Don Russell, chairman of NSW State Super, Wollongong, Australia, was named investment committee chairman of the A$2.5 billion (US$2.23 billion) Labour Union Co-operative Retirement Fund, Docklands, Australia.
Antony Thow, who had been committee chairman, stepped down to run for a Senate seat in Victoria.
Once Mr. Thow made his intentions known, the LUCRF board decided to search for its first independent investment committee chair, said Gregory Sword, chief executive.
“It's part of a long-term program to have the fund become more self-contained in the investment area,” Mr. Sword said.
Mr. Sword said the fund had worked with Mr. Russell when he was the investment strategist for the Australian business of BNY Mellon Asset Management.
Mr. Russell said that when he was retrenched from that role earlier this year, he had a choice between seeking “another big funds management role” or “a series of interesting cameos ... I was keen to maintain my chairmanship of State Super (his term is due to expire around the end of 2012) so it helped send me in this direction.”
Michael Bailey is editor of I&T News, Sydney.
