Dr John Edwards, Senior Fellow, Lowy Institute

John Edwards is a Senior Fellow in the Lowy Institute, an Adjunct Professor at the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy at Curtin University Business School, and a director of Cbus and Frontier. He has been a member of the boards of the Reserve Bank of Australia, CEDA, and the Australian Workplace and Productivity Agency, among other board roles. He has been a member of Australian government reviews of trade and investment, and of the Fair Work Act.

From 1997 to 2009 John was Chief Economist for Australia and New Zealand for the global financial group, HSBC.

From 1991 to 1994 John was principal economic adviser to Treasurer and then Prime Minister, Paul Keating.

He has published seven non-fiction books. His most recent book is a two-volume biography of John Curtin, Curtin War (Penguin/Viking 2017 and 2018). The first volume won the Prime Minister’s Literary Prize in the history section.

He holds his Ph.D. in economics from George Washington University.

Martin Priestley, Head of Debt, Asia Pacific, Nuveen Real Estate

Martin leads the debt platform in Asia Pacific for Nuveen Real Estate. He is responsible for originating and managing the debt portfolio, along with building relationships with partners looking to co-lend in association with house capital.

Martin joined the business from CBRE where he started the debt and structured finance business. Entering the real estate industry in 1987, he has extensive experience, having held roles with R&I Bank and BankWest where he was responsible for building the BankWest business. Martin then formed Bamford Partners, which focused on property finance, debt and equity raising, and fund management, before merging into Moss Capital.

Martin graduated with a B.S., honours, from Birmingham University, U.K. and is a regular attendee at Business School and YPO Harvard programmes. He is a responsible manager, having been on a number of Australian Financial Services Licences (AFSLs). Martin has also completed post-graduate certifications with U.K. and Australian financial services organisations.

Charles Wu, Chief Investment Officer, State Super (SAS Trustee Corporation)

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.

Jo Townsend, Chief Executive Officer, Funds SA

Jo Townsend was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Funds SA in April 2015. She has extensive investment management experience and is responsible for the daily management of the Corporation.

Ms Townsend has worked in the financial services sector for more than 25 years, starting her career in the investment management sector managing fixed interest portfolios. Through her career, she has held senior executive roles at REST Industry Super, including Acting Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of Investments, with prior roles in the superannuation sector at NGS Super and the Retirement Benefits Fund of Tasmania.

Ms Townsend holds a Bachelor of Mathematics and Finance from the University of Technology, Sydney, and is an IMCA certified investment management analyst. She is a member of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and the Fund Executives Association Ltd.