Spirit Super appoints deputy CIO

The $26 billion superannuation fund will soon welcome a deputy chief investment officer, recruiting from Frontier.

Philip Naylor has been named in the role and will join the fund in April. In addition to being deputy chief investment officer, he will also serve as general manager of investment strategy.

He will join from Frontier where he has served as head of capital markets and asset allocation for close to five years.

Prior to Frontier, he was an economic advisor to the Northern Territory Government and has also held roles with Macquarie and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Commenting on his appointment, Naylor said it's an exciting time for Spirit Super as it looks to undertake another merger, this time with CareSuper.

"Leaving Frontier was a hard, hard decision to make because I've really loved my time there, working with so many great clients," he said.

"It means I have a good window into how different super funds work."

Touching on what he's most proud of from his time at the asset consultant, he said: "Some of the things that we have been working on at Frontier is to build up the quantitative capabilities in the team, and so that's a rewarding part of my time at Frontier. Also, introducing a PhD, internship programme."

Naylor is not the only senior departure from Frontier, with its head of alternatives and derivative solutions Scott Pappas also leaving.

Pappas is returning to QIC as senior portfolio manager in the multi-assets solutions team. He previously worked there from 2003 to 2010 as an analyst and portfolio manager.

He joined Frontier two years ago and has also previously held roles with Cbus and Vanguard.

Frontier congratulated both Naylor and Pappas on their new roles and thanked them for their work over the years.

"We're sad to see you go, but excited for you and look forward to continuing to cross paths with you," Frontier said.