Rest, a $75 billion superannuation fund, has announced the appointment of John O’Sullivan as its new chief financial officer (CFO).
As CFO, Mr O’Sullivan will be responsible for leading Rest’s finance and investment operations (F&IO) team with accountability for financial strategy, management and reporting, valuations, actuarial, portfolio governance, taxation and investment operations.
Rest described Mr O’Sullivan as an experienced financial services executive and qualified actuary who has worked across banking, insurance, and super for more than 20 years.
He will join Rest after 15 years at Ernst & Young, and after working closely with the super fund over the past five years as a consultant. Most recently, he stepped in to lead Rest’s F&IO team during the recruitment process for its new CFO.
Rest confirmed that Mr O’Sullivan will join the super fund from 22 January 2024 and will report to chief executive officer Vicki Doyle.
“John’s deep experience and knowledge is a welcome contribution to Rest as we continue to focus on delivering the best possible retirement outcomes for our nearly 2 million members,” Ms Doyle said.
“I’m extremely pleased that John is bringing his wide industry experience and skill to Rest as we embark on the next phase of our mission to make the experience of super simple for our members.”
Commenting on his appointment, Mr O’Sullivan said: “I am excited and honoured to be joining Rest as chief financial officer and have the opportunity to support our members to grow their super balances.”
“Regardless of background or balance, everyone is entitled to a fair and equitable superannuation system. I look forward to contributing to members’ positive outcomes through my leadership of the finance and investment operations function at Rest.”
Rest recently named Enrico Burgio as its head of public policy. Mr Burgio is responsible for delivering the fund’s public affairs strategy through central coordination of its public policy positions, including strategic government and stakeholder engagement
The fund also recently appointed Richard Mercado to the role of head of internal global equities as part of its ongoing plan to internalise certain investment strategies.
According to Rest, Mr Mercado will play a key role in establishing and building out a dedicated internal global equities management capability. He will be responsible for implementing an active, fundamental stock-picking strategy at the super fund.
Jon Bragg
Jon Bragg is a journalist for Momentum Media's Investor Daily, nestegg and ifa. He enjoys writing about a wide variety of financial topics and issues and exploring the many implications they have on all aspects of life.
