Fund Executive of the Year
Congratulations Kate Farrar, CEO, Brighter Super winner of the 2024 Fund Executive of the Year Award
About the award
Since its inception 23 years ago, the Fund Executive of the Year Award has recognised and rewarded the work of outstanding leaders in the Australian superannuation industry.
The award is announced during the annual FEAL Members’ Dinner in August, with the recipient receiving an education grant of $30,000. The education grant has enabled previous award recipients to attend executive education programs at world-renowned business schools including Harvard, IMD, INSEAD, London Business School and Wharton.
Award criteria
This important award recognises one fund executive who has made an outstanding contribution to their fund and the superannuation industry.
Award nominees were judged on the following criteria:
Innovation
Leadership
Exceeding expectations
Demonstrated strategic planning
Contribution to the marketplace
Sponsored in partnership with
Past Winners
“I recently attended a lunch & learn session at the offices of T. Rowe Price (previous sponsor of the FEAL Fund Executive of the Year Award) at which Deanne Stewart, CEO of Aware Super and 2021 winner of the Award, reported back on her experience completing her chosen course: the AVIRA Programme at INSEAD’s Fontainebleau campus in early 2023. AVIRA stands for Awareness, Vision, Imagination, Role and Action and the 5-day course is focussed on providing participants with the opportunity to “learn, reflect and grow”.
Those that attended the CEO panel session at FEAL’s National Conference in August 2023 heard about elements of Deanne’s experience and how she was already practicing what she’d learnt on the course.
Firstly Deanne was incredibly appreciative of the opportunity and impetus that the Award gave her to complete the study with INSEAD. The Fund Executive of the Year provides the winner with an education bursary to undertake a leadership course at an international business school of their choosing and she chose the AVIRA course attracted by the fact that it covered the ‘what next’ on leadership: how to be a global leader in the new world, as well as including an element of personal coaching.
INSEAD identifies the AVIRA course as ‘peer-led’ and Deanne’s fellow participants (around 25) on the program were CEOs, NEDs and group executives of large, international corporations.
The course commenced with uncovering the macro-economic and social trends at a global level and then moved onto the micro trends in organisations that leaders need to be across to be able to make decisions and look after the well being of their teams. It delved into the biases that need to be overcome in making decisions with some interesting group exercises which uncovered where biases were in play, particularly within a homogenous group who all happily agreed with each other but consequently didn’t achieve the best result…. It also covered the different types of cultures that can drive positive and negative energies in an organisation and the leader’s role, akin to as coach of a basketball team, to identify the different cultural behaviours and call a ‘time out’ to provide feedback in realtime.
The last part of the program, which Deanne particularly valued, focussed on individual energy and looked at the balance that need to be achieved between five elements: physical, mental, emotional, resilience and spiritual.
Deanne had the opportunity to practice her enhanced global leadership skills from the INSEAD course as she went straight from Fontainebleau to co-lead a Superannuation & Wealth Management Innovation Delegation to Israel with the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. Thank you again to T. Rowe Price for providing Deanne with this amazing opportunity and supporting FEAL’s purpose to empower and enhance the leaders in our industry.”
Frequently asked questions
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Nominations for the 2024 FEOY Award are now closed.
To nominate a Fund Executive, download an application form (via the Nominate Now link above) and save it to your desktop. This is a writeable pdf. Return the completed application via email. If you need assistance submitting a nomination, please contact Katrina Bacon E: katrina.bacon@feal.asn.au & Cc renee.villasanti@feal.asn.au -
CEOs and c-suite level executives, leading significant business functions within the fund, who have made an outstanding contribution to their fund and the superannuation industry.
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The selection panel is looking for concise, relevant and informative answers. The criteria outlined in the application form have been designed to help you convey the achievements of the nominee. You should address each section, demonstrating not only how the Fund Executive has achieved success to date, but also their plans and vision for future success. Applications should be endorsed by the Chair and accompanied by a brief resume.
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The best answers clearly link the applicant’s achievements to the Fund’s strategic plan and KPIs.
Objective: Specific strategic plan objective / item
Response: Action (what activities were undertaken)
Result: Outcome / KPI / Result
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Your entry will be treated with the strictest confidence at all times by our judging panel. The selection panel is listed below.
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Applications opened 13th June.
Applications closed 12th July
Selection panel will meet to review applications mid July.
The winner will be announced at the FEAL Members’ Dinner Thursday 1st August 2024.
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Supporting documentation can include (but is not limited to):
• References
• Portfolios
• Media / Websites
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Yes, you can nominate again the following year.
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Past recipients can be viewed above under the heading Past Winners.
Selection Panel
Brian Delaney, FEAL Chair
Bern Reilly, 2023 Award recipient
Lisa Samuels, HESTA and FEAL Director
Gemma Kyle, Rest Super and FEAL Director
Will Harvey, Melbourne Business School
Terms & Conditions
Any nomination received after the deadline of 5.00pm AEST on the close date will not be considered. The decision of the selection panel is final
To be considered, the nominee must be a member of FEAL who is a CEO or C-Suite executive or equivalent within an Australian superannuation fund
Each nomination will be considered on its own merit. FEAL Directors are eligible for nomination. Former award recipients are also eligible for nomination where there is sufficient and compelling evidence of new achievements worthy of recognition
The award recipient must be employed with their organisation at the time of the award presentation
Chosen course / AICD Company Directors course will be taken within 2 years of award of the scholarship/award
The award recipient must use the business education grant to undertake an executive education program that is approved by the award selection panel. The education program should be undertaken within 24 months of the award presentation
The award recipient may be called upon to share insights gained from the award education experience with FEAL members
The education grant of $30,000 can be used by the recipient at a business school of their choice
