Mike Aked is a Senior Investment Strategist for Scientific Beta.  At Scientific Beta, Mike undertakes Australian based research on ESG and investment factor-based topics.  Mike Aked was previously Partner, Head of Research - Australia and Global Head of Asset Allocation with Research Affiliates. He has also worked with the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO), Sunsuper, and UBS Global Asset Management across the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.  Mike has a wealth of academic and practical experience in fundamental, quantitative and factor investing across both single and multi-asset class frameworks.

Alison Atherton is a Research Director and leads the Business, Economy and Governance Program at the Institute for Sustainable Futures. She has a background in social sciences, chartered accountancy, audit and advisory, and almost twenty years experience in sustainability research and consultancy.

In recent years, Alison has worked on a suite of research projects for responsible investors that developed assessment frameworks and assessed the performance of large companies against a variety of sustainability (ESG) issues, as an indicator of investment risk. Alison is a member of the Technical Advisory Group for development of an Australian sustainable finance taxonomy and has reviewed and made submissions on Federal government consultations on climate-related financial disclosures, nature repair market and well-being economy frameworks.

Alistair joined AustralianSuper in 2008 and is now Head of Asset Allocation. Alistair and his team are responsible for delivering the active asset allocation strategy for the Fund’s diversified portfolios, and for managing the total portfolio construction of our investment options to exceed their objective within constraints.

Alistair has over 20 years of investing experience in funds management, from direct investing through to high-level strategy and asset allocation. Prior to joining AustralianSuper, Alistair was an Investment Director Hastings Funds Management, where he was responsible for portfolio construction, and the execution a range of infrastructure and other private market investments.

Alistair is a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University in the United States. Alistair also holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors in both Finance and Actuarial Studies) from the University of Melbourne and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia.

Paul Bloxham is chief spokesperson for HSBC on forecasts and trends for Australian and New Zealand economies and their interaction with global financial markets and international economies and a key spokesperson on HSBC’s unique view on global commodity markets. A regular commentator on local and international business television and he also contributes opinion editorials to media. Paul’s team has won a number of forecasting awards, including: Consensus Economics award for best forecaster for the Australian economy in 2021, and Focus Economics awards for best forecaster for New Zealand in 2023 and both Australia and New Zealand in 2017.

Prior to joining HSBC in 2010, Paul spent 12 years as an economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia. Paul holds a Master's degree in public financial policy from the London School of Economics and Bachelor of Commerce in economics with honours from Curtin University. He is an Adjunct Professor at Curtin University.

Catherine has extensive experience as a professional trustee director, having served on a range of industry super fund and related boards for the past 17 years.

She is a Director at Professionals Australia , the President of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees, a non-executive director of the NSW Public Sector Fund, STC and a member of its Investment Committee.  Catherine is also a Trustee of Unions NSW.

Catherine holds a Bachelor of Economics and Master of Labour Law and Relations, and is a graduate of AIST’s Trustee Director Course and a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is actively involved in helping shape superannuation policy to improve outcomes for working Australians.

Kim Bowater is the Director of Consulting at Frontier, having joined Frontier in 2002. Kim is responsible for overseeing the delivery of advice and research through our consulting team. She is a member of Frontier's Investment Committee and Chair of our Client Portfolio Review Committee. She is also the lead consultant for several large superannuation funds. Kim has 27 years of industry experience having previously been employed at Deloitte and Towers Perrin. Kim is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and holds a Bachelor of Science degree with First Class Honours in Mathematical Statistics. Kim is a member of the CFA Institute.

Nicole Bradford is Head of Sustainable Investments at Australian Retirement Trust, the $240 billion super fund. She is responsible for driving the strategic direction for integrating ESG, stewardship and sustainable outcomes across the investment portfolio. She has 25 years experience integrating sustainability thinking within investments, companies and government and has worked and lived in both Asia and Europe. Previously, to joining ART, Nicole was the Global Head of Responsible Investment at Cbus Super. She holds a BSc (REM); Master of Environmental Law; Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance (FINSIA); Graduate Diploma in Psychology; Graduate Australian Institute Company Directors (GAICD).

Mary is the founder and Managing Director of Seven Advisory, helping companies progress with purpose and Impact.

Previously Mary was the Head of Impact for HESTA a $78B superannuation fund leading the responsible investment, government relations and CSR programs. She has held senior roles in financial services organisations for over 15 years and is passionate about authentic progressive capital delivering a better world for all.

Mary is a 2015 Churchill Fellow awarded for the completion of international research on equity for women in pension systems.

Mary is a current Board Member of The Emergency Services Telecommunication Authority (000), Victoria University, The McKell Institute and Emily’s List Australia.

Mary has served as the Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Council for Gender Equality in the State of Victoria and was a past Chair of Reclink Australia. 

Mary is a former Mayor, Deputy Mayor and elected Councillor for an inner-city municipality.

Mary holds a Master of Finance (Corporate Advisory).

Stephen Donaghy is a senior manager within the Investments team at UniSuper. He joined UniSuper in 2014 from the former Retirement Benefits Fund (now part of Spirit Super).

He is responsible for leading the analytical capabilities that feed into the asset allocation, construction and implementation of UniSuper’s Investment options. This also includes understanding the implications of the Your Future Your Super Performance Test and the monitoring and management capabilities required to operate alongside this test.

Stephen also plays a key role in building out UniSuper’s ESG data and analytics capabilities which supports the integration of ESG principles across all aspects of UniSuper’s investment process.

UniSuper

UniSuper is one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds with a strong heritage in the higher education and research sector, now open to all Australians. It currently manages over $125 billion on behalf of more than 620,000 members.  UniSuper was one of the first superannuation funds in Australia to build a fully integrated in-house team with end-to-end expertise, covering listed and unlisted markets in Australia and overseas.  The team currently manages over 70% of funds in-house.

Kim is the General Manager Responsible Investment at HESTA. She leads the fund’s responsible investment program as part of HESTA’s ‘Super with Impact’ purpose. Kim is focussed on delivering investment excellence with impact, by integrating impact measurement into the investment process, developing engagement programs that focus on managing system level risk and seeking opportunities to invest in positive impact aligned to priority Sustainable Development Goals. Kim holds Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Civil Engineering (Hons) from the University of Adelaide and a Master of Science (Nature, Society and Environmental Policy) from the University of Oxford.

Andrew joined Australian Retirement Trust, formerly Sunsuper, in 2010 and is Head of Portfolio Strategy, responsible for managing strategy, asset allocation & investment risk for the Super Savings investment options at Australian Retirement Trust.

He has over 18 years of experience in the investment industry. His recent experience has included roles with the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation as an Investment Strategist and with Milliman as a Consultant.

Andrew is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries Australia and holds a Bachelor or Commerce and a Bachelor of Applied Finance from Macquarie University.

Andrew is Deputy Head of Australian Equities and involved in the portfolio construction process for Australian Equity portfolios, in addition to analytical responsibilities for the Banks, Building Materials, Chemicals and Steel sectors. Andrew Joined Schroders in July 2007. Prior to joining Schroders, Andrew held multiple roles at Credit Suisse Asset Management including Head of Equities, Portfolio Manager for the Australian Shares Fund (2005 and 2006) and Portfolio Manager for the Australian Small Companies Fund (2003 and 2004).

Prior to his appointment in June 2023 as Cbus CEO, Kristian Fok served as the Fund’s Chief Investment Officer (CIO) for 10 years.

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

Cbus is the leading Industry Super Fund representing those that help build and maintain Australia, with over AUD$80 billion funds under management and 900,000 members.

More than 40 years experience in front-line environmental science and research management collectively with the Victorian and Australian Governments. Most recent experience over last 10 years with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) as program manager at varying times for the science component of the Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning Program, the Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub of the National Environmental Science Program (NESP), the Climate Resilient Enterprise Mission and the CSIRO Climate Science Centre’s Pacific Program portfolio of projects in partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Environment Program (SPREP). The CSIRO scope of work has focused on the development and delivery of climate change science and science-based climate information services and intelligence, tailored to the needs of target users across public and private sectors; objective to build capacity and better inform climate-related impact/risk assessments, policy development, management and adaptation planning and associated decision-making.

Susan Kasser, CFA, is the Head of Neuberger Berman Private Debt. The Private Debt business manages $13 billion of investor capital dedicated to investing in first-lien and unitranche loans to market-leading companies owned by private equity firms. Prior to joining the firm in 2013, she was an investment professional in the Direct Lending business of the Carlyle Group. Prior to that, Susan worked at Goldman Sachs in several roles, including as an investment banker in the Leveraged Finance group, a fund investor and direct private equity co-investor in the Private Equity Group, and as a financial analyst in Global Investment Research. In addition to serving on the National Board of the Enterprise Club of the American Enterprise Institute, Susan serves on the Investment Committee and the Board of Directors for Vail Health, an independent, nonprofit health care system in Eagle County, Colorado.

Rosemary is currently a non-voting observer on the Cbus Investment Committee, as a nominee of the ACTU.

Rosemary was a Trustee Director of HESTA in 2012, when the whole Board was the Investment Committee. From September 2012 – 2021 she was a Trustee Director of Aware Super. In both cases Rosemary was nominated by the Health Services Union (HSU).

From 2018 to 2021 Rosemary was the Chair of the Aware Super Investment Committee, and a member of the Governance Committee. During her time at Aware Super Rosemary was a member of the AIST Policy and Governance Committee.

During her career at the Victorian Number 4 Branch of the HSU, Rosemary was the Secretary of the Medical Scientists Association and of the Victorian Psychologists Association, which are both component associations of the Union.

Rosemary holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Public Policy and a Doctorate in Education and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Rosemary is a Director of the Rural Workforce Agency, Victoria Limited. She is a member of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War and is an active member of Quit Nukes.

Philippa Kelly was jointly appointed by ACTU Super Shareholding Pty Ltd and the Ai Group as an Independent Director and Investment Committee Chair on 5 November

2021. Prior to her appointment, Philippa was a consultant to AustralianSuper and member of the Fund's Direct Investment Group. With a background in law and investment banking she has held var ious roles within the property industry, most recently with Juilliard Group and Centro Properties. Current directorships include Lifestyle Communities Ltd,Hub Australia and o0h1media Ltd.

Philippa was former ly the Deputy Chancellor of Deakin University, and a former director of Assemble Communities Pty Ltdl. Philippa holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Austra lia and a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance & Investment from FinSIA. She is a graduate of the Austra lian Institute of Company Director's course.

Dr. Michael G. Kollo is known for his contributions to the financial services industry, both as a business leader and an educator. He has offered his leadership to top-tier financial firms like Blackrock, Fidelity, Renaissance Asset Management, Axa Investment Managers, and HESTA. His role as a non-executive director for Clime Investment Managers, and his leadership positions at AI firms like Faethm Pty.

Dr. Kollo holds a PhD in Finance from the London School of Economics (LSE). He has lectured extensively at LSE and Imperial College, nurturing the next generation of financial and AI professionals. In the entrepreneurial realm, he has helped foster growth in London and Australia's fintech and cybertech startup ecosystems, leveraging his industry experience to guide budding enterprises.

Dr. Kollo is the CEO of Evolved Reasoning, a firm focused on promoting responsible and effective AI adoption among executive teams and managers. His mission, reflected in his professional and academic experiences, is to promote AI's responsible use for a more resilient, transparent, and growth-oriented enterprise landscape.

Ingrid has 25 years’ experience which spans asset management as well as Capital and Private Markets. As Head of Impact and Sustainable Investing, she is responsible for the construction and management of the portfolios within the strategy. She joined from PDM Capital where she was a principal and previously had spent a decade at Jupiter Asset Management as Fund Management Director where she co-managed Global Managed Fund and the flagship EMEA fund. She started her career at Lazard & Co as European equities analyst. Ingrid was included in Citywire’s first ever global compilation of the 1,000 top fund managers in the world. Ingrid is a Non-Executive Director of Fair4All Finance, founded with UK dormant asset money to create positive impact by promoting financial inclusion in UK. Ingrid holds a degree in Italian and Business Studies from University College London and is fluent in four languages.

Rob is the Senior Manager, Total Portfolio Risk and Regulatory Modelling at Rest and has held several other senior roles in Superannuation covering asset allocation, portfolio construction and quantitative solutions. Rob’s current focus is on the Total Portfolio Approach to building out multi-asset class investment portfolios and integrating this long-term investment approach into the short-term focused Your Future, Your Super regulatory framework. Rob holds a Bachelor of Business in Banking & Finance, a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mathematics, a Graduate Certificate in Mathematical Sciences all from QUT and a Diploma of Superannuation from AIST.

Marigold is responsible for managing IFM Investors’ Net Zero Infrastructure Fund. At IFM, Marigold has been involved with various investments for the Australian Infrastructure Fund and Global Infrastructure Fund, including Colonial Pipeline (US), Pacific Hydro, Port of Brisbane, NSW Ports, NT Airports, Brisbane Airport and Adelaide Airport. Marigold has extensive experience in investment evaluation, asset management, corporate finance and valuations. Marigold has been a board member of NT Airports, Axiom Education and Eastern Distributor (M1 toll road). Prior to joining IFM Investors, Marigold held roles with WilsonHTM as an equities research analyst, and with PwC specializing in corporate valuations and strategy consulting.

Craig MacDonald joined HarbourVest in 2005 in Boston, transferring to London in 2009 and then Dublin in 2019 to serve as head of office. He focuses on originating, evaluating, and executing direct co-investments in growth equity and buyout transactions, primarily in Europe and has worked on investments including CallCredit, Finanzcheck, Flexera Software, Nordax, Photobox, and Xpressdocs.

Craig joined the Firm from Morgan Stanley in New York where he was an analyst focusing on consumer finance. Craig’s prior experience also includes investment banking analyst positions with Citigroup Global Markets in New York and London.

Craig received a BA in Political Science and Information Systems (with honors and distinction) from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2001, where he was a Morehead Scholar.

Prior to joining State Street Clare spent 11 years at JCP Investment Partners in a number of roles including investment operations, client service, head of retail business and business development. Clare has experience in fixed income markets, having spent over five years in London working for Danske Bank, including roles on their Treasury Desk and Debt Capital Markets Sales Desk.

Clare has a bachelor’s degree majoring in economics from Massey University, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and a Master of Applied Finance from Kaplan Professional, with three national subject awards. She has completed FINRA SIE, 7, 63.

Jim joined Warakirri Asset Management in 2017 as Managing Director. In this role he oversees the Warakirri business, including responsibility for all Agriculture funds and boutique partnerships.  During Jim’s tenure Warakirri has grown into one of Australia’s largest and leading Agriculture funds management businesses. Jim has over 30 years’ executive experience across the financial services industry. His previous experience includes Head of Distribution for Franklin Templeton Investments, Managing Director of the wealth management division of Challenger, and Head of Distribution for ING Investment Management and a member of their Asian Leadership Team. Jim also advises several charitable institutions and sits on two Charitable Investment Committees.

Antoine has over 16 years of experience in Real Estate and Alternatives investment. In his current role as Head of Australia at AXA IM Alts, Antoine is responsible for defining and implementing AXA IM Alts’ strategy for its $8 billion investment management platform in Australia.

Antoine previously held the role of Head of Transactions for AXA IM Alts in France. During his time at AXA IM Alts, Antoine has worked on high-profile investments, leading more than $16 billion (€11 billion) of transactions on behalf of AXA IM Alts clients. He was responsible for the origination, sponsorship and execution of real estate investments and has been active across the entire risk spectrum with investment strategies ranging for Core to Opportunistic, including real estate operating companies, both in traditional real estate sectors (office, retail, industrial, residential) and alternatives (hotels, healthcare, data center, student housing).

Antoine notably led the creation in 2021 of a c. $3 billion (c. €2 billion) strategic venture in the affordable housing sector in France with first-class affordable housing operator in’li, subsidiary of French social housing giant Action Logement. The seed portfolio of the venture, located in the Paris region, Europe’s largest urban area, comprised a total of c. 10,000 apartments across 143 properties, dedicated to affordable housing, of which 61 existing properties and 82 purpose-built assets under construction forward funded by the venture. Through the partnership, in’li and AXA IM Alts seek to develop a further 1,500 new affordable housing units per year.

Antoine joined AXA IM Alts in 2010, and holds a Master’s degree from ESSEC Business School in France.

Phil has over 27 years’ experience in Australian and international financial markets gained with leading international and domestic institutions including QIC, UBS Global Asset Management, Westpac Institutional Bank and Fitch Ratings.​

Phil possesses a rare breadth of credit experience across global and domestic credit markets, private debt, investment grade and high yield, corporate bonds, CDS and structured finance.

Lillian joined IFM Investors in 2007 and is responsible for joint management of key credit portfolios, credit product strategies including the IFM Specialised Credit Fund (SCF), and heads the team responsible for conducting credit analysis, due diligence, investment recommendations and portfolio asset management support to the Debt Investments Team. Lillian originally joined ME Bank in 2000 as Business Lending Manager, and joined the Capital Markets team in 2002 as Portfolio Manager responsible for securitisation bond fund raising for Superannuation Members Home Loans and Maxis Home Loans. In 2005, she joined the newly established Members Equity debt investment team as Portfolio Analyst. This team subsequently transferred to IFM in 2007. Prior to joining Members Equity, Lillian was the Senior Credit Analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston in Melbourne, Singapore and Sydney, providing credit analysis, industry sector research and lending recommendations for the Australian and New Zealand corporate lending portfolios.

Ian joined Sunsuper in 2015 and is responsible for leading the investment teams that design and implement Australian Retirement Trust's highly competitive investment strategies, all the while maintaining a strong emphasis on governance. He has more than 25 years’ experience in the institutional investment industry. Prior to joining Sunsuper, Ian held the position of Chief Executive Officer at JANA Investment Advisers from 2008. He was also Head of Global Equities at JANA, and worked previously for Mercer. Ian is an actuary and holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and a Masters of Business Administration. He is also a CFA charter holder.

Lucian Peppelenbos is Climate & Biodiversity Strategist at Robeco. In this role, he oversees Robeco’s work on decarbonizing the investment portfolios and integrating climate-related risks and opportunities in the investment processes.

Thought leadership and publications are also part of his role, in collaboration with peer investors, academics and policy institutions. Prior to joining Robeco in 2020, he was Responsible Investment Specialist at APG Asset Management. Lucian started his career in 1999. He holds a PhD in Social Sciences from Wageningen University.

Eva Scheerlinck was appointed CEO of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) on March 23, 2017 and is responsible for leading the peak body of the $1.6 trillion profit-to-member superannuation industry.

Eva joined AIST in 2010, moving into the role of AIST’s Executive Manager of Governance and Stewardship. During her time at AIST, Eva has been actively involved in reforming governance standards for superannuation funds in Australia and championing initiatives aimed at improving retirement outcomes for groups that often fall through the cracks in the super system including women, low income earners and Indigenous Australians.

Eva has previous experience heading up professional associations, including six years as CEO of the Australian Lawyers Alliance.

Eva holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the Queensland University of Technology, as well as a Graduate Diploma of Community Management from the University of Technology, Sydney.

She was admitted as a solicitor in 2000. She is a Graduate Member of AIST’s Trustee Director Course and a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Eva is a member of the ASX Corporate Governance Council, Chair of the Indigenous Superannuation Working Group and the Chair of the World Pension Alliance.

Dr Keith Suter is the Managing Director of the Global Directions think tank. He is considered to be one of Australia’s most influential Global futurists and media commentators in national and foreign affairs. He is an economic and social commentator, strategic planner, author and broadcaster.

As a broadcaster, he appears on Australian radio an average of once per day. He is the Foreign Affairs Editor on Channel 7’s “Sunrise” program. He is also a foreign policy analyst for Sky TV Australia.

As a highly regarded academic, his first degree was in international relations, economics and international law. His first PhD was on the international law of guerrilla warfare. His second was on the international political economy of the arms race. His most recent PhD was on scenario planning.

He teaches political science on the Sydney international campus of Boston University, USA.

He is the Director of Studies of the Australian Branch of the international Law Association, and NSW Chair of the International Commission of Jurists.

He has been a member of the international think tank The Club of Rome since 1993.

Richard Turner is a Managing Director in Mesirow Currency Management. His primary responsibilities include the leadership of the group’s research effort.

Richard has more than 15 years of experience in quantitative research and systematic trading strategies. Prior to joining Mesirow, Richard was the Director of Research at The Cambridge Strategy (TCS), which was acquired by Mesirow in 2018. Richard has worked in the quantitative research groups at JP Morgan, RBS and Credit Suisse, where he began his investment banking career in 2000. During 2013 and 2014, he worked as the Lead Quantitative Researcher for asymmetric investment management. His current research interests include the application of deep convolutional neural networks to the predictions of financial markets. 

Richard earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and physics from the University of Nottingham and a Master of Science in financial mathematics from Kings College London. He holds the Certificate in Quantitative Finance and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Over the last four years, Leilani has led the development of Rest’s Responsible Investment and Sustainability strategies and implementation, sitting on the Management Investment Committee.

Leilani’s professional motivation is to drive outcomes across teams; and manage ESG and climate-related factors to reduce risks and enhance investment performance for Rest members.

She has enjoyed working in the U.K., the U.S., in regional and rural Australia, and across a range of sectors, all government, corporate and finance. Leilani holds a degree in Environmental Science (Natural Resources) from the University of Queensland, holds the One Planet MBA from the University of Exeter (with Dean’s Commendation) and is a Chartered Environmentalist.

Nick works with global companies and governments to understand and manage the three functional areas of climate change: transition, reputational and physical risks. With a background in scientific research (nuclear reactor technology and atmospheric chemistry) Nick understands the most complex aspects of climate policy development. He also has extensive experience in audit and assurance, risk management, and establishing effective corporate governance over emerging risks. Most recently, Nick’s expertise was recognised when two papers for which he was a contributing author were cited in the US 2023 Economic Report of the President. The papers critiqued the prevailing standard of physical climate risk assessments and pointed to inadequacies arising from the lack of sovereign capability, tools and resources – and the exposures that creates across an economy. In Australia, Nick and Energetics are working with our national climate science capabilities to create resources that will support business in their understanding of future risks.

Stuart is a partner in the Client Solutions Group within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, serving as head of Alternatives Capital Markets & Strategy (ACMS) in Asia Pacific. ACMS leads institutional capital markets, capital raising and client strategy across direct investing and open architecture alternatives strategies. Previously, he was head of the Securities Division for the Middle East and North Africa based in Dubai, where he provided coverage to Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. Prior to relocating to Dubai in 2006, Stuart spent five years as an equity salesperson in London. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2001 as an analyst, was named managing director in 2010 and partner in 2022. Stuart earned a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Trinity College, Oxford University, in 2001.

Mr Wu was appointed CIO in December 2020 and leads State Super's internal Investment team. He is responsible for determining and executing the Fund's investment policies and objectives, determining asset allocation, and implementing and monitoring the Fund's investment arrangements.

Mr Wu is acknowledged across the industry for his expertise in the use of machine learning (artificial intelligence) within pension funds and has helped bring State Super to the forefront of this exciting development.

Mr Wu joined State Super in 2015 and was previously an Investment Manager at Media Super and an analyst at Mercer. He holds a Master of Commerce and a Bachelor of Computer Engineering and is a Chartered Financial Analyst holder. In 2020 he was appointed President at Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society Sydney.

Gemma Acton has worked across finance and broadcast media for more than two decades, covering market-moving stories and meeting the people behind the headlines across the world.

Gemma is currently the Network Finance Editor at 7 News - the most-watched news service in Australia - where she presents the latest financial and business news to audiences across the entire country. She is also a regular guest host across several of the network’s broadcast news programmes.

Prior to this, she hosted broadcast programmes at CNBC International in London and also worked as an on-air correspondent pursuing stories across Europe for the global network.

Gemma is a regular guest on radio shows and podcasts - and frequently joins private and corporate functions and charity events as an MC, panelist or keynote speaker.

Returning to Australia in late 2017 was a lovely homecoming after she spent 18 years abroad living, working and studying in cities including London, New York, Dubai, Milan & Paris.

In addition to broadcasting, during this time, she worked in investment banking and wealth management at Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and PIMCO.

Gemma also gained an MBA/MA from the Lauder Institute and the Wharton School, a BA from University College London and the highly prestigious Chartered Financial Analyst qualification.

Gemma's day job involves interviewing chief executives, company founders, fund managers and industry experts - as well as everyday Australians - to understand how changes in our economy and society affect all of us.

In her spare time she loves to swim, ski, read classic literature, spend time with her family and do battle with cryptic crosswords!

Mel started her career in superannuation in the ATO, moving to work with industry super funds in 2004.  Her roles have included senior roles in stakeholder relations, strategy, marketing and communications in Link Group/ Superpartners, HESTA, Hostplus, AUSfund, Industry Fund Services and ME Bank. Prior to joining AIST in September 2019, she was at  ASIC as a Senior Specialist in the Superannuation team.

As Deputy CEO & General Manager, Advocacy at AIST and works closely with AIST member funds, regulators and government on policy and implementation issues. Mel is passionate about delivering benefits to members, with a particular focus on improving women’s retirement outcomes.

Mel was also on the Victorian Committee of Women in Super for six years as Chair and Deputy Chair and joined the Mother’s Day Classic Foundation board in late 2020 as a director. She has been volunteering for the event since 2004.

She has Bachelor of Science from the University of Melbourne, a Graduate Diploma in Educational Psychology from Monash University and a MBA from Deakin University and has successfully completed the Advanced Leadership Program run by Women & Leadership Australia

Mr Collins is a senior executive with extensive experience in investment strategy and implementation for superannuation fund assets. He has over 32 years’ experience in financial markets, investments, portfolio implementation and risk management.

Prior to his employment at Mine Super, Mr Collins worked closely with some of Australia’s leading superannuation funds in multiple roles at J.P. Morgan. He also has a strong background in equities markets from roles held at the Australian Securities Exchange.

Mr Collins holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of New South Wales (Australian Graduate School of Management) and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics and Psychology) from the University of Sydney.

Employed by Mine Super since November 2017.

Kelli Francis-Staite is the Head of Investment Strategy (Quantitative and FX) at Hostplus. She joined Hostplus through the merger with Statewide Super in 2022, and has worked in the super industry for 4 years. Kelli’s background is in mathematics and she completed her PhD at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in 2019. She is also an adjunct senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide. Her current work involves rebalancing, asset allocation, portfolio management, liquidity management, FX and defined benefit hedging and investment risk. While Kelli’s works touches on all asset classes, her current favourite is special situations Credit.

Connie is a Specialist Advisor for Peakstone Global, leading advisory services to boards on ESG & sustainability governance and reporting. She also runs a boutique firm providing CFO advisory, sustainability advisory, and audit & assurance services.

Connie has over 25 years’ experience in finance, risk and governance in the financial services sector, and over 10 years’ experience in ESG & sustainability. Connie’s international career experience includes executive and senior positions at PwC across Australia, US and China in the Insurance and Superannuation Practice, the American International Assurance and VAGO. From 2014 to 2020, Connie was an executive and the Company Secretary of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI).

Connie holds a Bachelor of Economics and is a Member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, an ASIC Registered Company Auditor and a Member of the IFRS Sustainability Alliance.

Gordon is a Research Director with the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) focusing on sustainable finance.  Gordon has worked across financial systems in a variety of capacities over a thirty- year career including in frontline roles in banking, superannuation, and investment management, as a political advisor, in industrial roles representing finance sector workers and in policy / research roles with industry associations and universities.  Gordon was one of the first employees of the United Nations backed Principles for Responsible Investment, founded what is now the PRI Academy and in 2020 co-authored the Australian Sustainable Finance Roadmap released by the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative. His work includes chapters in the Cambridge Handbook of Institutional Investment and Fiduciary Duty (2014), Palgrave Studies in Sustainable Business’ Sustainable Real Estate (2019) and the Palgrave Handbook of Climate Resilient Societies (2021), Gordon holds a Bachelor of Economics from Australian National University (ANU), Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment and Graduate Diploma in Industrial and Employee Relations.

Nick was a Senator for Australia (Tasmania) for 22 years and the Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law (Australia’s first), Assistant Treasurer, Small Business Minister and Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Resources. He is currently the Chair of TWUSUPER, Chair of Household Capital, GO Sourcing, Co Chair Singapore Forum, Member of Advisory Committee to Roc Partners, DWS APAC Expert Panel and Chair of an NGO; Youth, Family and Community Connections.

He has worked as a Senior Advisor, Global Pensions and Superannuation for Citi Group and EY in some 27 countries to government, regulators, think tanks and providers, on all aspects of pension system design and operation thereof.  He was a member of the OECD Irish Pension Study Group, the Steering Group on Social Security at the World Economic Forum, independent director of Spotless (ASX:SPO ), Chair of FNZ (APAC ) and a Chair, founding trustee and secretary of 3 superannuation funds.

He has contributed to the global discussion and development of public policy and industry practice in Defined Contribution pension systems. He is a Governor of the Pension Policy Institute (UK), a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Duncan is responsible for ensuring JANA’s high standards of services are consistently delivered to all clients, including achieving optimal client investment outcomes.

Since 2007, Duncan has been the lead consultant for clients across multiple client segments. Duncan has held several roles during his time at JANA including Head of Consulting, a senior member within the Australian Equities Research Team, former Head of Property Research Team and a member of the JANA Research Committee.

Before joining JANA in 2007, Duncan spent 12 years with the NAB Superannuation Fund as Assistant Fund Secretary and Finance Manager. Through Duncan’s role at JANA and previous employment he has also held positions on Investment Committees and Advisory Boards.

Duncan has a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investments, Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning and a Bachelor of Business. Duncan is also a Fellow of the FINSIA and a member of CPA.

Edward has been CIO at TWUSUPER since 2020. Previously he was CIO at legalsuper, and held a variety of roles at Australian Unity, Frontier Advisors and the Victorian Funds Management Corporation.

He has over 30 years of investment experience that ranges from actuarial work, personal financial planning, investment management and investment consulting. He has a BSc from Auckland University and an MBA from Waikato University.