International Business School Scholarship
Congratulations Sonya Sawtell-Rickson, Chief Investment Officer at HESTA. This scholarship enables Sonya to attend an international business school of her choice to undertake a course to develop skills in a general management (non-investment) discipline.
A scholarship opportunity was made possible with the support of Russell Investments and Natixis Investment Managers. Applications closed Friday 28th February, the winner will be announced at the Forum Dinner to be held on Wednesday 19th March.
Presented in partnership with
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I apply?
Applications closed 28th February 2025.
To apply for the International Business School Scholarship click on the ‘Apply Now’ tab to complete an online application form. If you need assistance please contact FEAL.
ELIGIBILITY
Current and aspiring CIOs, including Heads of asset classes in larger funds.
What is the selection panel looking for?
The selection panel is looking for concise, relevant and informative responses to the questions posed in the application form. In a two or three paragraph response provide a strong ‘business case’ as to why you should receive a scholarship this year. Consider what courses are available and identify one that would assist you in meeting your professional and career goals, or in achieving specific KPIs. Try to be clear and direct and help the selection panel understand how the scholarship opportunity would be helpful to you.
Who is on the selection panel?
Your application will be treated with the strictest confidence at all times by our selection panel: Brian Delaney - FEAL Chair, Chris Davies - TelstraSuper & FEAL Director, Louise Watson - Natixis, Richard Coia - Russell Investments, Chris Wildman - Robeco, Jon Shaw - MUFG Pension & Market Services, Liam Hennessy - Thomson Geer & Katrina Bacon - CEO, FEAL
Key dates to remember
Applications opened on 12th December 2024
Applications closed Friday 28th February 2025
I have submitted an application previously but was not successful – should I apply again?
Former applicants are encouraged to apply. Review your previous scholarship application and consider how you could improve it. Ensure the question responses reflect your current thoughts and needs.
I am not a FEAL member. Can I still apply?
The ability to receive FEAL scholarships is one of the benefits of FEAL membership. If you are not currently a member of FEAL then why not apply for membership and a scholarship at the same time. All FEAL members, whether new or existing, are eligible to receive a Scholarship. Click here for membership details.
“I had the pleasure of attending the “Authentic Leader Development” program at Harvard University a few weeks ago, with the goal of becoming a more effective leader. I met inspiring people from all around the globe with similar aspirations to me – to learn more about oneself, to better connect with people, to be more self-aware and importantly self-accepting and, to find one’s purpose and align with it. My key takeaways were:
Leadership is what happens in another human being when they’re around you
What am I doing to create an emotional bank account with the people around me?
You don’t have to be perfect to be unbelievable
Decide, don’t slide
How do I show up?
If you want to connect with someone, listen
Whose needs am I meeting when having a difficult conversation?
How do you manage a high need for achievement personality?
These valuable insights (and there were many others) from Professor Tom DeLong are helping me reflect and assess areas of self-improvement. Personal growth is a journey not a destination. ”
From Katrina Bacon, CEO, FEAL
”I recently had lunch with the sponsors and latest winners of the FEAL International Business School scholarship. At the lunch were Tim Furlan, Managing Director, Australia & New Zealand at Russell Investments; Louise Watson, Managing Director, Country Head Australia & New Zealand and Danny King, Head of Institutional Distribution, Australia & New Zealand at Natixis Investment Managers; 2023 scholarship winner Dominique d’Avrincourt, Head of Equities at TelstraSuper; 2022 scholarship winner Justine O’Connell, Head of Portfolio Construction, Asset Allocation at AustralianSuper; and 2021 scholarship winner Simon Esposito, Deputy CIO at Rest Super.
The FEAL International Business School scholarship is available to senior investment professionals within FEAL member funds and allows the winner to attend an international business school of their choice to undertake a course to develop skills in a general management (non-investment) discipline.
Simon, Dominique and Justine each thanked the sponsors for the opportunities that the scholarship has provided them and we all discussed and recognised the value in focussing the scholarship on courses to develop leadership skills. Investment professionals are exposed to many opportunities to learn technical investment skills but also face the same challenges as leaders as other executives in the industry.
It was interesting to hear about Simon and Justine’s approaches in determining which courses to undertake:
Simon elected to attend the Executing Strategy for Results module of the FEAL/MBS Masters program at the London Business School, being part of the cohort of fund executives and FEAL sponsors who completed this module in August 2022. Simon was attracted by the quality of teaching offered by the London Business School as well as the opportunity to study with his peers from across the FEAL member funds. As other participants of the FEAL/MBS program regularly report there is real value in being able to share stories and experiences with people from different disciplines across the industry: “the networking was fantastic”.
In contrast, Justine O’Connell, having spent time working in London earlier in her career, was attracted by the opportunity to study in Paris – who wouldn’t be! – as well as the strong reputation of INSEAD and completed the High Impact Leadership program at INSEAD’s Fontainebleau campus in February 2023. Justine enjoyed studying with participants from a broad range of industries (including pharmaceuticals, tech and even the arts) and locations (including Saudi Arabia, Germany and the Netherlands). She also valued the component of the course which was focussed on personal introspection, the time to think that we rarely manage to fit into our busy lives.
Both Simon and Justine said that they were able to apply key learnings from their courses back at work in their funds. The LBS course allowed each participant to work on an individual case study with the LBS tutors so that Simon was actually able to bring back implementable steps to a project that he was working on at Rest. The INSEAD course provided organisational frameworks that were directly applicable to the project that Justine was working on at AustralianSuper.
Dominique has already selected Harvard as her destination in May 2024 to undertake the Authentic Leader Development program which is a 6 day course focussing on developing self-awareness and emotional intelligence, creating “your own path to authentic leadership”. Louise was able to share her experience undertaking the 3 week High Potentials Leadership Program at Harvard in 2013/14.
It’s great that the scholarship allows such free choice with Simon, Justine and Dominique selecting such different locations – all at top-notch institutions - and such different courses. All credit again to Russell Investments and Natixis Investment Managers for supporting the industry in this way. For those interested in being the next beneficiary of this unique opportunity, applications for the scholarship to be awarded in March 2024 will open in December.”
Past Winners
2024 - Andrew Howard, Equip Super
2023 - Dominique d’Avrincourt, TelstraSuper
2022 - Simon Esposito, REST Industry Super
2021 - Justine O’Connell, AustralianSuper
2020 - Spiro Deftereos, HOSTPLUS
2019 - Ruwanie Dias, Commonwealth Bank Group Super
2018 - Damian Graham, StatePlus
2017 - Andrew Spence, Qantas Superannuation Ltd
2016 - Matthew Condon, Rio Tinto
Previous courses undertaking by recipients:
Authentic Leader Development program, Harvard
Executing Strategy for Results module of the FEAL/MBS Masters of Organisational Leadership held at the London Business School (next opportunity for this module will likely be September 2028)
High Impact Leadership program, INSEAD
Strategic Decision Making for Management, LSE
Advanced Leadership course, LSE
Terms and Conditions
Applications received after the specified deadline will not be considered
The decision of the selection panel is final and no subsequent correspondence will be entered into
The International Business School Scholarship is open to FEAL members
Non members who are Fund Executives from not-for-profit funds are eligible to apply. If successful you must join FEAL to receive your scholarship
Applicants must be employed with their fund at the time of the scholarship
Chosen course / AICD Company Directors course will be taken within 2 years of award of the scholarship/award
Successful applicants may be called upon to deliver a report to FEAL members
FEAL Directors are not eligible to apply
The scholarship covers airfares, accommodation and tuition up to a maximum of $30,000 (travel expenses and costs outside this must be covered by the recipient)