Cbus chief executive, David Atkin, has been named the winner of the 2017 Fund Executive Association Limited (FEAL) Fund Executive of the Year award.
Atkin won the award at a FEAL members’ dinner held in Melbourne on 2 August for his market contribution in areas such as environmental, social, and governance (ESG), diversity, the indigenous community, and unpaid super as well as his leadership at Cbus.
FEAL CEO, Joanna Davison, said: “Stand out examples of where David has had the most impact include his successful championing of innovation, sustainability, and the development of a new investment strategy to benefit members”.
“He has also ensured that Cbus has been at the forefront of public policy debate which has resulted in Cbus being the recipient of numerous awards under David’s leadership.”
Atkin has been Cbus CEO since 2008, the industry default fund which manages more than $40 billion on behalf of 770,000 members in the building and construction industry.
Atkin has also been the Australian asset owner representative on the Principles of Responsible Investment Council since 2009, is a member of the CEO Panel for the Investor Group on Climate Change, and is an Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Investors Working Group member for the 30 per cent club, which campaigns for 30 per cent of women on Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) 200 boards by the end of 2018.
Australia’s corporate regulator has been told it must quickly modernise its oversight of private markets, after being caught off guard by the complexity, size, and opacity of the asset class now dominating institutional portfolios.
ASIC chair Joe Longo has delivered a blunt warning to superannuation trustees, cautioning that board-level ignorance of member complaints and internal failings will not be tolerated and could trigger enforcement action.
ART has cautioned regulators against imposing overlapping obligations on superannuation funds already operating under APRA’s comprehensive framework, saying that additional oversight should be “carefully targeted to address potential gaps in other parts of the market”.
The super fund has appointed Simone Van Veen as chief member officer.