Media Super has appointed Graeme Russell, current First Super chief executive, as its head.
Russell will replace the long-serving chief executive, Ross Martin, early in 2013. Martin announced his departure from the fund last month.
Media Super chair Gerard Noonan said Russell's media background put him in a unique position to lead the fund.
"It's a very challenging environment for printing, publishing and journalism at present," he said.
Noonan said Russell had proven his worth at First Super, leaving the fund with solid investment returns and lower costs than many of the larger funds.
He said the new chief executive had shown his support for the not-for-profit community, being involved with the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) and the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), as well as collectively owned vehicles like IFM, IFS, ME Bank and Frontier Advisors.
"Graeme is a great advocate for open, transparent governance - his fund was the leader in campaigning to disclose full directors' fees and chief executive salary.
"They just didn't talk, they did it," he said.
The research house has offered a silver lining after super fund returns saw the end of a five-month streak last month.
A survey of almost 6,000 fund members has identified weakening retirement confidence, particularly among those under 55 years of age, signalling an opportunity for super funds to better engage with members on their retirement journey.
The funds have confirmed the signing of a successor fund transfer deed, moving closer to creating a new $29 billion entity.
A number of measures, including super on Paid Parental Leave, funding to recover unpaid super, and frameworks to encourage investment in the energy transition, have been welcomed by the superannuation industry.
Add new comment