Complex regulatory environment, intense public scrutiny and more complicated investments mean superannuation executives have an increasingly difficult job to do, and their bigger pay packages reflect that reality.
The annual super fund Salary Survey, run by Professional Planner sister publication Investment Magazine, uncovered remuneration trends among top pension chairs, chief executives and chief investment officers (CIOs) in the country.
Among CEOs, 18 industry, retail and platform super CEO crossed the million-dollar threshold in the past financial year, though some have remits outside of superannuation. In comparison, 14 CEOs reached that bracket in the 2024 financial year and nine in the 2023 financial year.
Hostplus CEO David Elia returned as the top-paid traditional super fund boss with a $2.14 million pay package, followed by Aware Super’s Deanne Stewart with $2.06 million and UniSuper’s Peter Chun with $1.75 million.
AustralianSuper’s Paul Schroder, arguably the most powerful superannuation executive, received a $1.74 million package devoid of any short-term bonuses or deferred incentives.
But in gross terms, Andrew Alcock, CEO of HUB24, was the highest paid with $4.2 million, including $2.5 million in shares, though that figure is remuneration for overseeing the operations of the entire ASX-listed company and not just its superannuation unit. The company was unable to provide a breakdown of Alcock’s remuneration.
In terms of CIOs, Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation’s Alison Tarditi took home $2,089,828 in total remuneration, of which a significant chunk is accrued long service leave, which is included in her base salary of $881,349.
Rounding out the top three CIOs were UniSuper’s John Pearce, with total remuneration of $1,975,528 and Aware Super’s Damian Graham, with $1,962,366. That’s a slight reshuffle from last year, where Pearce took out the top spot and Graham was in second place. Graham has since departed Aware for the CIO role at the ASX-listed Challenger.
Million-dollar pay packets are now common across the super industry, with Hostplus’ Sam Sicilia, Cbus’ Brett Chatfield, AustralianSuper’s Mark Delaney, HESTA’s Sonya Sawtell-Rickson, ART’s Ian Patrick and Australian Ethical’s Ludovic Theau all exceeding that threshold.
Many trustee chairs also received a salary bump. At the top of the range was Greg Cooper, who was paid more than $420,000 (up from $352,000 in last year’s survey) but whose responsibilities cover multiple entities within the Colonial First State Group.
AustralianSuper chair Don Russell received more than $350,000 (up from $337,000 last year) for leading the board of the nation’s largest pension fund, which was entangled in legal action with ASIC over its death benefit claims handling, was fined for failing to address duplicate member accounts.
Other big-fund chairs who received notable total-rem bumps compared to last year include UniSuper’s Mark Armour ($284,714 versus $278,406), and Hostplus’ Damien Frawley ($283,901 versus $227,313).
Total pay is the combination of cash salary, short-term incentives and cash bonuses, deferred incentives, shares, one-off payment including termination pay, non-monetary benefits, superannuation and leave. The salary figures were extracted from funds and companies’ FY25 annual reports.
