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HESTA

This Month

Can Meg O’Neill deliver Woodside’s $100b gamble?

The ambitious chief executive is on the front line of the climate change wars. And she has big plans to turn the local LNG giant into a global powerhouse.

Vanguard Super CIO Duncan Burns said “equities have had a great run” over the last three years; however, he said valuations were “stretched” and liable to fall.

Two retail super funds outperformed many larger industry rivals

Booming equity markets have boosted two of the biggest retail superannuation funds to return rates nearing 13 per cent over the past financial year.

Kent Robbins head of property UniSuper.

Why this $140b industry super fund likes shopping malls so much

By 2030, a growing population will need much more retail space to cater for its shopping needs. Even allowing for online buying, we are running out of malls.

ART chief investment officer Ian Patrick.

Super giant turns to Japan amid Trump trade fears

The country’s second-biggest superannuation fund is investing more heavily in Japan at the expense of local shares and the US.

June

PathZero Co-founder Carl Prins.

Pathzero reinforces green credentials for asset managers

Pathzero has developed the largest private markets emissions data network globally, and wins the small organisation category in the Sustainability Leaders list.

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HESTA’s Sonya Sawtell-Rickson said it was a “significant milestone” that all the super fund’s investment partners now are anticipated to have mixed-gender investment
teams this calendar year.

HESTA fund managers boost female ranks in diversity push

The superannuation giant is pushing to reform the male-dominated funds management sector, saying diverse teams make better investment decisions.

Big super’s cold feet stall Labor’s $10b low-cost housing plan

More than two years after pledging hundreds of millions of dollars to the flagship scheme, some pension funds are dragging their feet in financing developments.

AICD chair Naomi Edwards says that she would be open to annual elections of directors.

Directors’ club open to annual elections

Australian Institute of Company Directors chair Naomi Edwards says the business community could live with annual elections of directors.

HESTA’s big plan to invest in European student beds, self-storage

Big super funds have long had positions in real estate including offshore, but the pressure to go global is increasing as they outgrow opportunities at home.

May

Can Labor turn a big win into a green energy reality?

Clean energy advocates hope Labor can use the policy seeds planted in its first term to deliver its energy transition agenda. The reality will be much harder.

The AI start-up growing faster than Canva

Blackbird Ventures says medical AI start-up Heidi Health is on track to make $23 million in revenue this year.

HESTA boss Debby Blakey has criticised the board of MinRes for failing to address corporate governance concerns.

Super giant dumps MinRes stake as board changes loom

HESTA has sold its remaining holding after it criticised the Chris Ellison-led miner for its lack of action on improving its corporate governance.

Adam and Michelle Gilmour of Gilmour Space are poised for lift-off.

From banking to rocket science: the family behind Australia’s space bid

After two decades at Citibank, Adam Gilmour, his brother James and his wife Michelle are just days away from launching Australia’s first locally made space rocket.

Shaun McKenna says a wave of administration contracts is set to come up for renewal over the next 18 months, which he hopes to leverage to grow SS&C’s footprint.

This $29b US tech firm wants to shake up Australian superannuation

SS&C has grown its staffing levels by more than five times in less than three years as it readies to fight market leader MUFG for lucrative administration work.

April

Monique Neu was one of the early recipients of the technology.

‘Could be next Cochlear or ResMed’: heart device maker wins FDA approval

EBR Systems, backed by investors such as HESTA, Hostplus and private equity veteran Mark Carnegie, can start selling its technology within months.

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Industry organisations including the ACSI, ASFA, and Women in Super have been rocked by new phishing scams.

Cybercriminals impersonated super executives in week of mass breach

The attacks occurred in the same week hackers compromised the largest funds and siphoned retirement savings out of member accounts.

March

Roslyn Van Welie says too much is out of an employer’s control to enforce strict new standards that super appears in staff accounts within a week of their salary.

This ‘nightmare’ superannuation reform has small businesses worried

Small businesses owed $1.8 billion in unpaid super in 2023, now reforms aimed to make sure it is paid on time has them on edge.

ASIC chairman Joe Longo.

ASIC reads big super the riot act on death insurance, savings payouts

A review of how funds process insurance and savings payments to the families of dead members found excessive delays and serious customer service failings.

Most people at or nearing retirement age have far less superannuation than is recommended for a comfortable retirement.

Superannuation bosses submit their US travel bills

They may not have been staying at luxury hotels, but fund bosses still racked up some tidy bills on Kevin Rudd’s US superannuation junket.

Stagnant super fund boardrooms are about to get a mandatory gust of fresh air.

Who are the super directors facing APRA’s tenure limit?

There will scarcely be a board of a major industry super fund untouched if the prudential regulator comes after these lucrative patronages.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/company/hesta-1n57