Boss of $260bn super giant steps down after historic merger

Australian Retirement Trust chief executive Bernard Reilly has announced his resignation two years after he oversaw the creation of the $260bn pension fund.

Australian Retirement Trust (ART) chief executive Bernard Reilly has announced his resignation two years after he oversaw the creation of the $260bn pension fund in the biggest merger to date in the superannuation sector.

Mr Reilly, a former banker with State Street, said he would leave Brisbane-based ART in February allowing time for a replacement to be found.

Mr Reilly previously served as boss of Sunsuper, which merged with QSuper to create ART in February 2022. He said he would “forever be honoured” to have been the inaugural chief executive of what is now one of the country’s largest pension funds with 2.3 million members.

“This has been an enormous decision for my family and I, but I know that I am stepping away at the right time for Australian Retirement Trust,” Mr Reilly said.
“I will leave behind a highly experienced and talented executive team. This really is the best job in finance but there is a risk that leaders can stay too long in a role.”

Mr Reilly, 54, said he would be looking for new job opportunities in the financial sector after leaving ART.

He said there was likely there would be more consolidation between funds, noting the $3 trillion sector ‘cannot rest on its laurels” as more Australian moved to retire.

Mr Reilly was last month given the industry’s top gong by the Fund Executive Association for his role in the$230bn merger of Sunsuper and QSuper.

ART’s balanced fund is the second best performer in the country after returning 9.88 per cent over the past three years, according to SuperRatings.

Australian Retirement Trust’s chair Andrew Fraser thanked Mr Reilly for his leadership and paid tribute to the organisational culture he would leave behind.

A global executive search has started for Mr Reilly’s replacement.

Bernard Reilly. Picture: Sarah Keayes/The Photo Pitch

“Bern will leave an incredible legacy, having played an integral role in delivering Australia’s largest superannuation merger to create Australian Retirement Trust,” said Mr Fraser.

“Bern has expertly guided ART to deliver merger benefits to our more than 2.3 million members and grow funds under administration to more than $260b.

“But I think the thing Bern should be proudest of, and a true testament to his leadership capabilities, is the culture he has helped grow across our organisation.”

Bernard Reilly spent 25 years at State Street, including a stint in Hong Kong, before joining Sunsuper as pre-merger chief executive in 2019.

He revealed earlier this year that has an identical twin who also works in finance.

“It’s a funny story but when I was leaving Hong Kong to come back to Australia and my brother was arriving to take up a job with a big bank, I said to the head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority that you may see someone who looks like me but it won’t actually be me,” Mr Reilly said. “I then had to have the whole discussion about having a twin.”

Mr Reilly also has revealed his father was his original mentor.

“Bob Reilly is 92 years old and has no superannuation,” he said.

“He grew up as an only child in a single parent household in Glasgow in the 1930s and he will tell you it was an incredibly bleak place to grow up. He worked all his life until the age of 75. That role model around hard work really stuck with me.”