Appointment of directors to our board

Posted: 3 February 2021

We’d like to confirm the re-appointment of Chris Loong as a member-elected director and welcome our recently appointed independent director, Susan Allen.

Chris Loong re-appointed as member-elected director

Chris Loong was recently re-appointed to his role as Member Director ‘C’ on our trustee board. As Chris was the only confirmed nominee for our member director election in September 2020, the full election process was not required.

Chris will serve a further three-year term as a director, effective 1 December 2020, and remains a member of the trustee’s Investment Committee and Member Services & Claims Committee.

Chris has been an employee of the Commonwealth Bank Group since 2011. In his current role as Executive Director Global Markets within the Bank’s Institutional Banking & Markets team, Chris is responsible for design and delivery of thought leadership to institutional investors, including research to assist clients with foreign exchange and investment market portfolio risk; collaboration with internal and external trading and portfolio management teams; and global economic and investment market analysis and research.

Prior to joining the Group, Chris was Vice President and Head of Currencies and Asset Allocation with State Street Global Advisors. He has also held fixed income and foreign exchange roles with AMP Capital Investors, and was an economist with Bankers Trust Australia, Credit Suisse First Boston and Reserve Bank of Australia.

Susan Allen appointed as new independent director

Effective 1 January 2021, Susan Allen joined our trustee board as an independent director, following the end of John Atkin’s term on 28 November 2020. Susan will serve a three-year term and will be a member of the trustee’s Member Services & Claims Committee.

Susan is an experienced non-executive director and senior executive. She has held senior roles in both commonwealth and state governments, and spent 16 years as a senior executive with RACV, one of Australia’s largest membership organisations. Susan has experience in change programs related to member communications, benefits and service delivery, including the implementation of digital communications and services.

Susan also serves on the boards of companies in the financial services sector and is a corporate adviser and executive coach.

About our trustee board

Our board comprises nine director positions:

• 3 member directors are elected by eligible voting members. Elections occur each year, with one position expiring on a rolling basis each year. These directors are Poon Fletcher, Stephen Halmarick and Chris Loong.

• 3 employer directors are appointed by Commonwealth Bank as the fund’s primary employer sponsor. These directors are Kylie Macfarlane, Janet Linklater and Chris Williams.

• 3 independent directors, one of whom serves as chair of the board, are appointed by the board. These directors are Rosemary Vilgan (Chair), Susan Allen and Ian Ward-Ambler.

The board’s primary responsibilities are setting the strategic and business priorities for the fund, administering the fund on behalf of members and beneficiaries, investing the fund’s assets and ensuring the fund operates in accordance with its governing rules and relevant laws.

Read more about our trustee board and directors.