Responsibility: to investing, to country, to our communities, to our teams and to ourselves

Members’ Discussion Forum

We heard from guest speakers Emily Doubé, APRA, Blake Sly, ATO and Michelle Levy, Allens. Emily & Blake spoke about Data Security and Michelle spoke on The Quality of Advice Review.

Emily Doubé

Emily is a data professional with a specialisation in superannuation. During her 15+ years at APRA she has experience leading teams in the fields of Insights and Data Analytics as well as roles in superannuation supervision. Emily is currently leading APRA’s Superannuation Data Transformation program of work. This program aims to enhance data and reporting needed to support the assessment and comparison of operations, performance and member outcomes for APRA, other government agencies and external stakeholders. Emily holds a Bachelor of Economics (Social Science) from Sydney University and a Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University.

Blake Sly

Blake is a director and strategy lead in the Public Groups and International (PG&I) business line of the ATO. Blake leads the PG&I Investment Industry Strategy team, which includes assuring that large APRA regulated superannuation funds, insurance companies, managed funds and collective investment vehicles are paying the right amount of income tax. Blake has previously held a number of roles across the ATO including Director roles in PG&I Infrastructure and Business Fragmentation Strategy and PGI Assurance and Engagement Newcastle and Paramatta.

Michelle Levy

Michelle specialises in financial services law. Michelle's clients include the wealth management areas of each of the major banks, life insurance companies and superannuation funds. She provides advice in all aspects of financial services regulation – ranging from product development and distribution, regulatory investigations and remediation projects. She also acts for clients buying or selling financial services businesses.

Michelle is a member of a number of committees and working groups that consult with Government and regulators on financial services regulation. She is the former Chair of the Law Council of Australia's Superannuation Committee and continues to be a member of the Committee. Michelle co-authored the LexisNexis FoFA Handbook and is a regular contributor to various journals and publications. Michelle has been appointed to lead the Government's Quality of Advice Review.

We heard from Aminata Conteh-Biger our keynote speaker at the FEAL Members’ Dinner on the 3rd August. Aminata spoke on our responsibility to support others in our communities.

Aminata Conteh-Biger

Growing up in Freetown in civil war-ravaged Sierra Leone, Aminata enjoyed a relatively charmed childhood until 1999 when a devastating consequence of the civil war changed things forever. Rebel forces from the Revolutionary United Front stormed Freetown and the Contehs’ home, kidnapping 18-year old Aminata.

Held captive for months, Aminata was finally freed as part of a negotiated prisoner exchange. However, not long after her release, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recognised that one of Amanita’s captors posed a continued and serious threat to her safety. With the support of the UNHCR, Aminata became one of the very first Sierra Leonean refugee women to be settled in Australia.

After the difficult birth of her daughter Sarafina, Aminata started the Aminata Maternal Foundation (AMF). Her goal is to increase the Australian public’s awareness of Sierra Leone, its challenges and its extraordinary beauty, and boost fundraising in order to expand a maternity hospital in Sierra Leone. In December 2021, her dedication to her home country was recognised by the Celebration of African Australians NSW organisation with a Humanitarian Award. Also in 2021, Aminata’s talents as a CEO led to an invitation for a full scholarship in the prestigious McKinsey Leadership Development Program.

We heard from Annabel Crabb, Journalist and Author our keynote speaker at the FEAL National Conference on the 4th August.

Annabel Crabb

Annabel Crabb is one of Australia's most beloved journalists. She is an ABC writer and presenter who has covered Australian politics for 20 years but also is nationally well-known for her insightful and humorous analysis on gender and current affairs. She is the creator and presenter of Ms Represented, which is a raw and honest account of politics from the female perspective.

Over her career in journalism Annabel has worked as a political correspondent for The Advertiser, The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, as Europe correspondent for Fairfax’s Sunday titles and written a popular syndicated newspaper column on politics and social affairs. She is the author of The Wife Drought, a humorous and best-selling account of women and work in Australia.

We heard from a great line up of speakers at the FEAL National Conference including Kat Dunn, Founder Aviatrix Advisory and Martijn Wilder, Founder and CEO, Pollination.

Kat Dunn

Kat Dunn is a humanitarian capitalist with a passion for reimagining the way we live, work and connect in an increasingly decentralised world.

Born in Manila, raised in country WA, and based in Sydney, she has lived experience within rural, developing world and inner-city communities. She is the founder of advisory firm aviatrix which advises web3 creators on designing communities to realise a shared purpose, align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

In 2018, she was appointed the CEO of Grameen Australia, a microfinance organisation inspired by the work of Nobel Peace Prize Winner, founder of Grameen Bank, Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Martijn Wilder

Martijn is Founder and CEO of Pollination, a global climate change investment and advisory firm. He is recognised as a global leader in climate law and investment and has advised governments and companies on innovative climate finance investments including the World’s First REDD+ Green Bond.

Martijn was Head of Baker & McKenzie’s global climate law and finance practice for twenty years and was previously Chair of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), a former Founding Director of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), and helped establish and later Chair the Federal Government’s Low Carbon Australia finance body. He is currently Chair of the Governing Board of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) based in Vienna, President of WWF-Australia, Chair of the Victorian Government’s independent expert panel on Victoria’s 2035 Climate Change target, Adjunct Professor of International Climate Change Law at Australian National University, and a Senior Adviser to Serendipity Capital.

Panel session: How we implement investment beliefs in our portfolios - Martijn Wilder, Founder and CEO, Pollination, Andrew Lill, CIO REST Industry Super, Susheela Peres da Costa, Chair RIAA, and Sonya Sawtell-Rickson, CIO HESTA. Followed by Q and A

Andrew Lill

Andrew is the Chief Investment Officer having been appointed to that role in August 2020. Prior to Andrew’s appointment at Rest, Andrew was the Chief Investment Officer at Morningstar Investment Management for its Americas division and previous to that for Asia Pacific. Andrew has enjoyed a professional career in Financial Services over 25 years holding various senior executive roles located in the UK, Australia, and the United States, managing mid-size teams of investment professionals and has success at commercialising both investment capabilities and advice solutions.

Andrew is driven by a passion for understanding superannuation member investment objectives and designing bespoke long-term investment strategies to suit these unique objectives. Andrew has a strong academic background with master’s qualifications from Cambridge University in Economics and he is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.

Susheela Peres da Costa

Susheela is Founder of The Stewardship Centre, Chair of the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia and a director of US-based think tank, The Shareholder Commons. She has advised financial institutions on responsible investment governance, strategy, and implementation since 2006, and her clients include some of the world’s leading banks, pension funds, wealth advisers and asset managers, alongside major global responsible investment organisations such as the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment.

Her 15 years in leadership roles at influential responsible investment pioneer, Regnan, also included developing and leading its implemented stewardship (company engagement) program; its ESG research product line; and the creation of ethical, sustainability, and impact evaluation frameworks for investment products.

Sonya Sawtell-Rickson

Sonya was appointed to the role of Chief Investment Officer in July 2017. Sonya is responsible for overseeing HESTA’s $68 billion global investment program and leads a team of investment professionals, working with the HESTA Board and Investment Committee, to develop and execute the investment framework and strategy of the Fund. Prior to joining HESTA, Sonya was an Investment Director at QIC, overseeing multi-asset class portfolios in excess of $45 billion. Sonya holds a Masters of Applied Finance, Bachelor of Arts (Economics & Political Science), is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Companies Directors and is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

We heard from Josh Duke, Deloitte who stepped in for Joe Hedger and Natasha Down, mwah who stepped in for Rhonda Brighton-Hall. They were followed by a panel session and then guest speaker Josh Hodge, PhD Organisational Psychology, The University of Melbourne.

Panel session: Balancing the responsibilities of providing purpose and attaining productivity -Rhonda Brighton-Hall, CEO and Co-Founder of mwah; Ian Patrick, CIO, Australian Retirement Trust; Julie Watkins, Chief People Officer, UniSuper and Vikantha Naidoo, Relationship Manager, BNP Paribas.

Ian Patrick

Ian joined Sunsuper in 2015 and is responsible for leading the investment teams which 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.

Julie Watkins

Senior Executive with over 25 years of HR experience in multinational, Asia based and Australian based companies. Worked within finance & insurance, healthcare, retail and professional service sectors.

Built a reputation for delivering HR expertise, initiatives and partnership that improves business growth. Experience in working with Boards, leading change, organisation redesign, retention, engagement and promoting talent within the business. Passionate about making a difference.

Vikantha Naidoo

Vikantha is an experienced banking professional with 15 years’ experience in Custody, Operations and Relationship Management. Vikantha is currently the Manager of the Relationship Management team within BNP Paribas Securities Services.

Prior to joining the Relationship Management team in 2017, Vikantha held various roles within operations including trade processing, settlements, middle office, and client-facing custody account management roles.

Josh Hodge

Josh Hodge, PhD Organisational Psychology, University of Melbourne

Josh is a behavioural scientist in the Power, Status, and Hierarchy at Work (PSHAW) lab at Melbourne Business School. For over a decade, Josh has worked with business leaders to help them and their teams to perform at the highest levels. He is a world-class expert in behavioural science, yet he combines his academic rigor with tried-and-tested real-world practicality. 

Josh draws on an encyclopaedic knowledge of scientifically proven strategies that leaders can implement to grow their own capacity and help coach the people that they lead. Josh helps leaders to rely on a growth mindset to make values-driven decisions about how to flourish. Josh has peer-reviewed publications in the following academic journals: Psychological Science, International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, Development and Learning in Organizations, and Industrial and Commercial Training.

Presented in partnership with