Welcome to The Conexus Institute

Hazel Bateman is a Professor in the School of Risk & Actuarial Studies at UNSW Sydney and Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR). Her current research investigates the role of choice and information architecture, financial advice and financial literacy on superannuation decisions. She also works on design of and demand for retirement products including annuities, aged care insurance and reverse mortgages.

Hazel works closely with the financial services industry, super funds and policy makers in Australia and internationally and has consulted to international organisations including the World Bank and the OECD. She is a member of the Consultative Committee of UniSuper, the Netspar Scientific Committee, the Expert Reference Group of the Mercer Global Pension index, and the China Ageing Finance Forum. In 2019 she was appointed inaugural President of the International Pensions Research Association (IPRA).

Richard Brandweiner joined the Future Fund as Chief Investment Officer in July 2026, bringing more than three decades of experience across the investment management industry, including leading major investment teams and organisations.

He was Chief Executive Officer of Pendal Australia (formerly BT), Chief Investment Officer of First State Super (now Aware Super) and Group Executive at Perpetual Investments. During his executive career he contributed to a number of the industry’s professional bodies including being President of CFA Society of Sydney, a member of the Global CFA Future of Finance Committee and was also on a number of boards at the Financial Services Council and ASFA.

Richard currently serves on a number of boards and investment committees. He is Chair of Impact Investing Australia and is a member of the NSW Government Social Impact Expert Advisory Group. Further, he is on the Investment Committee of Aboriginal Investment NT and is Chair and Co-Founder of OpenDirector. He has a Bachelor of Economics from UNSW and is a CFA Charterholder.

Marisa is the managing director of Wealthadvice, an FPA Professional Practice and a certified financial planner professional. Wealthadvice specialises in holistic financial planning advice for professionals and small business owners.

Marisa has been running Wealthadvice for 24 years, providing experience-based insights into the challenges faced by financial advisers in meeting new standards whilst both trying to run a business and most importantly making a difference in the lives of their clients.

Marisa Broome was chair of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) from November 2018 through to May 2022, after being elected to the Board in 2014.

Marisa has been involved with the FPA since its inception in many roles with a focus on education, conferences and member engagement. In addition to her role as chair of the FPA, Marisa also chaired of the Remuneration and Governance Committee. While a director of the FPA, Marisa served as chair of the Professional Standards and Conduct Committee, chair of the Policy and Regulations Committee, chair of Professional Designations, a member of the Code Monitoring Working Group, a member of the Board Audit and Risk Committee and the chair of the FASEA Working Group.

Ian has been involved in the superannuation industry for about 25 years and an actuary and managing the research function at Chant West for the past 15 years. He is responsible for coordinating Chant West’s research program for super and pension funds, including analysis of the performance, portfolio structure and governance of their investment offerings.

Ian also has a strong focus on fee and insurance disclosure and leads an industry-wide group that is helping the industry implement ASIC’s new fee disclosure regime.

Dr Pamela Hanrahan is a lawyer, legal academic and author who specialises in corporate law, corporate governance, financial services regulation, data governance and business ethics.

She is Professor of Commercial Law and Regulation at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Business School, a Senior Fellow of the Melbourne Law School, a member of the Centre for Law Markets and Regulation at UNSW, an associate of the Centre for Corporate Law at the University of Melbourne and founding director of the Cybersecurity and Data Governance Research Network at UNSW Sydney. She is also a member of the Society of Investment Law (USA), a Fellow of FINSIA and a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales.

Pamela is a member of the Executive Board of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, a member of the National Corporate Governance Committee of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a non-executive director of Landcom.

In 2010-11 she was the Queensland Regional Commissioner of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and in 2013-15 served as the Registrar of Community Housing for New South Wales. In 2016-17 Pamela was an appointed member of the ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce and in 2018 she was an adviser to the Hayne Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

David is a Senior Partner at Mercer and Senior Actuary for Australia. He is the National Leader for Research and Policy and has been the actuary to several public sector superannuation plans and was the industry expert of the three-person team who conducted a review of Military Superannuation for the Australian Government. He is the lead author of the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, now in its 15th year.

Before joining Mercer in 2005, David was at PricewaterhouseCoopers and prior to that was the Foundation Professor of Actuarial Studies at The University of Melbourne. In his two decades in academia, he acted as a consultant to a range of financial organisations, in both the private and public sectors, specialising in the superannuation and retirement incomes area. He has spoken and written widely in this area and has served on many Government and industry committees.

David was an independent Board member of Australian Prudential Regulation Authority from 1998 to 2003 and President of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia in 2000.

In 2023, David was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to the financial sector.

Xavier O'Halloran is the founding Director of Super Consumers Australia. The organisation was first funded in 2018 with the purpose of keeping industry and regulators accountable to consumer needs in super. Xavier works as a consumer advocate on behalf of low and middle income people on consumer finance issues, focusing on superannuation and group life insurance. Previously, he worked at the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) as a Policy Officer working on telecommunications, consumer protection and competition policy.

He led the team responding to the Financial Services Royal Commission at CHOICE, Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group. He has represented consumers on several advisory bodies, including the:
· Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Consumer Advisory Panel
· Insurance in Superannuation Working Group
· Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Consumer Consultative Committee
· Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Consumer Advisory Forum

Xavier has also developed an online ‘chat bot’ to help younger people engage with their super.

Kevin was chief executive of UniSuper from July 2013 to September 2021. Kevin has more than 40 years’ experience in the superannuation and actuarial sectors. Prior to UniSuper, Kevin worked for over 20 years at Russell Investments and Towers Perrin, advising many large organisations and superannuation funds.

Kevin is currently Non-Executive Director of the Trustee of the Colonial First State superannuation funds, Non-Executive Director of the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort and Chairman of Playfair Asset Management. He also is a member of the Investment Committee of Deakin University and of the advisory board of Allianz Retire+.

Kevin has a degree in Commerce and is a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia (FIAA).

Deb is an experienced Company Director in banking, mortgage broking, superannuation, funds management, fintech, financial advice and education industries.

Current appointments include the Future Fund Board of Governors, and the RBA’s Payments System Board. Non-executive director roles are held with the SMSF Association, SuperEd, an innovative digital advice company, and Chair of the Household Capital Advisory Board.

Deb’s expertise in public policy, innovation and retirement issues has been reflected in appointments to the Federal Government's Retirement Income Review Panel, to the Comprehensive Income Products for Retirement Framework Advisory Committee, and as inaugural Chair of ASIC's Digital Finance Advisory Board.

In an executive capacity Deb has had a number of senior roles in Australian universities, most recently as Executive Director of the Australian Centre for Financial Studies and Professor of Finance at Monash University. Previous appointments included Pro Vice-Chancellor of Business, Law and Information Sciences at the University of Canberra, and Dean of Business at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Deb’s academic engagement continues in an honorary capacity as a Professorial Fellow with the Monash University Business School, where she sits on the Advisory Board of the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index.

Deb has a Doctor of Philosophy in finance (financial regulation) and Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Economics. She is a Fellow of the AICD and the CPA.

Nicolette is a non-executive director in the finance industry. She is Chair of CBHS Heath Fund, on the board of Zurich and was previously on the boards of UniSuper, Class and SuperEd.

She is also on the board of Greenpeace Australia Pacific and chairs a South African charity committee, Missionvale Australia.

In 2024 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to business. She was President of the Actuaries Institute in 2019 and was a director of ASFA for eight years.

Prior to her board career, Nicolette held senior roles with CBA/ Colonial First State, BT and Towers Perrin.

Nicolette is a qualified actuary, holds an executive MBA from the AGSM and is a Fellow of AICD.

She is author of the book “Not Guilty”, a guide for career mums. She is married to Jonathan Rubinsztein and they have three daughters.

BALLB, FASFA, GAICD, FGIA, FCG
Pauline is a non-executive director of Mercer Superannuation Australia Limited and Chair of Zurich Assure Pty Ltd and Ardea Funds Management. Pauline is also the President and Chair of Governance Institute of Australia and a member of the International Council of The Chartered Governance Institute.
Pauline is recognised as an expert in broad financial services, governance, risk management and public policy.

She has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry, including as a senior regulator with ASIC, various directorships on listed, public, NFP and fiduciary entities, CEO positions, including CEO of ASFA and as an international adviser on pensions governance.

Aleks is the co-ceo at Conexus Financial and the company’s representative on The Conexus Institute Advisory Board. An award-winning journalist and author, he was previously Wealth Editor at The Australian Financial Review, leading the newspaper’s coverage of the superannuation, investment management and financial advice industries.

Aleks has more than 15 years’ experience as a news reporter, commentator and editor, specialising in the business and regulation of financial services. Aleks has also worked as a Congressional Intern in the US House of Representatives and a strategic communications adviser to institutional investors and fintech start-ups. He holds a Master of Media Practice and Bachelor of Economics (Social Sciences) from the University of Sydney and has completed coursework in political campaign management from the Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia. His first book, USA G’DAY: An Aussie take on the American Dream in a Blockbuster Election Cycle, was published in 2017.

Research fellow, The Conexus Institute; honorary associate professor, Australian National University

Dr Geoff Warren is Research Fellow at the Conexus Institute and Honorary Associate Professor with the Australian National University. He is a member of various investment and research advisory boards including: Atlas Infrastructure, ASIC Consultative Panel, Brandes Center, Conexus Institute, the Salvation Army and Super Consumers Australia.

Geoff’s research has an applied and policy emphasis with particular focus on superannuation, retirement and fund management. He has spent over 20 years as an investment practitioner spanning stock research, investment strategy, head of research, equity portfolio management and asset consulting at organisations such as including Russell Investments, Ord Minnett / JP Morgan Australia, and AMP Capital.

Geoff has a PhD from the AGSM, and a BComm (Hons) with the University Medal from UNSW.