The Leadership Shift: Skills to Lead Tomorrow’s Super Funds
FEAL Superannuation Leaders Forum
12 March 2026 | Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park
Australia’s superannuation system has evolved and grown exponentially over the past three decades. But the future brings new challenges: larger and more complex organisations, heightened regulatory scrutiny, rising member expectations and an accelerating pace in geo-political and investment market uncertainty.
Against this backdrop today’s fund executives are entering what may well be their most consequential leadership phase yet. Scrutiny is sharper, the margin for error has never been smaller and a senior executive’s success will increasingly depend on the ability to lead with foresight, judgement, ethics and adaptability in an environment of constant change and heightening demands.
The 2026 FEAL Superannuation Leaders Forum brings together executives who carry enterprise-level leadership and managerial accountabilities, who through interactive, thought-provoking sessions will gain valuable insights and practical tools to strengthen their decision-making edge, to assist them in an increasingly complex, highly visible and demanding industry.
Program outline
Looking Ahead: Skills for the Future
Australia’s compulsory superannuation system has transformed retirement outcomes for millions of Australians, but this transformation did not happen by chance.
Our opening session sets the context for the day with a brief reflection on our retirement system and superannuation industry’s evolution, highlighting how fund leaders have navigated growth, consolidation, governance reform, crises and ever-increasing stakeholder, member and public scrutiny, to build the world-class system we have today.
More importantly, this session explores what that leadership journey teaches us about the demands and challenges now facing today’s, and tomorrow’s, fund executives. Helping us do that, we’ll draw on the experience of Chris Cuffe, a doyen of Australia’s financial services sector, including having built a number of successful wealth management practices, chaired UniSuper and Australian Philanthropic Services, and now playing an instrumental role across a portfolio of activities including a number of directorships, investment committees and in various roles assisting the not-for-profit sector.
The session will challenge participants to consider:
how leadership expectations in superannuation have fundamentally shifted
which past leadership strengths remain essential, and which are no longer sufficient
what today’s fund leaders must do differently as funds grow larger, more visible and more complex
Chris Cuffe
Following a five year period with chartered accountants Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co (now KPMG), Chris Cuffe entered the funds management industry in 1985. In 1988 he joined Colonial First State where he was CEO from 1990 until 2003. During this period the company grew from a start-up operation to become Australia's largest investment manager. In 2003 he then became CEO of the listed Challenger Financial Services Group. In 2006, Chris joined non-profit organisation Social Ventures Australia (SVA) as an Executive Director.
Since 2009 Chris has been involved in a portfolio of activities in the investment and non-profit sectors.
Chris is past director of UniSuper from 2007-2011 (and Chairman from 2011-2017) and also served on their investment committee from 2009-2025. He also founded Australian Philanthropic Services (a not-for-profit organisation which inspires, facilitates and educates Australia’s high net worth community and the professional advisers that support them about effective philanthropy) and was Chairman from 2012-2025.
Chris holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of NSW and a Diploma from the Securities Institute of Australia. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand
In October 2007 Chris was inducted into the Australian Fund Manager’s RBS Hall of Fame for services to the investment industry. In 2017 he was appointed as an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia.
Ethical Decision-Making in Complexity
Led by Jacqueline Stone from the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership, this interactive workshop will provide practical frameworks for making sound decisions under pressure, through an ethical lens—a critical capability for leaders navigating today’s challenges.
Jacqueline Stone, Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership
Jacqueline is an experienced venture capital company director, executive and practicing lawyer.
Jacqueline has deep knowledge in corporate ethics, having recently completed a Master of Arts (Professional and Applied Ethics) at the University of Melbourne. She also has degrees in Law and Economics.
Jacqueline’s focus on corporate ethics also draws on wide experience in banking, as a lawyer for a top-tier law firm, as Strategy Manager for the Victorian Bar and, for eight years, as a director in the venture capital industry.
Leadership at Scale: Lessons in Strategy, Governance and Member Outcomes
Fund consolidation has accelerated some funds’ growth and scale, while others have pursued a different competitive path, seeing leaders face fundamentally different challenges depending on scale.
This panel session brings together senior executives from large and mid-sized funds: Mark Delaney, CIO & Deputy CEO of AustralianSuper, Vasyl Nair, CEO of Team Super and Luke Symons, CEO, legalsuper, to explore how divergent scale shapes strategy, governance, investment decision-making and member outcomes. Through candid discussion, our panel will examine what scale enables, where it constrains, and how leaders of funds with significant and lesser scale can remain agile, focused and competitive, while staying true to member-first purpose.
Mark Delaney, CIO & Deputy CEO, AustralianSuper
Mark was appointed Chief Investment Officer and Deputy CEO of AustralianSuper in July 2006 after the ARF and STA merger.
Mark has the formidable responsibility of investing currently over AUD $410 billion of member’s retirement savings.
He has expanded AustralianSuper’s in-house investment management capabilities combining this with external advisers to continue to deliver top quartile investment returns.
Mark has over 20 years’ experience in financial markets. He was previously the CEO of STA and prior to that the Head of Investments at STA. Mark has also held senior positions with AXA and Federal Treasury. He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Mark is a Director of IFM Investor Advisory Board.
He was appointed as Chair of the Pacific Pension & Investment Institute (PPI) on 1 March 2023.
Vasyl Nair, CEO, Team Super
Vasyl is the Chief Executive Officer of Team Super (prior to this, Vasyl held the roles of Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Chief Risk Officer and Chief Strategy Officer). Vasyl is a keen advocate for the ongoing development of the superannuation sector, with active participation in a number of different parts of the industry. He has served as a director of an Australian fintech organisation, specialising in superannuation and investment administration. Vasyl was appointed to the Board of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) as Director in January 2025.
Vasyl has a strong background in law, corporate finance and strategy, having held senior roles across at some of Australia’s largest financial services institutions. Vasyl holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hon), Bachelor of Commerce, Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice and an Executive Master of Business Administration. He is admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW as a solicitor, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has achieved a Certificate of Business Excellence from the Haas School of Business, U.C. Berkeley.
Future-Ready Leadership Skills
Delivered by Rhonda Brighton-Hall and James Hancock from Wickvale, this session will focus on the capabilities leaders need to succeed in tomorrow’s superannuation environment, ensuring they are prepared for both the challenges and opportunities that come from rapid change and increasing complexity.
Rhonda Brighton-Hall, CEO and Founder, Wickvale
Rhonda is renowned for her great depth of thinking and global experience in leadership and culture that includes and enables best contributions from individuals, teams and organisations. She is quietly trusted by exceptional Boards, CEOs and Executives around the world to both solve significant challenges, and navigate the most critical opportunities and transitions. With 30 years’ experience in people and culture, M&A, and process engineering, Rhonda has led the culture, and organisational development, and communication functions globally and locally for four organisations. Her career has spanned large-listed multinationals and the private sector, living and working Europe, USA, Asia, and Australia.
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Bachelor (Org Psych| IR), Post Grad (Org Psych), Dip (Strategic HR) (London Business School), APICS Accreditation (Process Design). MAICD, Fellow CPHR Telstra Businesswomen of the Year, HR leader of the Year (Asia Pac and Australia), and Human Capital Hall of Fame inductee.
Guest lecturer at the University of Sydney Business School, and a member of the University of Sydney’s School of Psychology Advisory Board.
James Hancock, MD and Co-Founder, Wickvale
James has built a successful career growing people, culture, and organisations. His sharply balanced empathy, commercial focus, and drive for sustainable outcomes, comes from a diverse set of executive experience in Financial Services in senior HR, Global Markets, Strategy and Digital roles. At Wickvale, James has partnered on Culture, Organisational Development and Optimisation with Boards and Executives across Financial Services and Investment Banking, Private Equity, Educational Institutions and Government.
His rounded corporate and consulting expertise with a growing Director portfolio, including as a NED of the Australian Online Giving Foundation and AHRI NSW State Council Vice President, Membership.
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Bachelor of Business Administration (HR) and Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) Macquarie University, Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Fellow CPHR
HR Consultant of the Year (Society of Human Resource Management – Philadelphia), Technology Impact Finalist (Australian Human Resource Institute)
Guest Lecturer at Macquarie Business School in Strategic Human Resource Management.
FEAL Annual Members’ Dinner: Celebrating Leadership, Legacy and the Future of the Industry
The Forum culminates in FEAL’s Annual Members’ Dinner, an evening that recognises excellence, builds enduring connections and looks ahead to the forces shaping superannuation over the next decade.
This is where the profit-to-member industry’s leaders come together to celebrate impact, acknowledge emerging talent, and engage in forward-looking conversation beyond the formal agenda.
Over dinner we’ll be announcing and celebrating the 2026 Fund Executive of the Year, awarding the winners of the Michael Dwyer Leadership Scholarship, AICD Scholarship and MBS Masters Program Scholarships and hearing from the most recent graduates of MBS Masters of Organisational Leadership.
Our dinner speaker and renowned expert in human behaviour and market trends, Simon Corah, will explore the key trends set to impact the industry over the next 5-10 years, and highlight key challenges and opportunities.
Simon Corah, Futurist, Entrepeneur and Expert in Human Behaviour and Trends
An expert in human behaviour and trends, and a successful entrepreneur, Simon Corah has over 25 years of experience developing evidence-based strategies for business transformation.
Drawing on his exceptional international experience and expertise, backed by extensive research, he develops strategies that enable businesses to transform themselves to capture emerging markets.
Simon worked for the Saatchi brothers for 25 years from 1983 to 2007, starting as a graduate trainee in London, before moving to Sydney after five years. He became MD of Saatchis in Taiwan (1991), then CEO of Ireland (1992-95) before returning to Australia to found M&C Saatchi Australia in May 1995.
Over the following 12 years, Simon built M&C Saatchi up to become a top three Australian Agency, with a range of blue-chip clients, 300 staff and $50 million in revenues.
Following the sale of M&C Saatchi to AIM on the UK stock exchange, Simon left in 2007, to start Growth Mantra, a boutique strategy consultancy focused on growth. The agency forecasts markets to spot growth opportunities, then develops and brings strategies to life. Growth Mantra has worked with AGL, Bupa, Coca-Cola, Diageo, McDonald’s, NAB, Optus, Tabcorp and Woolworths.
Together, the Forum and Members’ Dinner offer a rare opportunity to both enhance your leadership capabilities and strengthen the relationships that underpin, influence and support executive networking and camaraderie across the sector.
Why attend?
If you are a senior executive in superannuation, the questions, challenges and opportunities you face are beyond theoretical - they are immediate, visible, and consequential, for your fund and its members and your leadership legacy.
The FEAL Superannuation Leaders Forum is a valuable opportunity to step back from operational demands and engage with peers. You will gain practical frameworks for ethical decision-making, sharpen the leadership capabilities required to navigate scale and complexity and test your thinking alongside some of the industry’s most respected leaders.
And attending the FEAL Members’ Dinner will extend the value of the day, strengthening relationships, celebrating excellence across the sector and engaging in forward-looking discussion with peers about the things that will define the next decade of superannuation leadership.
The FEAL Superannuation Leaders Forum is more than a conference. It is a leadership development opportunity and commitment for you and your organisation and, beyond the Forum’s sessions, offers a unique opportunity to connect with peers, share experiences, and build relationships that strengthen our industry.
Participants will leave with practical frameworks, fresh perspectives, and actionable strategies to lead confidently in the face of complexity and change.
Cost:
Forum & Dinner
FEAL Members $1,240
FEAL Sponsors $1,510
Forum only
FEAL Members $1,080
FEAL Sponsors $1,310
Dinner only
FEAL Members $300
FEAL Sponsors $370
Pricing above is GST inclusive
Please note the Forum & Dinner are both open to members and sponsors only
An early bird 10% discount is available until 9th January 2026, enter code 26fealEB when registering
Forum
9.30am tea & coffee, 10.00am
Pre dinner drinks & canapés
6.00pm - 7.00pm
Dinner
7.00pm - 9.30pm (AEDT)
Sponsored in partnership with
