Who’s on the move? May

3 min read
3 min read

AFCA announces new super lead ombudsman

AFCA has announced the appointment of Heather Gray as the lead ombudsman for superannuation, to commence 18 May.
Gray is a highly experienced law firm partner and financial services specialist, whose most recent role was as national superannuation practice leader for Hall & Wilcox. She has also spent more than a decade on the Law Council of Australia’s Superannuation Committee, including a term as its chair.
Gray’s appointment follows the promotion last year of Dr June Smith to the role of deputy chief ombudsman.

State Super announces new board appointment

Lisbeth RasmussenLisbeth Rasmussen has been announced as the newest director on the SAS Trustee Corporation board (State Super), commencing her four-year term in March 2020.
Rasmussen is a senior investment professional with more than 30 years’ experience in managing large, complex funds and has held numerous senior roles including CIO, deputy CIO, head of strategy, investment manager, and group economist in Europe and Australia.
For much of her career, Rasmussen has worked with State Super or its predecessors, before retiring as CIO in 2016.
State Super chair Nicholas Johnson said: “Lisbeth Rasmussen is an outstanding investment industry professional. She has been appointed after an extensive search and competitive selection process in which I was closely involved. I am confident that her proven skills will help State Super maintain its superior investment performance and leading Member service standards even in today’s highly challenging Superannuation environment.”
Lisbeth sits as CIO for the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Corporation. She is also a former director of Equipsuper and Togethr Trustees, which was formed following the joint venture between Equipsuper and Catholic Super.
Rasmussen said: “I feel very privileged to join the Board of State Super. My new role gives me an opportunity to use my experience of investment markets and knowledge of State Super to serve our members and stakeholders to the best of my ability.

legalsuper appoints independent investment expert

Joe Fernandes legalsuperlegalsuper has announced the appointment of Dr Joe Fernandes to the role of independent investment expert.

Fernandes has twenty-four years’ experience in senior investment management, executive and advisory roles. Most recently he was managing director of First State Investments in Asia, and a member of the global leadership team of Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM). He was previously responsible for the strategic assessment and development of CFSGAM’s suite of investment offers globally.

As a member of legalsuper’s Investment Committee he will work closely with its chief investment officer, Norman Zhang and the internal investment team to offer independent, external advice and support for legalsuper’s overall investment strategy and approach.

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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.