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Home News

Industry Super Australia chief steps down

Industry Super Australia has announced that chief executive David Whiteley will leave his role with the lobby group to take a position with an investment manager.

by Reporter
April 13, 2018
in News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
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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.

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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.”

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Comments 10

  1. Compare this pair says:
    8 years ago

    Compare this pair…
    One Whitely was a painter the other Whitely a tainter. Good Riddance David.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says:
    8 years ago

    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;

    Reply
  3. Gerard Wilkes says:
    8 years ago

    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.

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says:
    8 years ago

    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 !

    Reply
    • Anonymous says:
      8 years ago

      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.

      Reply
  5. Anonymous says:
    8 years ago

    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.

    Reply
    • Paula says:
      8 years ago

      Its owned by industry funds

      Reply
  6. Anonymous says:
    8 years ago

    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.

    Reply
  7. Walter says:
    8 years ago

    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

    Reply
    • Anonymous says:
      8 years ago

      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

      Reply

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