What happened at the 2016 Day of Confrontation conference?
It was a day of confronting thoughts, big ideas and tiny packets of tic-tacs with 225 movers and shakers from the finance industry gathering together in the heart of Sydney for the SuperRatings & Lonsec DOC16 conference. Industry Moves heard from speakers and delegates alike and is delighted to bring you a roundup of the most impactful ideas of the day.
The event kicked off with an address from the Honourable Bob Carr, who spoke about Australia's relations with China and the U.S, followed by global entrepreneur Naomi Simson who lightened the room with the charismatic tale of how she developed and sustained her first start up, Red Balloon.
We also heard from Dr Bronwyn King, who opened our eyes to the impact of tobacco investments and the devastating ripple effects that it has globally. Rachel Botsman synthesised the world of the collaborative economy, Satyajit Das scared the pants off us with his predictions for what comes next for the world and Rod McGeogh spoke about industry disruption.
While the day was all about challenging our thoughts, the night was about champagne and celebration with nearly 380 people turning up to celebrate the super funds for excellence in their field. QSuper walked away with the big award of the night, Fund of the Year, and CEO Michael Pennisi said: "We are proud to receive this award as acknowledgment of the work we're doing to help each and every member ensure that their retirement years are some of their best years."
What you had to say...
Gerard Parlevliet - Chief Investment Officer, Commonwealth Bank Group Super
What drew you to attend today's conference? I think it's a good conference because they try and stretch our imagination in respect to what could be. Quite often you go to conferences that are just telling you what you always hear, so I really do like it when someone gets up there and says 'Let's stretch the boundaries'.
Who was your favourite speaker? Probably Rachel Botsman. What struck me about her presentation was that we talk about disruption all the time but she synthesised it down to the real change which is that once upon a time you had to build big corporations to get people to trust a brand and now we can do it in a different manner. It was interesting to understand how these new models will work.
Julieanne White - Manager Product & Member Services, legalsuper
What drew you to attend today's conference? There were some fantastic speakers on the program that drew me in. I really wanted to see where the super industry is at and get the chance to network. I hate the word disruption so I wanted to see exactly what was changing and what the ideas were going forward.
Who was your favourite speaker? Naomi Simson. People, people, people. Everyone is a person. It's not a client, it's not a customer, it's not an employee, we're all people. If you can find out what people's personal motivations are and apply that to the work environment then you're going to have a great resource. Also, Rachel Botsman was very interesting. She highlighted ideas that weren't even possible 20 years ago. It just makes you think, what could be possible!
Yasemin Onat - Director, Energy Industries Superannuation Scheme
What drew you to the conference today? I looked at the program and it looked interesting and a good opportunity to network with some really interesting people.
Who was your favourite speaker today? Often that's easy to pick because there can be a lot of dry speakers, but today was a lot of really great and diverse speakers. I found them all to be inspiring. Naomi Simson was fantastic, Bob Car was great. Rachel Botsman was really thought provoking. Das was really amazing, I mean it was depressing, but unfortunately I agree with what he had to say.
Enrique Edgardo Rodriguez - Co-Founder & Managing Director, AABC
What has been the highlight of the conference for you today? To me, Bronwyn King was hard-hitting and revealing and the most confronting. It was disturbing to know what we're allowing to happen and to know what we should be taking action and responsibility for.
What drew you to attend today's conference? Professional development, personal development and opening my mind into a new industry. I've heard a lot of interesting topics and met a lot of interesting people.
Jannette Bettcher - Trustee, SA Power Networks
What have you enjoyed the most about the conference so far? The conscious decision about tobacco investing was interesting. The impact on the investing universe is much broader than you first think. It extends to the people, the child labor, the poverty etc. I think that's made me sit up and think about what I'm actually investing in. It's made me want to go back and ask my investment advisors, 'what are we actually investing in?'
Who have you most enjoyed listening to at the conference so far today? Dr. Bronwyn King has really opened my eyes to think about what we're really investing in and questioning if it's ethical.
What the speakers had to say...
In the lead up to the conference, Industry Moves conducted some Q&As with your favourite speakers. Click through to find out more:
Power to the people: Rachel Botsman talks collaborative consumption and more
Author, entrepreneur and blogger extraordinaire: Q&A with Naomi Simson
Q&A with Tobacco Free Portfolios', Dr Bronwyn King
For a full list of the award winners you can visit the SuperRatings website.
Images: Scott and Co
