Corporate Profile

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.

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 Commonwealth Bank, 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.

Ben Heap - Independent Director

Ben 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 of 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.

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 Towers Perrin in Asia, based in Hong Kong.

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.

Michael Venter - Chief Operating Officer, Colonial First State

Michael Venter was appointed Chief Operating Officer, Colonial First State in July 2019. Since joining the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (the Group) in January 2004, Michael has held a number of senior leadership roles, including Deputy Chief Financial Officer and more recently as Chief Operating Officer of Wealth Management. He has also spent 2½ years in Hong Kong with the Group as CFO of its International Financial Services division.

Michael is an experienced company director with appointments including ASX listed REIT’s, global infrastructure funds, banking, insurance and financial services generally. He has also served on boards in developing countries including China, Vietnam and South Africa.

Before joining Commonwealth Bank in 2004, Michael was at AMP & prior to that he served in senior finance executive roles within Nedcor Bank, one of the ‘Big 4’ banks in South Africa.

Michael is a Member of Chartered Accountants ANZ and has a Post Graduate Degree in Accounting.

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 Australia Limited. Linda has also held other executive management roles specialising in banking and finance.

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.

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, Riskand 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.

Brad Massey – General Manager Fund Services Colonial First State

Brad Massey has been the General Manager Fund Services* for Colonial First State at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia since 2008. Brad recently returned from his secondment in March 2019 from his role of General Manager Strategic Projects for Colonial First State that he commenced in January 2019.

Brad has been employed by the Group since 1994. Brad’s key responsibilities include asset servicing, unit pricing and fund accounting; financial reporting; tax and compliance & risk management for Colonial First State Investments Limited (CFSIL) and others in the wider Commonwealth Bank Wealth Management organisation.

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 (CPA).

Todd Stevenson - Chief Member Outcomes Officer

Colonial First State (CFS) exists to drive better individual retirement outcomes for you, our members. The role of the Chief Member Outcomes Officer is to break down silos and work across and into the entire organisation to ensure that absolutely everything we do is member led, drives better member outcomes and results in a member obsessed culture. In this role Todd and his team are responsible for the end-to-end member experience, the CFS digital strategy, the 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.

Todd has an MBA from Sydney University where he also lectures. He is also a Director of Commonwealth Custodial Services and Non-Executive Director of Sydney University Sport & Fitness.

Scott Henricks - General Manager Colonial First State (CFS) Operations
Scott was appointed to the role of General Manager Client Operations for Colonial First State in July 2014.

He has been with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Group (the Group) since December 2002, most recently as General Manager Branch Transformation, which involved leading the ‘Branch Of The Future’ program within the Retail Bank.

Prior to joining the Group, Scott was the Operations Director and a member of the Executive team at 7C UK (formerly AT&T). He also held managerial roles within AT&T based at their London office.

Scott has an MBA from the University of Sydney and a Double Honours BA degree in Political Science and Economic History from the University of New South Wales.
 

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.

Scott Tully - General Manager Investments

Scott has led the Colonial First State Investments team since 2002. The team was formed following the merger of Colonial First State and Commonwealth Investment Management and has responsibility for the management of a range of investment portfolios available to Colonial First State’s clients. These include the FirstChoice Multi-Manager and Multi-Index portfolios in addition to the MySuper Lifestage strategies available to superannuation members via Commonwealth Essential Super and FirstChoice Employer Super. In total, the Colonial First State Investments team has funds under management in excess of $55 billion (as at September 2019).
 

Having spent 3 years with William M Mercer in the field of Superannuation Consulting, Scott joined State Bank of NSW in 1992 as an Actuarial Analyst and subsequently had a variety of roles in credit, market risk and financial markets. Following Commonwealth Bank’s acquisition of Colonial Limited (and its subsidiary Colonial State Bank) in 2000, Scott reported to the Group Executive, Institutional Banking before joining Commonwealth Investment Management in the role of Portfolio Manager, Implemented Advice.
 

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.
 

Tom Richardson - Chief Technology Officer, Colonial First State (CFS)

Chief Technology Officer, Colonial First State (CFS) Tom Richardson is the Chief Technology Officerof 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.

Dr Lisa Butler Beatty - Chief Legal Counsel CFS and GM Trustee Governance

Lisa Butler Beatty is the ‘Chief Legal Counsel CFS and GM Trustee Governance’ since February 2018. Lisa is responsible for supporting the Board in managing its trustee governance duties, and its legal and regulatory obligations.

Lisa has been with the Commonwealth Bank since 2013 and was also formerly the General Manager–- Head of the WM Office of the Trustee and Special Counsel.

Lisa holds a PhD in Regulatory Theory, Trusts and Superannuation and a Bachelor of B CommLLB (Hons1) from the University of Tasmania. She is also the current Chair of the Superannuation Committee, Law Council of Australia.

Bryce Quirk  - General Manager Colonial First State (CFS) Advice Relationships

Bryce Quirk is the General Manager CFS Advice Relationships responsible for managing the distributionof CFS products and services through the external intermediated Channels. Formerly, he was the Headof Retail Sales for CFS.

Prior to joining the Commonwealth Bank of Ausralia, Bryce was Head of Account Management at BTFinancial Group. Bryce has also held other executive management roles within BT Financial specialisingin Product Distribution, Account Management, and Project Execution. Bryce holds a Bachelor ofCommerce at Deakin University.