member bases. For Sunsuper, which had more early access applications than some other funds, the importance of communication about how that was going to work, combined with the speed of transaction and the agility with which they responded to increased demand was key to success.

Teifi Whatley told us that rather than following usual recruitment processes “we reached out to our own staff to ask who they knew, whether they had family or friends who had been negatively impacted, who would be able to join the team for a period of time and be trained,” and took on 65 additional staff in this way.

Necessity really is the mother of invention. HESTA found a novel way of bolstering the teams which needed help from within the organisation. The initiative was called HESTA Tasker, loosely based on Air tasker, so that teams under pressure went out to the business to ask for help from others so that resources could be re-allocated internally.

Some teams were under a lot of pressure responding to COVID. For example, the administration team who were working with Link on early release payments, needed more people for their team. So, it was about saying, we need these skills and then identifying where in the business people with complementary skills could support and relieve some of the pressure.
Lisa Samuels, HESTA

Conclusion

In the end, there were more similarities than differences in funds’ responses to COVID-19. All spoke of the importance of technology, and the need for an innovation mindset at a time when usual work rhythms and processes were interrupted overnight. All fund leaders spoke of their overwhelming respect and praise for their teams, all of which juggled moving offsite with an increased workload – and made it all work.

If there were differences, they were reflective of funds’ member bases; all funds used data to gather insights about their members’ needs, and to use those insights to inform their decisions and communication strategy. Ultimately, it was concept of acceleration which really stood out. Most said that while their overarching business strategy had not changed as a result of the pandemic, the speed at which they are implementing change has. If there’s a positive from the bruising expe
rience of the past three months, it’s the clarity which working under sustained pressure has provided – about strategy, processes and rhythms. Funds share a great sense of hope that the learnings will be used to create a more flexible, streamlined and efficient business going forward.

Featured in this editorial:

  • Alexander Hutchison, CEO, EISS Super
  • Teifi Whatley, chief strategy & impact officer, Sunsuper
  • Tim Elliot, group executive finance, strategy and transformation and chief financial officer, First State Super
  • Phil Stockwell, CEO Local Government Super
  • Rob Pickering, chief technology and digital officer, Cbus
  • Lisa Samuels, chief experience officer, HESTA
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Sinem Kalenderoglu

Marketing Manager - Brand & Content, Rest

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

As a Brand and Content Manager, Sinem has built her career working across brand campaigns, social media strategy and cross-channel storytelling.

Working at the intersection of technology and creative innovation, she’s crafted her skill of turning complex brand concepts into engaging social narratives that connect and resonate with member experiences.

Specialising in superannuation, she’s passionate about exploring how brand storytelling through social media can converge to drive meaningful audience connection.

Gemma Kyle

Chief Risk Officer, Rest

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Gemma was appointed as Chief Risk Officer in November 2018 and leads the Enterprise Risk function which includes investment risk, operational risk, business resilience, financial crime, compliance and regulatory engagement.

Gemma has over 25 years’ experience in risk management and governance across multiple industries including government, engineering and financial services. She is known for her ability to drive organisational change and achieve business objectives in complex and dynamic environments. Prior to joining Rest, Gemma held senior positions at MLC Life Insurance, MLC Wealth, Parsons Brinkerhoff and Federal Treasury. She is a Director on the Board of the Fund Executives Association Limited. Gemma holds a Master of Arts from the Australian National University, a Bachelor of Economics, Social Science (First Class Honours) from the University of Sydney and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Adrian C

Director, Partnership Program, QLD and NT, Australian Signals Directorate (ASD)

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Adrian C works in the Australian Signals Directorate and is the Director of ASD’s Cyber Security Partnership Program.

He has worked in various roles in the National Intelligence Community for the last 16 years including geospatial intelligence, intelligence support to Australian Defence Force Military Operations and writing core components of the Comprehensive Review – legal framework of the National Intelligence Community. 

Adrian transferred to Australian Signals Directorate in 2021 and was responsible for the section that develops and publishes ASD’s technical publications and guidelines.

He moved from Canberra to Brisbane in January 2023 to commence his current role within Australian Signals Directorate.

Kate Farrar

Chief Executive Officer, Brighter Super

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Kate Farrar is the Chief Executive Officer of Brighter Super, where she has led the fund’s transformation from a $10 billion Queensland public-sector fund into a $35 billion success story with more than 280,000 members.

Since her appointment as CEO in April 2018, Kate has overseen the merger of LGIAsuper and Energy Super and the acquisition of Suncorp Super—the first industry fund acquisition of a retail fund. This integration, completed 18 months ahead of schedule, delivered a 40% reduction in administration fees for members while expanding services across Queensland.

Under Kate’s leadership, Brighter Super has become one of the fastest-growing industry funds in Australia, recognised for both its operational sustainability and member-first approach. In acknowledgment of these achievements, she was awarded the Fund Executive of the Year Award by the Fund Executives Association Ltd (FEAL) in 2024.

Kate brings 35 years of leadership experience across finance and energy, including senior roles at Barclays de Zoete Wedd, Suncorp Investment Management, NSW Treasury Corporation, McKinsey & Company, and Ergon Energy.

Beyond her role at Brighter Super, Kate serves as a Non-Executive Director of ASX100-listed Seven Group Holdings and is the President of the Queensland Futures Institute.

She holds a Bachelor of Music (Honours) and a Master’s Degree in Econometrics and Finance. Through a scholarship from Chief Executive Women, she is also a graduate of INSEAD’s Advanced Management Programme. In 2025, following her FEAL award education grant, Kate completed the Stanford Graduate School of Business program, People, Culture, and Performance: Strategies from Silicon Valley.

Joseph Mitchell

Assistant Secretary, ACTU

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As ACTU Assistant Secretary, Joseph is passionate about winning a better future for working people and growing the union movement.  

Joseph has a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Arts from Australian National University and a Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance from the University of NSW.  

Joseph Mitchell is a trustee director of TelstraSuper.

Vasyl Nair

Group Chief Executive Officer, Team Super

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

The Team Superannuation Fund (Team Super) is a profit-to-members, public offer pension fund dedicated to serving the retirement needs of all Australians. Team Super manages over $22 billion in funds for approximately 150,000 members.

Vasyl Nair is the Chief Executive Officer of Team Super (prior to this, Vasyl held the roles of Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Chief Risk Officer and Chief Strategy Officer).

Vasyl is a keen advocate for the ongoing development of the superannuation sector, with active participation in a number of different parts of the industry. He has served as a director of an Australian fintech organisation, specialising in superannuation and investment administration.

Vasyl was appointed to the Board of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) as Director in January 2025, the peak pension fund association in Australia.

Vasyl has a strong background in law, corporate finance and strategy, having held senior roles across at some of Australia’s largest financial services institutions. Vasyl holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hon), Bachelor of Commerce, Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice and an Executive Master of Business Administration. He is admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW as a solicitor, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has achieved a Certificate of Business Excellence from the Haas School of Business, U.C.
Berkeley.

Kristian Fok

Chief Executive Officer, Cbus Super

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Kristian Fok is the CEO of Cbus Super, Australia’s leading specialist superannuation fund for the building and construction sector. Cbus was founded 40 years ago and provides superannuation and income streams to more than 925,000 members and manages over $105 billion of members’ money (as of 30 June 2025). He is responsible for all aspects of Cbus and reports directly to the Board.

Prior to his appointment in June 2023, Kristian Fok served as the Fund’s Chief Investment Officer (CIO) for 10 years. Cbus is a significant, long-term investor in the Australian economy and the Fund invests back into our members’ industries both directly and indirectly and via unique vehicles such as our wholly owned entity, Cbus Property.  

As CIO, Kristian was responsible for leading the Cbus investment strategy, this included evaluating opportunities that provide returns to members over the long term, managing investment governance and risk and monitoring the portfolio. Kristian led the development and implementation of Cbus’ hybrid internalisation strategy, which has proven successful in driving strong returns and delivering total cumulative fee and costs savings for members of over $730 million. 

Kristian is Chair of the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute (ASFI) and serves on the Board of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI). Kristian’s qualifications include Bachelor of Commerce, Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries Australia and Fellow of FINSIA.  

Kevin Fernandez

General Manager, Market Strategy & Propositions, Novigi

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Kevin has long played a central role in shaping and driving strategic initiatives across the superannuation and wealth management sectors. With deep expertise in data strategy and a passion for AI, Kevin leads the development of forward-thinking solutions – ranging from strategic partnerships to managed services – that address evolving client needs.  

A recognised thought leader, Kevin is known for leveraging data-driven insights to deliver sustainable value. His leadership is central to Novigi’s market positioning, helping to define the company’s growth strategy in an increasingly complex and dynamic financial landscape.  

Vicki Doyle

Chief Executive Officer, Rest

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

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. Vicki 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.

Louise Davidson, AM

Chief Executive Officer, Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI)

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Louise Davidson has spent her career with a focus on building long-term value for the millions of beneficiaries of Australian superannuation funds. Most recently this has included elevating the importance of environmental, social and governance factors in managing material financial risk in super fund investment portfolios. 

As CEO of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) since 2015, Louise oversees ACSI’s program of company engagement, research and policy advocacy, backed by 30 years of senior experience in the financial services and ESG sectors. Her tenure as ACSI CEO has seen significant improvements in the way listed companies manage important issues including boardroom diversity, climate risk and human rights.  

Prior to being appointed ACSI CEO, she was Investment Manager, ESG at Cbus superannuation fund 

Louise is the co-founder of the Mother’s Day Classic, which has raised over $50 million for breast and ovarian cancer research since 1998. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2019 for her significant service to the superannuation sector and to breast cancer research.  

She is a director of Chief Executive Women, deputy chair of the Federated Hermes Client Advisory Board, and a former director of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the International Integrated Reporting Initiative and former chair and director of the Mother’s Day Classic Foundation. 

Peter Chun

Chief Executive Officer, UniSuper

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Peter Chun joined UniSuper as the Chief Executive Officer in September 2021, bringing more than 30 years’ experience in financial services.

UniSuper is one of Australia’s largest super funds with more than 700,000 members and over $155 billion in funds under management (as at 30 June 2025).

As CEO, Peter is responsible for developing, leading, and implementing corporate strategy and culture. He is also accountable for the overall services and operational management of UniSuper Management nationally.

Prior to joining UniSuper, Peter held senior executive roles at Aware Super, Colonial First State and Credit Suisse.

Peter is a qualified Actuary with a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University. He holds Graduate Diplomas in Applied Finance and Investments and Financial Planning from the Securities Institute of Australia; and has undertaken the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School (Boston, USA).

Peter is a Director of Diversity Council Australia, a Member of the ASFA CEO Advisory Committee and the Australian Chamber Orchestra Finance Audit & Risk Committee.

Eoin Burke

Head of Financial Crimes, MUFG Retirement Solutions

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Eoin Burke is the Head of Financial Crimes, MUFG Retirement Solutions, a division of MUFG Pension & Market Services (MPMS), with over 20 years of experience in financial crime prevention, compliance, and data analytics. 

He has held senior leadership roles across APAC and EMEA, and plays a critical role in protecting the organisation from financial threats, responsible for safeguarding the data and monetary assets of over 20 million accounts. His remit includes fraud and scam prevention, AML/CTF compliance and reporting, regulator and law enforcement engagement, training and awareness, and driving innovation in protective technologies. He also developed ‘ALERT’, MPMS’s internal fraud analytics capability, which now protects over 10.5 million member accounts daily and has prevented more than $150 million in financial crime. 

A recognised industry leader, Eoin regularly speaks at major forums including the Financial Crimes and Cyber Security Forum and the AUSTRAC Symposium, sharing insights on emerging risks and best practices in financial crime prevention. His strategic direction continues to strengthen MPMS’s defences and reinforce its commitment to integrity and security. 

John Livanas

Chief Executive Officer, State Super

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Mr Livanas leads a team of experienced senior executives in managing the provision of member services and the investment of approximately $38 billion of assets (as at 30 June 2025).

Mr Livanas has over 30 years’ industry experience, having worked in organisations including Deloitte South Africa, the South African Government Employees Pension Fund – the precursor to the country’s sovereign fund – and several Australian superannuation funds.

Prior to his appointment in October 2011, Mr Livanas was the Chief Executive Officer of AMIST Super (2008–11) and the General Manager of FuturePlus Financial Services (2002–08). He was a Director of ISPT and ISPT Grosvenor International Property Trust from 2010–12 and in August 2013 was appointed to the Board of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors.

Mr Livanas holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and an MBA from the University of Witwatersrand and a Graduate Diploma of Finance and Investments from the Financial Services Institute of Australia. He is an ASFA-accredited Investment Fiduciary and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Debby Blakey

Chief Executive Officer, HESTA

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Debby Blakey, GAICD, is the CEO of HESTA, Australia’s $96 billion superannuation fund for health and community services workers. With over 30 years’ experience in the superannuation and financial services sectors, she holds qualifications in Mathematics, Computer Science, Financial Advice, Governance, Pension Fund Design and Sustainability.

Debby’s leadership is characterised by a ‘people-first’ approach, focusing on enhancing member experiences and financial outcomes while also ensuring operational rigour and excellence. She is a strong advocate for innovation and transformation within the superannuation industry.

Debby is the President of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), a Director of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) and is the founding Chair of the 40:40 Vision initiative – promoting gender equality at executive and Board level in ASX300 companies.

Under Debby’s leadership, HESTA has been called the ‘corporate conscience of Australia’ for its commitment to strong governance, environmental management and gender equality.

Cath Bowtell

Chair, IFM Investors

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Cath is the Chair of IFM Investors; Industry Super Holdings (ISH); and the Federal Government’s Jobs & Skills Ministerial Advisory Board.   

She is a Director of Industry Fund Services (IFS) and of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation. 

Cath has worked for many years in senior roles in both the superannuation industry and union movement. She was the Chief Executive of IFS and Chief Executive of the Australian Government Employees Superannuation Trust (AGEST) from 2010 until its merger with AustralianSuper in 2013.

Prior to this, Cath was a Senior Industrial Officer at the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). She has held a number of directorships and committee positions throughout her career, including Director of AustralianSuper, Director of AGEST Super and Director of Ausgrid.

Natalie Previtera

Chief Executive Officer, NGS Super

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Natalie is the Chief Executive Officer of NGS Super.  

With a career grounded in governance, legal, and strategic leadership, Natalie brings a forward-thinking and purpose driven approach to superannuation. She is responsible for steering the fund through a dynamic regulatory landscape, ensuring operational excellence, and delivering long-term value to members.

Natalie also served as Chief Risk and Governance officer having deep institutional knowledge and a strong track record in executive oversight and regulatory engagement.

She is known for her collaborative leadership style and her ability to drive transformation while maintaining a strong member-first ethos.

Prior to joining NGS in 2019 Natalie held senior governance roles at AMP, Suncorp and Perpetual.  

Laura Catterick

Director, Resilience & Cyber, UK Finance

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Laura Catterick is the Director of Resilience & Cyber at UK Finance, which is the collective voice for the UK banking and finance industry, representing over 300 firms and supporting members in their efforts to build more resilient firms and a more resilient financial sector.

Within UK Finance, Laura works closely with industry leaders, government, and regulators, influencing policy on operational resilience and cybersecurity at a national level. UK Finance also co-chairs CMORG (Cross Market Operational Resilience Group) to deliver collaborative resilience initiatives that address systemic risks.

Laura is a Chartered Professional Accountant from Canada with extensive experience in risk, regulatory compliance, cyber security, operational resilience, and large-scale transformation. She has held senior executive roles within highly regulated sectors, including roles across all three lines of defence within Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Lloyds Banking Group, and Mastercard.

Josh Cross

Chief Operating Officer, SS&C Technologies

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Josh Cross brings over 30 years of experience in Technology, Operations, Delivery and Transformation within the Australian Financial Services industry. His expertise spans Trade Finance, Institutional and Corporate Lending, Consumer Lending, Share Trading, Insurance and Superannuation.

Josh joined SS&C in July 2025 through a lift-out from Insignia Financial – one of Australia’s largest Superannuation and Investment providers, known for its growth through large-scale acquisitions and technology separations from major Australian banks.

In his current role, Josh leads the SS&C  Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) function, which delivers technology, operations, and service delivery for more than one million Australian across multiple technology eco-systems, supported by a team of approximately 1300 staff. Over the next three years, Josh will also lead the major transformation of the underlying superannuation platforms and processes, migrating to SS&C’s Bluedoor ecosystem.

Lt Gen Michelle McGuinness, CSC

National Cyber Security Coordinator, National Office of Cyber Security

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness, CSC was appointed as Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator (the Coordinator) on 26 February 2024.

As the Coordinator, LTGEN McGuinness leads national cyber security policy, the coordination of responses to major cyber incidents, whole of government cyber incident preparedness efforts, and the strengthening of Commonwealth cyber security capability. 

LTGEN McGuinness has served in the Australian Defence Force for 30 years in a range of tactical, operational, and strategic roles in Australia and internationally.

Prior to this appointment, LTGEN McGuinness most recently served as Deputy Director Commonwealth Integration in the United States Defense Intelligence Agency. In this role, she led policy and cultural reform, and technological integration, including interoperability across information technology, systems and data.

Jamie Bonic

Global Head of FX and Commodity Sales, NAB

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Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Jamie Bonic is NAB’s Global Head of FX and Commodity Sales, responsible for several FX-related sales businesses including NAB’s Institutional, Corporate, and Government teams.  Prior to joining NAB, Jamie spent 17 years in London working for JPMorgan as a Managing Director in their Global Markets division, leading sales and trading across Interest Rate and FX products. Jamie holds a Bachelor of Economics from The University of Sydney and is currently based in Sydney.

Katie Miller

Deputy CEO, Regulation, AUSTRAC

Sessions

Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Katie Miller is the Deputy CEO, Regulation, AUSTRAC and has strategic responsibility for AUSTRAC’s regulatory, policy and legal functions. 
Katie has extensive experience exercising regulatory functions and advising regulators at state and federal levels. Katie is a published author on issues involving regulation, law and technology and supports connections between government, practitioners, communities of practice and academia. 

Derek Thompson

Via live link

Best Selling Author, Podcast Host of 'Plain English'

Sessions

Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Few speakers can match Derek Thompson‘s ability to synthesize mega-trends in society, labor, economics, technology, and politics. Put another way: Derek trawls the data sets and does the forecasting and deep reporting necessary to help us better understand how we live, how we vote, how we spend, and how we work.

In his paradigm-shifting #1 New York Times bestseller, Abundance (co-written with Ezra Klein), this award-winning journalist reveals how our policies and culture have pushed us into a world of scarcity (not enough housing, workers, or progress)—and offers a radical new path towards a world where housing is affordable, energy is plentiful, and innovation flourishes across industries.

He shares a compelling vision of a future where we have more than enough for everybody, and a practical, actionable roadmap for how to get there. It starts with taking more risks, building more expansively, and recognizing that we all have the power to create a world of abundance. “Everything’s utopian until it’s reality,” he says.

Carmen Beverley-Smith

Executive Director - Superannuation, Life & Private Health Insurance, APRA

Sessions

Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Carmen joined APRA in March 2023 and holds the role of Executive Director, Life and Private Health Insurance and Superannuation.  

She has had an esteemed career in financial services, spanning over 25 years. She has held diverse leadership roles at Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia, including across risk, transformation and change, product and portfolio development, and sales and service. 

Prior to joining APRA, she held the role of General Manager, Risk Transformation Delivery Integration at Westpac. This involved leading the group-wide implementation of a suite of solutions to uplift risk management capability and develop data, analytics and reporting. 

Carmen leads with a values-driven approach and a particular interest in developing and mentoring talent. 

She holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Accounting, is a certified Chartered Accountant and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

Amy C. Edmondson

Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School

Sessions

Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

Amy C. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of society.

Edmondson has been recognized by the biannual Thinkers50 global ranking of management thinkers since 2011, and most recently was ranked #1 in 2021 and 2023; she also received that organization’s Breakthrough Idea Award in 2019, and Talent Award in 2017.  She studies teaming, psychological safety, and organisational learning, and her articles have been published in numerous academic and management outlets, including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Harvard Business Review and California Management Review. Her 2019 book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation and Growth (Wiley), has been translated into 15 languages. Her prior books – Teaming: How organizations learn, innovate and compete in the knowledge economy (Jossey-Bass, 2012), Teaming to Innovate (Jossey-Bass, 2013) and Extreme Teaming (Emerald, 2017) – explore teamwork in dynamic organisational environments. In Building the future: Big teaming for audacious innovation (Berrett-Koehler, 2016), she examines the challenges and opportunities of teaming across industries to build smart cities. 

Edmondson’s latest book, Right Kind of Wrong (Atria), builds on her prior work on psychological safety and teaming to provide a framework for thinking about, discussing, and practicing the science of failing well. First published in the US and the UK in September, 2023, the book is due to be translated into 24 additional languages, and was selected for the Financial Times and Schroders Best Business Book of the Year award.

Before her academic career, she was Director of Research at Pecos River Learning Centers, where she worked on transformational change in large companies. In the early 1980s, she worked as Chief Engineer for architect/inventor Buckminster Fuller, and her book A Fuller Explanation: The Synergetic Geometry of R. Buckminster Fuller (Birkauser Boston, 1987) clarifies Fuller’s mathematical contributions for a non-technical audience. Edmondson received her PhD in organisational behavior, AM in psychology, and AB in engineering and design from Harvard University.

 

Daniel Mulino MP

Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services

Sessions

Keynote 8 – Navigating the energy transition: opportunities, investor strategies and policy needs

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.