Corporate Profile
We’re committed to developing a culture of expert and passionate people. Successful teams create success for our customers, our shareholders and our community.
Our people
We’re committed to developing a culture of expert and passionate people. Successful teams create success for our customers, our shareholders and our community.
We recognise the importance of attracting, developing and retaining talented people to help us drive our vision of helping Australians meet and exceed their superannuation, investment and retirement planning needs.
As part of Commonwealth Bank, we can provide extensive career and development opportunities across the Group for our talented employees. Driven by the leadership team, we offer mandatory and structured learning, as well as our Future Leaders program. We maintain a strong focus on development planning and identifying individual needs.
Our teams are working closely together to share best practice, ideas, innovation and knowledge, as well as being involved in projects that extend across the wider Wealth Management business and the broader Commonwealth Bank.
We support this vision further by our commitment to flexible working arrangements for our people, a celebration of diversity and wellbeing, and an enduring commitment to the community.
Our leaders
Our highly skilled and experienced Executive team manage the daily operations of Colonial First State, and deliver on established policies and strategies. Meet our independent Trustee and Responsible Entity Board.
Through their own careers, our leaders have made significant contributions to the broader wealth management industry. They are highly regarded and recognised by the industry.
Our leadership team is united and collaborates well. They have a respect for the past and decisions that have come before them, whilst having a real passion for the future. Most importantly, they are committed to equipping our teams with the skills required to provide world-class service to our customers.
Meet our executive team
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Penni James - Independent Director Penni James is a risk and compliance professional and by training a chartered accountant. Penni has over 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry including over 19 years’ risk and compliance management experience in global financial services organisations. Penni is an independent director of Colonial First State Investments Limited and Avanteos Investments Limited (collectively CFS); the Chairman of the CFS Board Audit and Risk Committee and member of the CFS Member Outcome Committee. Penni was the independent director for Colonial Mutual Superannuation Pty Ltd and Chairman of the Compliance committee for Colonial First State Managed Infrastructure Limited.
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Edward Eason - Non-Independent, Non-Executive Director Ed is the Chief Financial Officer, partnering with the Enterprise Services team to deliver the Group’s information technology and banking operations functions. Ed joined CBA in September 2012 as Executive General Manager, Group Mergers and Acquisitions, which expanded to also include Group Strategy. Prior to joining the CBA, Ed was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs in the Investment Banking division and co-Head of the Australian Financial Institutions advisory business. Ed joined Goldman Sachs in London in 1998 before transferring to the Australian office in 2000. Ed holds a Masters of Arts degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, UK.
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Ben Heap -Independent Director Independent DirectorBen Heap has wide-ranging experience and expertise in asset and capital management as well as financial technology and digital businesses. Mr Heap is a founding partner of H2 Ventures, a financial technology, data and artificial intelligence focused venture capital investment firm and a non-executive director of The Star Entertainment Group Limited. He is also a non-executive director or Gymnastics Australia and a member of the Australian Commonwealth Government’s Fintech Advisory Group. Mr Heap was previously Managing Director and the Head of Australasia for UBS Global Asset Management and prior to this, Head of Infrastructure for UBS Global Asset Management in the Americas. He held a number of directorships associated with these roles and was a non-executive director of the Financial Services Council. Mr Heap is a Director of Colonial First State Investments Limited and Avanteos Investments Limited (collectively CFS). He is also Chairman of the CFS Board Investment Committee and is a member of the CFS Member Outcome Committee and the CFS Audit & Risk Committee.
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Gregory Cooper - Independent Director, BEc, FIIA, FIA Greg Cooper has considerable experience across Australia, the UK and Asia in Financial Services, with an Investment industry experience spanning over 26 years. Recently retired as the Chief Executive Officer and Director for Schroder Investment Management Australia, Mr Cooper has held previous roles as Global Head of Institutional Distribution and Head of Product Strategy for Asia Pacific spanning 18 years; and as the Former Head of Actuarial Consulting for Mr Cooper has served as Deputy Chairman and Director of the Financial Services Council for 10 years and is currently the Director of NSW Treasury Corporation, Perpetual Limited, The Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, Kincoppal Rose Bay School of the Sacred Heart and OpenInvest Holdings Limited. Mr Cooper is a Director and the Interim Chairman of Colonial First State Investments Limited and Avanteos Investments Limited (collectively CFS). He is also Chairman of the CFS Member Outcome Committee and is a member of the CFS Board Investment Committee.
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Linda Fox - Chief Financial Officer Colonial First State (CFS) Linda was appointed to the role of Chief Financial Officer, Colonial First State in January 2015. Linda has been with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (the Group) since July 2014, most recently as the Chief Financial Officer, International Financial Services. Prior to joining the Group, Linda was the Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary at SFG Linda holds an MBA (Executive) from the Australian Graduate School of Management, Sydney and a Bachelor of Commerce and Diploma for Graduates – Information Systems from the University of Otago, New Zealand. Linda is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand since 1993.
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Franca Di Blasio-Easter - Chief Risk Officer, Colonial First State (CFS) Franca Di Blasio-Easter was appointed to the role of Chief Risk Officer, Colonial First State in April 2018. Franca has been with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (the Group) since July 2000, most recently as the Chief Risk Officer, Wealth Management Advice. Prior to joining the Group, Franca was the Head of International & Superannuation - Internal Audit at Colonial. Franca has also held other executive management roles specialising in Audit, Strategy, Risk and Compliance within the Finance industry. Previously, Franca worked at KPMG Melbourne. Franca holds a Bachelor of Business in Accountancy from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and is a Chartered Accountant. Franca is a member of the Australian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Risk Management Association of Australia. |
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BRAD MASSEY - General Manager Colonial First State (CFS) Separation Brad Massey has been appointed as the General Manager CFS Separation since August 2020. Brad holds a BA (Accounting) from the University of Western Sydney Nepean, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investments from the Securities Institute of Australia, and is a Certified Practising Accountant. |
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TODD STEVENSON - Chief Member Outcomes Officer, Colonial First State (CFS) Todd is the Chief Member Outcomes Officer at CFS responsible for the end-to-end member experience, CFS digital strategy, CFS data office, analytics & business intelligence, member advocacy, events and Human Centred Design. Before his appointment to Chief Member Outcomes Officer in 2019, Todd was the General Manager, Customer & Marketing at CFS and prior to this he was the General Manager, Marketing for CBA Wealth Management from 2015 to 2017. Todd joined CFS in 2010 and joined the Financial Services industry in 1998. He has deep global experience having worked in the UK, China and the USA across Distribution, Administration and Strategy roles. He has worked in both the institutional and retail markets. Prior to joining CFS, Todd led the Global Innovation Council and was the China entry business lead for Russell Investments.
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Scott Henricks - General Manager Colonial First State (CFS) Operations Scott Henricks has been the General Manager CFS Operations since 2014. Scott has been employed by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia since December 2002. Prior to joining the Bank, Scott was the Operations Director and a member of Executive team at 7C UK (formerly AT&T) and he has held managerial roles within AT&T based in their London office. Scott has an MBA and a BA Hons from the University of Sydney.
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Kelly Power - General Manager, Product, Marketing and Strategy Colonial First State (CFS) Kelly Power is the General Manager, Product, Marketing and Strategy for CFS, and is responsible for managing and driving the development of CFS’s products (including the FirstChoice and FirstWrap platforms), marketing and Strategy. Formerly, Kelly was the General Manager Product for CFS since March 2018 and General Manager for Product, Marketing and Remediation until October 2020. Prior to joining the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Kelly was the Head of Platforms at BT Financial Group. Kelly has also held other executive management roles within BT Financial Group focusing primarily on the management of Platforms. Kelly holds a Bachelor in Communications (Major in Marketing) from UTS, a Diploma of Management from the Australian Institute of Management, a Diploma of Financial Services from Integratec and has completed the Company Directors Course at the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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Scott Tully - General Manager Colonial First State (CFS) Investments Scott is the General Manager Investments and has led Colonial First State’s Investments team Prior to joining Colonial First State, Scott worked with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Colonial Limited (and its subsidiary Colonial State Bank), holding various roles in portfolio and investment Scott holds a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) from the University of NSW. He has also completed the Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Financial Services Institute of Australia.
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Tom Richardson - Chief Technology Officer, Colonial First State (CFS) Chief Technology Officer, Colonial First State (CFS) Tom Richardson is the Chief Technology Officer of CFS, and is responsible for providing end-to-end technology solutions to the CFS business. Tom has extensive executive experience in leading transformational change across a range of Information Technological (IT) functions and businesses. Tom has been with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia since 2004. Formerly, he was the General Manager of IT Transformation and has held other executive management roles specialising in Information Technology. Tom holds a Masters in Engineering, Economics & Management from Oxford University
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Bryce Quirk - General Manager Colonial First State (CFS) Advice Relationships Bryce Quirk is the General Manager CFS Advice Relationships responsible for managing the distribution of CFS products and services through the external intermediated Channels. Formerly, he was the Head of Retail Sales for CFS. Prior to joining the Commonwealth Bank of Ausralia, Bryce was Head of Account Management at BT Financial Group. Bryce has also held other executive management roles within BT Financial specialising in Product Distribution, Account Management, and Project Execution. Bryce holds a Bachelor of Commerce at Deakin University
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Hugh Loughrey -Acting General Manager Trustee Governance Hugh has been the Acting GM Trustee Governance since January 2021 and is responsible for supporting the Board in managing its trustee and fiduciary duties, and its governance and regulatory obligations. Hugh has been with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) since 2019 and was also formerly the Head of the Wealth Management Office of the Trustee. Prior to joining CBA, Hugh was the Head of Legal, Risk & Compliance at Qantas Superannuation Limited. Hugh has extensive legal, governance, risk and compliance experience across the superannuation industry having held other executive management roles at BT Financial Group and Mercer. Hugh holds a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from the University College Dublin.
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