Committees

Chair

• S Somogyi

Members

• N Rubinsztein
• G McCulloch

Independent Consultants

• F Rowland
• S Woodhouse

Responsibilities

• reviewing the integrity of UniSuper’s financial reports and taxation position
• reviewing the effectiveness of the business risk management framework and the assurance provided by internal audit
• reviewing the effectiveness of the compliance and internal controls framework
• overseeing the performance and independence of the internal and external auditors
• reviewing the adequacy of UniSuper’s insurance program.

Chair

• J den Hollander

Members

• N Gower
• I Martin
• G McCulloch

Responsibilities

The Remuneration Committee makes recommendations to the Board on:

• Board remuneration
• total bonus and remuneration pools
• whole-of-company remuneration and reward strategies, policies and frameworks.

Chair

• N Rubinsztein

Members

• L Green
• J den Hollander

Independent non-directors

• S Gould
• J Lang

Member ex-officio, CEO UniSuper

• K O'Sullivan

Responsibilities

The Insurance Committee oversees the application and monitoring of the Insurance Management Framework, including:

• reviewing the Framework and Strategy on an annual basis
• monitoring the performance of the external insurer
• monitoring the services and functions outsourced to the Administrator
• considering and reviewing risks identified in UniSuper’s Risk Management Framework
• reporting quarterly to the Board on Claims data
• monitoring and overseeing the renewal process for group life policies.

Chair

• M Armour

Members

• I Martin
• P Dawkins

Independent non-director members

• C Cuffe
• A FitzGerald
• F Gates

Member ex-officio, CEO UniSuper

• K O'Sullivan

Responsibilities

Invests Fund assets in a manner consistent with the investment objectives set by the Board.

Other responsibilities include:

• investment policy
• investment strategy
• asset allocations
• investment performance
• appointing and monitoring investment managers.

Chair 

• M Armour

Members

• N Gower
• A Griffiths

Independent non-director members

• M Wright
• J Fahey

Member ex-officio, CEO UniSuper

• K O'Sullivan

Responsibilities

The Technology and Projects Committee is a committee established to enable the Board to focus on specific technology and project needs of the business.

The Committee assists the Board carry out its role in fulfilling its governance and oversight accountabilities to monitor and, where appropriate, approve the Technology Strategy.

Sarah Woodhouse B.Sc (Hons), FCA, GAICD

Ms Woodhouse has over 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry, having worked as an external audit partner, served as a board member and held number of leadership roles.

Ms Woodhouse has led engagements for some of the largest financial services firms on areas such as regulation, financial advice, superannuation and asset management, having also led engagements to design conduct frameworks to enhance governance and compliance practices and built superannuation risk and regulatory frameworks.

In the superannuation field, Ms Woodhouse acted as External Audit partner for two of Australia’s largest industry super funds and led Deloitte’s wealth management industry group for 10 years and hosted a series of events with the Financial Services Council which helped influence the strategic direction of the wealth management industry. Ms Woodhouse’s notable achievement was her appointment as the first female partner at Deloitte, New South Wales.

Fiona Rowland LLB (Hons), BA, Melb. GAICD

Ms Rowland has over 25 years’ experience in financial and trustee services, professional services/law, infrastructure/utilities, the public sector and in medical research.

Ms Rowland has broad experience in the areas of wealth, asset management, banking, superannuation and trustee services, well developed skills in key corporate functions such as customer engagement, strategy, product and platforms, investment governance, risk, compliance and technology.

Ms Rowland currently holds directorships with Melbourne Water Corporation, Infrastructure Specialist Asset Management Limited, Macquarie Life Limited, St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research and in May 2021 was appointed director of Macquarie Investment Services Limited. Past directorships include Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited and Commonwealth Private Limited. Ms Rowland also held a past membership on the panel of the ASIC Financial Services & Credit Panel.

Prior to her non-executive career, Ms Rowland was the past CEO and Managing Director of Bennelong Wealth Partners and the Bennelong Foundation, part of The Bennelong Group. Ms Rowland has held executive roles with National Australia Bank and JBWere Limited leading the product and platform solution for the business’ technology and platform transformation in 2012/13. As Executive Director at UBS AG, UBS Wealth Management Australia Ms Rowland headed Business Management and Strategy, Wealth Planning and Philanthropy and Not for Profit Services divisions.

At the ANZ Banking Group, after her role as Head of Product Development, ANZ Funds Management, Ms Rowland was appointed the Head of ANZ Bank’s Charitable Foundations Business, ANZ Trustees.

Ms Rowland began her legal career as an Articled Clerk & Solicitor at Holding Redlich moving to Minter Ellison as a Senior Solicitor practising in financial services and funds management.

Ms Rowland holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Beth McConnell B Com, LLB (Hons), Dip SM, MCommrclLaw (Ceased 9 November 2020)

Ms McConnell has 25 years’ experience in the financial services sector as a solicitor and consultant specialising in superannuation law and corporate governance. Ms McConnell started her career with Freehills as a solicitor, before moving into in-house counsel roles at AXA and Mercer, then returning to Freehills and later moving to Lander & Rogers.

She currently holds directorships on the Boards of CatholicCare Melbourne and NULIS Nominees (Australia) Pty Ltd. At CatholicCare Melbourne, Ms McConnell is a Member of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. A former director at Xavier College where Ms McConnell also chaired the Risk and Compliance Committee.

Ms McConnell is also a Part-Time Member on the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal, responsible for the formal review of complaints, drafting and issuing binding determinations, and a Panel Member (Industry Representative) on the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

Ms McConnell holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours), a Diploma in Superannuation Management and a Master of Commercial Law.

Dr Susan Gould, BSc (Hons), PhD, FAICD, GAIST (Adv)

Dr Susan Gould has served in the tertiary sector for over 35 years. Her main roles have been at the University of Newcastle where she held the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deakin University as Head, Academic & Administration Services Division. Dr Gould held non-director positions at the University of Newcastle in Singapore, GradSchool.Com, Australian Higher Education Industrial Association (AHEIA), Callista Software Services, Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC), Melbourne and The Geelong College.

Dr Gould served on UniSuper’s Consultative Committee from 2004 until 2012 and was a director of UniSuper Limited and UniSuper Management Pty Ltd from November 2008 until October 2017. At UniSuper, Dr Gould also served as Chair of the Remuneration Committee and Insurance Committee and a member of the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee.

Dr Gould is a director on the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia (MRPBA) and the Victorian Medical Board of Australia (Vic MBA). At the MRPBA, Dr Gould chairs the Examination Committee. On the Medical Board of Australia, Dr Gould is a member of the National Notification Committee and the National Standing Committee. On the Victorian Medical Board of Australia, Dr Gould is a member of the Notification Committees 1 & 2, and the Registration Committees 1 & 2.

Her professional memberships include Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees. Dr Gould holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a PhD.

Jennifer Heath Lang, BEc, FIAA, GAICD

Ms Lang is an experienced Actuary having worked for consultants and large corporations in the financial services sector. Ms Lang is a director of Pacific Life Re (Australia) and Bicycle Network. In her most recent role at CommInsure, she held the position of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Actuary for CBA's Life and General Insurance businesses and was responsible for the financial strategy of the businesses.

Prior to her role at CommInsure, Ms Lang was Chief Actuary of NAB Wealth, responsible for the actuarial advice to NAB's wealth businesses, including MLC's insurance and investment businesses.

Ms Lang has also been a Partner at KPMG (where she was head of the Insurance Practice) and Deloitte (where she was a member of the Board of Directors).

The Actuaries Institute has appointed Ms Lang as Convenor of the Covid-19 Working Group and on 2 September 2020, Ms Lang was named 2020 Actuary of the Year for her role in leading the institute's COVID-19 response and in recognition of her major contribution to the profession and the communities in which actuaries work.

Ms Lang is a Fellow of the Actuaries Institute of Australia.

Anthony (Tony) FitzGerald B.Ec, Fellow of FINSIA, JP

Mr FitzGerald has over 40 years’ experience in the financial services sector in banking and asset management. Mr FitzGerald has extensive international experience, having held senior roles in Australia, Europe, Asia and the US. A member of the Finance Audit and Risk Committee of Médecins Sans Frontiéres Australia and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of Altius Asset Management. Mr FitzGerald has also completed numerous consulting roles as a subject matter expert for the Australian Tax Office.

Christopher Cuffe AO, BCom, FCA, FFin, FAICD

Mr Cuffe has over 35 years’ experience in the financial services industry and is well regarded for his services to the funds management industry and as an advocate for philanthropy. Until June 2017, Mr Cuffe served as UniSuper’s Chairman and was a member of its Remuneration Committee. Mr Cuffe is a continuing member of UniSuper’s Investment Committee, a position he has held since 2009.

Mr Cuffe holds a number of non-executive directorships in listed investment companies such as Argo Investments Limited, Antipodes Global Investment Company Limited, Global Value Fund Limited, Hearts and Minds Investments Limited and Realside Financial Group Pty Ltd. He was previously a director of Class Limited, a listed software company, and Chairman of investment management company, Atrium Investment Management Pty Ltd.

In the not-for-profit sector, Mr Cuffe is the Founder and Chairman of Australian Philanthropic Services Limited, a director of Third Link Investment Managers Pty Ltd and a member on the Investment Committee of the Paul Ramsay Foundation.

His former roles include CEO of Colonial First State Investments Limited where he played a major role in building the organisation from a start-up business and CEO of Challenger Financial Services Group Limited.

His professional memberships include Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Fellow of Financial Services Institute of Australasia and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Felicity Gates B.Sc MAICD

Ms Gates has over 25 years’ experience in the Investment, Finance, Banking, Energy and Infrastructure sectors having held many non-executive directorships across several industries in Australia, North America and Europe.

Some of Ms Gates key directorships have been with the Australia Pacific Airports Corporation, Vantage Airport Group, Kelda the owner of Yorkshire Water in the UK, Itinere Infrastructuras a Spanish company, United Energy a Victorian electricity distributor, and Epic Energy Group. Some of Ms Gates key past roles have been with Castlebridge Infrastructure as Partner and Chair, the Global Chief Investment Officer of RREEF Instructure both in Sydney and New York. In this role, Ms Gates developed the infrastructure investment portfolio and led State Super’s involvement in many landmark Australian deals including the privatisation of United Energy and Melbourne Airport.

Ms Gates is the Chair of the Investment Committee, Northern Territory Local Jobs Fund, a position held since July 2019. ;

Ms Gates graduated from the University of Queensland having completed a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Mathematics. She holds a membership with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Margaret Ann Wright, BComm (Otago), FCA ANZ, IECL

Ms Wright has worked across a range of government, private and corporate industries including as an Executive Director at Macquarie Bank. Ms Wright led and was involved in a major service transformation, measurably improving service levels, improving vendor and client relationships and delivering outstanding savings by reducing headcount and budget. Ms Wright was also involved in transformation programs of work at two of the four Big Banks..

Other Board positions held by Ms Wright include the Auditing Standards Board in Australia, World Education Australia Limited/Good Return and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. In the latter two roles, Ms Wright also served on the Audit and the IT Committees and chaired these Committees for World Education.

Ms Wright is currently a non-executive director at Omnitabz Pty Ltd and in May 2021 ceased as director of Queuemetrix Pty Ltd. Ms Wright was the first female partner at KPMG, where she headed up KPMG’s National Information Risk Management Practice. A NSW Finalist in the Telstra Business Woman of the Year, Ms Wright is also a published author and sits on the Technology Advisory Committee for Good2Give and Chairs the Observatory Tower Strata Committee.

Julie Fahey, B. App (Mathematics) IMC (Member)

A partner with KPMG for 8 years and with more than 30 years’ experience in the management of largescale transformation programs, implementation of new operating models, and the deployment of new systems, Ms Fahey left the KPMG partnership in 2014 to pursue a corporate board career.

Her current Board portfolio include Seek, IRESS, Datacom Group Limited, Yooralla, CenITex, Vocus Group Limited, Australian Red Cross Blood Services Partners Life and Australian Foundation Investment Company Ltd. Ms Fahey’s advisory roles include positions at ESTA 000, Stockland, and People’s Choice Credit Union.

In addition to the above roles, Ms Fahey chairs and is a member on various Board Committees such as the Audit and Risk Committee, the Risk Committee, the Remuneration Committee, the Remuneration and Nomination Committee, Contracts and Risk Committee, People, Performance and Culture Committee, and the FIIC Committee.

Ms Fahey also acts in an advisory capacity to several publicly listed companies and Government departments and agencies.