The super funds have appointed Ross Barry as chief investment officer, who was most recently leading investment at First State.
Dr Barry is due to join MTAA Super from 28 September, from his hiring completing the combined funds’ leadership team.
The C-suite moving forward will see MTAA chief executive Leeanne Turner retain her role as CEO and MTAA general manager of finance Grace Angeles become CFO of the merged fund.
Tasplan manager for operational change Kathleen Crawford will be chief operations officer, while MTAA general counsel and company secretary Amy Ward will take the role of chief of governance, risk and compliance.
From Tasplan, chief financial officer Ningning Lyons will become chief strategy officer of the merged fund and executive manager for people and culture Robyn Judd will be chief of people and culture.
The funds have signalled both of them will see executives exit following completion of the merger. The first departure will take place in mid-October: MTAA super executive manager, investments Phil Brown will step down after 15 years.
The MTAA Super exits following the merger will be deputy CEO Michael Sykes; executive manager, operations Chris Porter and Michael Irving, executive manager of marketing, communications, education and advice.
From Tasplan, CEO Wayne Davy, chief operations officer and deputy CEO Nick Connor, executive manager of strategy Keryn Welch, chief risk officer Greg Hanigan and acting chief investment officer David Stuart are set to leave.
CEO designate of the new merged entity Leeanne Turner said the executives from both funds had been “instrumental” in driving the merger.
“We are excited about the future,” Ms Turner said.
“This merger will allow us to provide the personal customer of a smaller fund while harnessing the benefits of scale a larger fund can bring.”
Tasplan chair Naomi Edwards said the focus is now on completing the merger with minimal disruption to employers.
“To date, the merger process has been very smooth and we want to keep it that way,” Ms Edwards said.
“So, having our C-suite structure in place early is critical. I’m very excited about the team we have put together and I have no doubt they will build a fund that our members can be proud of.”
Sarah Simpkins
Sarah Simpkins is a journalist at Momentum Media, reporting primarily on banking, financial services and wealth.
Prior to joining the team in 2018, Sarah worked in trade media and produced stories for a current affairs program on community radio.
You can contact her on [email protected].
