Fund People Update

Hostplus farewells chair after 15 years

David Elmslie is stepping down at Hostplus as chair after 15 years, being replaced by Damien Frawley. Frawley is the former chief executive at QIC for a decade before retiring.

Frontier welcomes new chair

Gabriel Szondy is retiring as chair of Frontier, a role he has maintained since 2014 while being on the board since 2008. Angela Emslie is replacing Szondy, being a director of the board since 2011. Emslie also chairs Suicide Prevention Australia and Assemble, while also being a non-executive director of Reinsurance Group of America ANZ and State Trustees, amongst other roles.

Vanguard welcomes head of ESG product

Sybil Dixon is leaving UniSuper after 14 years to join Vanguard as head of ESG product, to build on the superannuation fund’s ESG and sustainability targets.

UniSuper makes investment team changes

After Simon Hudson left the UniSuper investment team as head, investment head John Pearce made changes to the investment team. Hudson will sit on the advisory board of its venture capital partnership, Uniseed. Hudson’s replacement is Penny Heard, who was previously overseeing global equities and quant strategies. Thomas Tam, formerly under Heard, is to move into Heard’s position.

Leadership of property and unlisted investments has been split, with Kent Robbins continuing to lead the $9.5 billion property strategy, while Sandra Lee is the new head of private market, leading UniSuper’s $10 billion infrastructure and private equity strategy, from just covering unlisted infrastructure assets. The investment leadership team is now sitting at seven people.

State Super appoints director

Cathy Yuncken is the latest addition to the board of directors as a non-executive director of State Super. Yuncken is the managing director of See Y, a financial adviser and has a long track record in the industry, including as general manager of Westpac’s commercial bank and private wealth arm.

ASX adds one, loses one board member

As Dr Ken Henry retires, Dr Heather Smith has been appointed to the ASX board. Dr Smith has a PhD in economics and a public service background. Dr Henry has been on the board since 2013.

Citi appoints new head of equity capital markets

Rob Jahrling is the new head of equity capital markets for Australia and New Zealand at Citi. Jahrling moves into the role from co-head of equity capital markets.

Future Fund loses CIO, deputy CIO

Sue Brake is leaving Future Fund as chief investment officer for family reasons. David George, her deputy, only announced weeks ago that he was leaving to join Magellan Asset Managment, leading to changes in the investment team.

A replacement is being sought, with three deputies being Wendy Norris, Ben Samild and Alicia Gregory in change and innovation, portfolio construction, and private markets respectively.

Aware Real Estate launches, appoints founding CEO

Aware Super has set up a local property platform, Aware Real Estate, and named its CEO as Michelle McNally. McNally joins from ISPT in senior roles.