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(June-2002) Breaking down the barriers
Since being appointed the TWU Superannuation Fund’s (TWU Super) chair in November 2000, David Galbally has been steering the fund slowly out of the storms of the past few years into much calmer waters.
Galbally is a practicing QC who specialises in white-collar crimes and commercial litigation, and has expertise in corporate governance and general risk management. For this reason, he was first approached by an affiliated individual looking for legal advice for the fund, but the relationship soon grew.
“They were looking for an independent director that could assist with the fund’s restructure and take it into the future ... It was another challenge for me and I have always had an empathy for the transport industry,” says Galbally.
As a director of the Australian Football League team Collingwood Football Club for eight years, legal adviser to the club for 10 years and current chair of the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital centre for hormonal research, Galbally had the right credentials for the top job, despite having no previous involvement in superannuation.
TWU Super had its fair share of problems at the time he came aboard, including the legal action taken against it by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for providing members with misleading information about disability cover (which has since been resolved).
Indeed, one of Galbally’s first challenges was to sort out TWU Super’s administration. After taking this function in-house, the fund had failed to meet the June 30, 2000, member statement distribution deadline. The solution was to outsource this back to Australian Administration Services in December 2000. It had previously played a partial role in the fund’s administration.
Other side issues soon became apparent, including custody weaknesses and communication problems within the fund, among the board members and with its members.
“There was also a perception that the fund was union based and not all the employers were 100 per cent behind the fund and that needed to be overcome. I think employers had the view that by allowing the fund into the workplace, you were helping bring the union on board,” Galbally says.
With the assistance of hard working fund secretary Bill McMillin, who previously worked with Mercer, Galbally began developing a strategy to take the fund forward.
The changes that followed included the fund’s custodian Permanent Trustee Company being replaced by National Custodian Services in March last year and Mercer Investment Consulting being appointed as the new asset consultant in December 2001, taking over from Frontier Investment Consulting which had held the role for several years.
To restore the fund’s reputation and eliminate the “union labels”, Galbally says he spends much time speaking to employers at breakfasts, lunches and other engagements, dispelling misconceptions about the fund.
“Our research now shows this situation is slowly changing because TWU Super is not a union fund. It is an industry fund and has representation from both employers and employees and I sit between them as an independent chair,” Galbally says.
In addition to conducting regular training seminars, TWU Super organised a recent weekend retreat for its board members where they could discuss the future direction of the fund. The retreat was also aimed at encouraging trustees to better work together and to increase their knowledge about their duties, corporate governance issues, superannuation reform and other issues.
“We are now pulling all together with the one objective, which is to enhance and grow the fund. We will be examining the image of the fund and further enhancing communications for our members through our advertising and Web site,” Galbally says.
As part of this drive, Galbally has called in Trevor Flett of FHA Consulting — who participated in the imaging and branding of the Sydney 2000 Olympics — to develop a strategy and present this to the board at its next meeting in June.
The board is also examining the possibility of using the related entity Transuper, which also services employers across Australia in the transport industry, to help grow TWU Super’s membership and attract other superannuation funds to merge with it.
On a personal level, Galbally says playing golf and spending time on the farm helps him to relax. But he is quick to add that having been part of the fund’s redevelopment, he hopes to see the changes fully implemented and to remain at the helm as long as his services are required.
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