Insights

Around 10am every Thursday an email arrives in the Industry Moves inbox that makes us stop and read - no matter how busy we are - and reconsider what's important in life. Beautifully written, sometimes sad, frequently funny and always real, these emails, by Graham Long, are a welcome antidote to many of the views we're daily fed. Today's was a cracker, so we thought we'd share it with you too.

The reason that the former national director of GetUp, Simon Sheikh (pictured), has decided to set up a superannuation fund that will not invest in fossil fuels, or companies that service or finance the fossil fuel industry, is simple. He wants to change the world.

In last week's blog, economic futurist Dr Keith Suter said “careers are dead” and that our children should be taught entrepreunarial skills in school to prepare them for their working lives. So, what does this mean for our industry? We ask our Hot Topics panelists - Kate Mills, Joanna Davison, Max Ryerson, Kate Mulligan and Kate McCallum - where they think the jobs of the future in financial services are going to come from?

The entire nature of work is changing and the majority of jobs as we know them are set to disappear over the coming years. In fact, almost half of the jobs in the US could be automated over the next decade, according to research from the Oxford Martin School’s Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology - The Future Of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs To Computerisation?.

A study released earlier this year by the Harvard Business School has confirmed what many people have thought for ages. Networking for professional purposes, or what the study refers to as ‘instrumental networking’ doesn’t always make us feel entirely ‘clean’.

Technological developments are happening at a faster rate than ever before and in this rapidly moving environment, businesses are starting to see the value in creating time or situations for ‘thinking’ and ‘innovation’, away from the normal work environment.

Brought up in rural India, Stephen O’Brien had insight into how people live in places where few of us venture. Stephen’s 25 years in financial services - including almost 5 years as CEO of Deutsche AM - have given him the opportunity to realise some long-cherished plans to make a difference. He talks to Industry Moves about his former life in financial services, and a valuable educational organisation that is dear to his heart.

Super fund trustees are not required to have formal qualifications, though the definition of what 'qualified' actually means, can be open to interpretation. We asked our panel of experts - Sheridan Lee, Fiona Trafford-Walker, Mike Crivelli, Kate Mulligan & Bruce Hartnett - if they thought qualifications were necessary and got some diverse, entertaining and thought-provoking responses.

The number of funds might have tripled, but the basic criteria behind SuperRatings assessment for its Fund of the Year awards hasn't changed. What has changed, are the ways those metrics are measured and how they take into account the different trends of the times.

You might think that at a certain level beyond graduate positions everyone knows how to present well in an interview. Well you’d be wrong, there are still plenty of people bagging out their previous employers and not doing their research. Penny Pryor discovers the seven deadly sins.

Superannuation funds have experienced rapid growth in funds under management over the last few decades, but many in the industry are still split on the issue of whether or not a fund needs a chief investment officer (CIO). This week we ask our panel, which includes former Media Super CIO Jon Glass, for their views.

It might be considered unusual in corporate Australia, but the superannuation industry seems to have a lot of chief executives that have served over a decade. Penny Pryor finds out why.

Derek Goh was chief information officer at Challenger Financial Services from 2004 to 2009 and before that headed up information services at Colonial First State. After his father passed away in 2007, he decided to use his IT and entrepreneurial skills to found an online service that would help grieving families celebrate the life of their loved ones.

Last week our Hot Topics panellists gave their reasons for women’s low representation in the industry, along with solutions to fix it. Tim Hughes, former CIO of Catholic Super, adds his perspective on the issue.

In Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, Facebook chief operating officer Cheryl Sandberg says: “Success and likeability are positively correlated for men and negatively for women. When a man is successful, he is liked by both men and women. When a woman is successful, people of both genders like her less.” It’s an outrageous statement but the reason it is so shocking is because, at least partly, it could be true – and might be one of the reasons why there are so few women at management level in financial services.

Troy Rieck spent 13 years at QIC and was managing director of the global multi-asset team when he left the organisation in 2013. He talks to Industry Moves about career highlights, his new venture - investment education, advice and consulting company, Diceros Capital - and the joys of being your own boss.

Skeletons rarely stay in the cupboard for very long, so it’s best to be as upfront as possible as early as possible. Penny Pryor speaks to former MFS senior executive, Richard Keary, communications coach, Jane Jordan-Meier, and recruiter, Matt McGilton, and discovers that honesty really is the best policy.

The Fair Work Act might now include the right to request flexible working arrangements but the Utopian ideal of working at home has remained out of reach for many people, particularly in financial services. Penny Pryor discovers the real state of affairs.

Frances Magill was Statewide Super's first CEO and retired from the fund in 2009. After a short-lived retirement, she set up Frances Magill Financial Strategists, which is now a family run business with son Brian Magill.

Appointment activity over the past six months reveals the establishment of at least one new firm, forewarns the eventual sale of NAB custody, and highlights the expansion in the alternative investment space. With, on average, less than 50 reported changes a month, Penny Pryor takes a closer look at an industry that could probably be regarded as relatively stable.