Kate Farrar, current chief executive of LGIAsuper has been appointed to lead the merged fund from July.
Ms Farrar has been at the helm of LGIAsuper for three years. Previously, she was the chief operating officer of Ergon Energy Retail, the CEO of QEnergy and a senior implementation leader for McKinsey.
LGIAsuper and Energy Super will continue to operate under their existing brands as they form a $120 billion fund, with around 120,000 members.
LGIAsuper chair John Smith commented Ms Farrar’s track record in superannuation, organisational transformation and energy made her the ideal candidate to lead the funds.
“In three years, Kate has improved member outcomes and satisfaction, lowered the fund’s cost of providing administration services by 30 per cent and grown the fund by $2 billion,” Mr Smith said.
“Her history of working in the energy sector also ensures that she understands not only LGIAsuper’s members, but also the industries in which many of Energy Super’s 48,000 members work. As well as a being a current member of LGIAsuper, Kate was herself an Energy Super member during her years in the sector.
“Both boards are confident that Kate will lead our combined organisation to be a strong, boutique Queensland-centric super fund that will generate better outcomes for members.”
Energy Super CEO Robyn Petrou, who has led the fund for more than 12 years, will work with Ms Farrar during the transition period.
The funds are working on establishing a joint organisation and a single MySuper product, to take effect from July.
Ms Farrar stated her role represented an opportunity to “build a sustainable boutique super fund”.
“Both funds have similar and complementary strengths and pride ourselves on being Queensland-centric and delivering personalised service to members in their communities and workplaces,” she said.
“Over the coming months, I will be meeting with Energy Super and LGIAsuper members to understand how our combined fund can best deliver for them and help them achieve their retirement goals.”
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].
