Helping members retire with dignity: How can trustees provide a soft default retirement solution to meet members’ needs

We heard the latest retirement insights from the CSBA FEAL Superannuation CX Benchmarking program and how a deeper knowledge of members’ expectations and views around retirement is being used to develop effective retirement strategies. Michael Vrisakis, Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, discussed the regulatory framework and how trustees can approach a soft default retirement solution for members within the context of the new best financial interests and retirement income covenants. We ended the session with a panel discussion on how funds are approaching their default retirement solution. The panel included Jon Sedawie, Principal Retirement Product, AustralianSuper, Sam Higgie, Head of Retirement, Equip Super (panel in Melbourne), Brnic van Wyk, Head of Asset Liability Management, Australian Retirement Trust (panel in Brisbane) and Jane Macnamara, Head of Strategic Relations, Policy and Regulatory Reform, Aware Super (panel in Sydney).

Guest speakers: Michael Vrisakis, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills, Sam Monteath CX Director - Finance, CSBA & Samantha Litinsky Qualitative Specialist, CSBA.

Michael Vrisakis​
Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills

Michael is a leading expert in financial services regulation, with over 30 years’ experience. He is at the forefront of debating and developing new law and quoted in the financial press. His advice is routinely sought in relation to strategic management of regulatory matters by Australia’s largest institutions, including liaising with APRA and ASIC.

Sam Monteath
CX Director - Finance, CSBA

A highly experienced customer experience professional, passionate about customer insights and helping clients improve their organisation’s CX. Sam’s role with CSBA focuses on CX research and insights within the Finance sector, including Banking, Superannuation and Insurance. She also has experience in FMCG, Retail, Local Government, Tertiary and Utilities over her 25-year career. Her passion for driving business improvement is built on a solid foundation of reliability, integrity, knowledge, and credibility. Sam prides herself on being a trusted advisor and partner to her clients.

Samantha Litinsky
Qualitative Specialist, CSBA

Sam loves talking to people and understanding why they behave as they do; her niche is bringing the customer lens to the table. She is a qualified creative qualitative specialist with 20+ years’ experience conducting in-depth interviews, focus groups, presentations and facilitating workshops. Sam uses story-telling and case studies to bring voice of the customer insights to life. Her balanced career across market research agency and client-side enables her to deliver executable research and strategic input for her clients. Sam is CSBA’s ‘qual expert’ for Superannuation. She has conducted hundreds of interviews with members across various funds and more recently consulted on some of CSBA’s clients Retirement Income Strategy’s.

Panel guest speakers: Jon Sedawie, Principal Retirement Product, AustralianSuper, Sam Higgie, Head of Retirement, Equip Super (panel in Melbourne), Brnic van Wyk, Head of Asset Liability Management, Australian Retirement Trust (panel in Brisbane), Jane Macnamara, Head of Strategic Relations, Policy and Regulatory Reform, Aware Super and Mark Spring, Head of Strategic Implementation, Active Super (panel in Sydney).

Jon Sedawie
Principal Retirement Product, AustralianSuper

Jon leads the retirement product team at AustralianSuper and is responsible for developing and implementing income stream product offer for members and their partners. Jon joined the fund in November 2022 from Cbus Super where he was Head of Retirement accountable for retirement product and retirement income strategy.

Sam Higgie
Head of Retirement, Equip Super

Sam is the Head of Retirement and is responsible for leading the retirement strategy for the Equip Fund. Sam holds over 18 years’ experience in the superannuation and financial services industry, including extensive leadership experience strategising, developing and delivering compelling product and member experiences.

Having joined Equip in December 2018 as a Product Strategy Consultant, Sam was promoted to Head of Retirement in October 2021. Sam previously worked in senior leadership positions including Director of Product Management APAC for SS&C and Manager, Product Development at Colonial First State. In his earlier career he held business management positions at licensees for Professional Investment Services and AMP New Zealand. Sam holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from Massey University, a Diploma of Financial Services from Kaplan, and a Certificate of Post-Retirement from ASFA. Sam is also a SAFe Certified Agilist and Certified Product Owner (CSPO).

Brnic van Wyk
Head of Asset Liability Management , Australian Retirement Trust

Brnic leads the development of the Australian Retirement Trust’s ALM framework, member data analysis, models and governance structures. He is a member of the leadership group for the newly formed Retirement Division and his team is responsible for the ongoing operational, actuarial and solvency management of the asset pool for the Lifetime Pension retirement income product.

Brnic is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia and the Institute of Actuaries (UK). He is a CIMA® certificant and serves on the Retirement Incomes Working Group of the Actuaries Institute. He is a Board member of the Pension Benefits and Social Security Section of the International Actuarial Association, the CIMA Society of Australia and the International Advisory Board of the EDHEC-Risk Institute (France).

Jane Macnamara
Head of Strategic Relations, Policy and Regulatory Reform, Aware Super

Jane has broad policy experience across the financial services sector, with a focus on advocating for workable, consumer-focused policy outcomes. Before joining Aware Super, she led the superannuation and retirement incomes portfolio at the Financial Services Council. She has previously worked in public policy roles at the Suncorp Group and the Property Council of Australia, and was a Director of the Gateway Network Governance Body.

Jane has a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) with honours from the University of Technology, Sydney and studied applied politics at the George Washington University in Washington DC.

About CSBA

CSBA is a CX industry leader and a trusted advisor for understanding, measuring and improving customer experiences to grow our clients' businesses. We are highly recognised for our expertise in bespoke and syndicated research, strategy, and training programs.

We have been providing customer experience insights to Australian businesses for over 25 years. Our experience and expertise allow us to not just collect better data but to provide you with better insights and meaningful recommendations – that lead to better customer experiences.

Melbourne
DATE: Tuesday 2nd May
VENUE: THE WESTIN
ADDRESS: 205 COLLINS STREET

brisbane
DATE: Wednesday 3rd May
VENUE: Pullman Brisbane king george square
ADDRESS: Corner Ann And, Roma Street

Sydney
Date: Thursday 4th May
Venue: Amora Hotel Jamison
Address: 11 Jamison Street, Sydney

Time: 12.15pm - 2.00pm (AEST)
Cost: FEAL Members: $0 & Non-members: $145 (inc GST)

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