Mr Whiteley will leave Industry Super Australia after 12 years as its chief executive to join IFM Investors as global head of external relations.
Mr Whiteley has led the industry super campaign against retail funds for the past decade, overseeing the ‘Compare the Pair’ marketing campaign.
His new role at IFM Investors, a global fund manager that invests money on behalf of its industry fund owners, will be to head up global external relations.
In his new role, which he is expected to begin in September, Mr Whiteley will report to the fund manager’s chief executive Brett Himbury.
The IFM Investors role will see Mr Whiteley have global responsibility for the firm’s relationships with government, media, shareholders and industry groups.
“We are delighted to attract an executive of Mr Whiteley’s standing whose stewardship and advocacy on behalf of ISA has resulted in the establishment of one of the most high-performing peak financial services bodies in the country, delivering exceptional policy outcomes for everyday working Australians,” Mr Himbury said.
Commenting on Mr Whiteley’s departure from Industry Super Australia, chair Peter Collins said he had turned ISA into “what is indisputably the best policy, lobbying and campaign organisation in our industry”.
“ISA led the public campaign to clean up the financial advice industry and provided the policy grunt for what would become the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) laws. ISA then stopped these laws being watered down by the incoming Abbott government, in the face of relentless lobbying by the banks,” Mr Collins said.
“ISA led the campaign to retain the Low Income Super Contribution (LISC) while David and his team successfully saw off attempts to diminish the governance of industry super funds and make them more like banks.”




Compare this pair…
One Whitely was a painter the other Whitely a tainter. Good Riddance David.
Good Riddance to someone that was as hypocritical as Whiteley, even today most industry fund are not geared or able to assist IFAs …., self interest always rules where there is money to be made …. sad;
David Whitely was reported as supporting the Franking Credit Fiasco whereby low income earners will lose up to 30% of their dividend income if the proposal goes ahead. I hope he was either misreported or he has looked more closely at the grave injustice being promulgated by the Labor Party.
Mr Whitely was well practiced at haunting the corridors of Parliament House pushing industry super. Whether you support his spiel or not, he was a dam side more effective in his FULL TIME lobbying than either the AFA or FPA was in lobbying for advisers. Nothing beats fronting a Minister or public servant across a desk on a regular basis and having the kahunas to walk out, but come back, if the recipient tries to “snow “you. Give him his due – he was a professional lobbyist in the true sense of the word !
He wasn’t lobbying when he went to Canberra. He was just a union messenger passing on instructions from union head office to the union puppets in parliament.
What’s the bet he ends up on a Labor Senate ticket for the next election. That’s probably why he’s changed roles within union super to a holding pattern job.
Good riddance to the ranga who headed numerous now proven false and even hypocritical allegations against our profession. Jobs for the boys, huh? Can’t tell me he hasn’t been sidling up to this for years, what’s the bet that fund has a substantial mandate from ISA, or soon will after our freckled bespectacled fiend joins their ranks.
Its owned by industry funds
Interesting… Whitely goes to IFM, a sister company of ISA, with common owners. Most of the comrades seem to be popping up at cbus so interesting to see an IFM move- I guess Brett is leaving soon.
The chief mudslinger is now going to have to actually do something other than sledge the competition while reporting to a manager from the retail world. This arrangement will last as long as a Hollywood marriage. Good luck IFM lol
IFM is owned by industry super funds so unlikely there will be any performance requirements here. He’ll be related to someone to be parachuted into ISA with no exec experience, then to IFM with no sales experience. With I was born to the right ‘left’ family- no pun intended