The Conference of Major Super Funds (CSMF) was held last week at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. More than 1000 delegates heard from a diverse group of speakers – regulators, industry associations, industry super funds and experts across the pension. The event highlighted the challenges of changing corporate culture, provided an update on insurance reform and hosted an intense debate on the sole purpose test which some feel is due for an overhaul.
AlphaCert’s CEO Phil Pietersen was there and found two of the plenary sessions to be particularly valuable experiences that provided insight into the future of superannuation in the wake of the Royal Commission report.
CEO of AustralianSuper, Ian Silk, drew on his wealth of experience at the helm of Australia’s largest super fund. Focussing on leadership and holistic approaches to earning members’ trust, this session provided an exclusive insight into the challenges and opportunities facing the $1.4 trillion profit-to-member super sector.
This was followed by a panel discussion that Ian joined, voicing his opinion that the need for data across all areas of investment management is going to grow significantly. The journey that AustralianSuper has been on in regards to data management is one that AlphaCert has been proud to play a role in.
Day two’s highlight was the plenary session, which focussed on poor culture as a driver of greed and misconduct as a key theme of the Royal and Productivity Commissions. The Productivity Commission was calling for major changes to super, and it was followed by the Royal Commission which released 76 recommendations concerning the banks, super funds and other financial organisations. The panel dissected the key findings of both Commissions and provided their insights into the potential impact on profit-to-member super funds and the wider financial services sector.
They agreed that the vision and values of an organisation start at the board and the chair through to the chief executive and the management team. They discussed how critical culture is in driving business outcomes. AlphaCert, as a values-led organisation, certainly resonates with these views.
It was also great to see that Women in Super (WIS) celebrated 25 years at CMSF 2019. WIS has achieved a lot since it began as a networking breakfast discussion and has become the voice of women in superannuation.
Overall, the conference was a very enjoyable one and well worth attending. It was a great opportunity to not only dissect the Royal Commission and other key industry trends and developments but to also look to the future and engage in ideas and discuss how data and systems play a major role in solutions.
What does best practice in enterprise data management look like, whether you in superannuation or other investment management sectors? Download our resource on the subject.