Mercer Super recruits whistleblower as risk chief

A former UniSuper risk executive has landed at Mercer Superannuation Australia as its new chief risk officer.

Mercer Super has confirmed the appointment of Dennis Gentilin - an ex-banker turned whistleblower - to the role.

"Dennis' expertise and leadership will help us further strengthen our risk culture and practices," a Mercer Super spokesman said.

Gentilin lost his job as UniSuper's head of enterprise risk last August following a restructuring of its risk function. He was with UniSuper for three years.

At the time, Gentilin called his redundancy "disappointing" and returned to consulting.

Speaking of his new role at Mercer Super, the incoming risk lead said he was "honoured" to be appointed chief risk officer at such a pivotal moment in the entity's history.

"In football parlance, we are halfway through the first quarter of what is a significant uplift and transformation program. Task number one for me will be to build the best Line 2 risk team in the superannuation industry," he said.

"If you are a risk or compliance professional... keep an eye out - job advertisements will begin appearing shortly."

Last August, Mercer Super was fined for making misleading ESG claims about the sustainability of its investment options. The fund agreed to work on its risk management culture and practices after the prudential regulator intervened.

Gentilin replaces an interim chief risk officer who was appointed following the departure of Norlena Brouwer, who arrived at the start of 2023 from Hostplus and left in September 2024.

Before working at UniSuper, the risk specialist spent three years at Deloitte and 16 years at National Australia Bank.

Interestingly, Gentilin is the author of The Origins of Ethical Failure, which he penned as a young trader at NAB.

During his time with the lender, he blew the whistle on a major foreign exchange trading scandal that saw four of his co-workers on the dealing desk go to prison.

Motivated by this experience, he wrote a book on how organisations can avoid ethical failures.

He is currently an advisor to Transparency International Australia, which seeks to enhance protections for whistleblowers in Australia.