Investment promotions at Rest and TelstraSuper

Rest and Telstra Super have made promotions in their investment teams while First Super has made a board appointment. 

The $70 billion Rest super fund has appointed Rob Leck as its head of risk and compliance (investments).

This is a promotion from his current role as senior manager, total portfolio risk and regulatory modelling within the investments team that he has held since November 2021. 

He joined Rest from independent research firm Cutter Associates and previously worked at QSuper, Cbus, and Vanguard Australia. 

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In the new role, he will report to Stephanie Lyons who joined the firm in September as general manager for risk and compliance (investments). She previously worked as chief risk officer at EISS Super for nine years.

Gemma Kyle, chief risk officer at Rest, said: “Rob has strong expertise and experience in investment risk, and will bring a deep knowledge of Rest’s investment framework and portfolios into this new role.

“The recent appointments of leaders of Rob and Stephanie’s calibre speaks to our determination to continually build the expertise within our risk and compliance area, and ultimately help the fund enhance our members’ interests.”

Last month, the fund announced its chief financial officer Kulwant Singh-Pangly has departed after almost two and half years to join Queensland Treasury Corporation. Prior to joining Rest, he spent almost nine years at QSuper, of which he was the group chief financial officer for over five years.

Meanwhile, over at the $25 billion TelstraSuper, David Schneider has been appointed as head of investment strategy.

Schneider has worked at the fund since 2018 when he joined the fund as head of asset allocation in Melbourne.

He previously spent a decade at UniSuper where he was head of research and quant methods. 

As part of the investment strategy team change, James Morris has been promoted to senior manager for investment strategy and asset allocation and James Jackson has been appointed as associate manager for investment strategy and risk. 

Both Morris and Jackson will report to Schneider as well as David Fong, senior portfolio manager for investment strategy and overlays. 

The role of the investment strategy team includes setting strategic asset allocation, modelling and managing fund liquidity, managing foreign exchange risk and rebalancing the portfolio, among others. 

Graeme Miller, chief investment officer at Telstra Super, said: “TelstraSuper has always sought to distinguish ourselves through the quality and depth of the research and analysis that we carry out. There is no better example of this than our investment strategy team.”

Lastly, First Super has appointed Mick Stephens as associate director on its board. 

The fund has its history in being a super fund for forestry and timber workers and Stephens is current chief executive of Timber Queensland and a director of Forestry Australia, having worked in the forestry sector for 30 years. 

This has included time across public policy, research, and advocacy where he addressed issues affecting the sector including climate change and sustainability. 

First Super CEO, Bill Watson, said: “Mick’s abiding passion for forestry and the wood products industry is demonstrated by the breadth and depth of his experience.

“His professional experience in natural resource management, public policy and market analysis are a great addition to First Super.”

Founded in 1975 as a fund for employees working in pulp and paper industries in regional Australia, First Super has more than 50,000 members and $4 billion in funds under management. 

Click here to read Super Review’s round-up of the latest people moves in the third quarter of 2023.