Industry funds embrace board independenceBY LAURA MILLAN | MONDAY, 13 JUL 2015 11:50AMTop industry funds have embraced the proposal to introduce a third of independent directors to their boards and see it as an opportunity to add skills and improve governance. Related News |
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Hugh Killen
MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANY LIMITED
AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANY LIMITED
For Hugh Killen, several life lessons came from spending time on pastoral properties stretching across northern New South Wales and South-West Queensland.
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As an ex-employer nominated Board member of an industry fund, I was always impressed by the employee representatives on the Board (oh those terrible union officials) and their motives with regard to the Fund..
They considered the establishment of a retirement scheme for their working class members one of their greatest achievements and industrial issues never, by my observation, conflicted with their objective of maximising the retirement benefits for their members. Their philosophical problem was that they were making their socialist members capitalists by default. They were however always interested in an employer that was behind or defaulted in his payments, but so they should be.
Anyway, the proof will be in the future returns to members as industry funds beat the retail funds hands down currently, so we will see what happens. I think it must be all to do with Mr Abbott's inability to deal with trade unions and his determination to destroy the good work that they do in this area and also he wants to give the retail funds (and their profit margin) a leg up at every opportunity.
Has anyone ever heard of any fraud or misappropriation or any negative in the administration of an Australian industry fund that has made this change necessary?