GESB expands leadership team

GESB, the super fund for Western Australia's public sector, added a former HESTA executive as its chief member experience officer, while also welcoming a chief corporate services officer.

Both are newly created roles for GESB, which is undergoing a transformation of sorts after changes to WA's State Superannuation Act were passed, allowing the fund to continue receiving contributions from members no longer working in the public sector. It also recently adopted the Protecting Your Super reforms to help avoid members' balances eroding.

GESB recently welcomed Kelly Smith to the role of chief member experience officer.

Smith was most recently a strategic enablement consultant for Count for 12 months.

She previously worked at HESTA as general manager of operations, insurance and customer experience for three years. More recently, she served as a strategic enablement consulting partner to the fund.

She's also previously served in leadership roles at AIA Australia, NAB, MLC and Colonial First State.

At GESB, Smith is responsible for member and employer experience, while also ensuring value for money super and retirement products. She will oversee brand, communications and digital, insurance, key account management, member insights and analytics, product, and fund administration, the fund said.

Meantime, the fund also welcomed Anthony Cribb as chief corporate services officer.

He was previously executive general manager of corporate affairs and governance for the Pilbara Ports Authority. He also previously worked for the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group as general manager of corporate services, general counsel and company secretary.

Cribb oversees the GESB corporate services business unit, including legal, secretariat and governance functions, information security, records and data management, risk and compliance, IT services, and people and culture.

In a statement to Financial Standard, GESB said the creation of the new executive roles supports changes to internal business unit structures and reporting lines, ensuring it is well positioned to deliver on strategic objectives.

"This was in part due to the changes to the State Superannuation Act 2000, which will enable GESB to accept superannuation guarantee payments from non-WA public sector employers, benefitting the 250,000 current and former public sector workers who have superannuation accounts with GESB; as well as ensuring the continued delivery of competitive member outcomes and high-quality services to stakeholders," the fund said.

"The creation of the chief member experience role also provides the opportunity for the end-to-end management of all member touch points to further enhance member servicing and overall member experience.

"Together with the rest of our executive leadership team, these new roles will help support the efficient and aligned delivery of our strategic focus areas and ongoing business-as-usual operations across a range of projects and initiatives to achieve our purpose of helping our members achieve a quality retirement."

GESB is home to some 247,000 members and about $40 billion in funds under management, as at June 2024.