Women in Super

This year's WIS NSW End of Year luncheon had an additional treat on the menu - the secret sauce to an epic retirement! In what was another successful event (with over 420 guests in attendance), keynote speaker, Bec Wilson, redefined and reimagined what modern ageing can be, by exploring the six key pillars from her latest book - time, financial confidence, health, happiness and fulfilment, travel, and your home as you age.   Joined by Aware Super CEO, Deanne Stewart, the Q&A discussion took audience members down a path into the future, talking about practical advice, strategies, and all the possibilities of what can be achieved in retirement by using all the right tools to plan ahead. The key take out - retirement isn't the beginning of the end… rather it's your prime time waiting to happen! Thanks, once again, to our incredible sponsors for support this event:  Platinum sponsor: First Sentier Investors Gold sponsors: TAL Australia, Natixis Investment Managers, State Street Silver sponsors: Iress, MSCI Inc., Citi and SS&C Technologies Charmayne Connelly Lata McNulty Dena Brockie Jane Couchman Larissa Davis Miriam Herold, Morgan (Nowicki) Houston Jorjet Issavi Natalie Kalouche Anastasia Polites Angelica Tziotis

Women in Super thanks outgoing board members Sue Field, Lata McNulty, Tasha Naige and Jeannene O'Day for their contributions over many years. WIS board members donate a significant amount of time and energy in service to our members and purpose of advocating for a fairer super system . We are grateful for their support and commitment. We wish Sue, Lata, Tasha and Jeannene luck in their future endeavours and are sure they will continue to support WIS for many years to come.

An estimated 21% of adults have experienced partner violence or abuse since the age of 15, and more specifically, 16% of women have experienced what is known as partner economic abuse. Economic abuse is a form of domestic and family violence that involves the control of a partner or ex-partner’s money and finances (as well as the things that money can buy), in a way that threatens their economic security and potential for self-sufficiency. The impact of economic abuse makes the idea of leaving insurmountable for some - without money, there is nowhere to go. And once they have successfully left, rebuilding life is extremely challenging, forcing many women to start again from scratch, with large amounts of debt and poor credit ratings, affecting their long-term economic stability. This Economic Abuse Awareness Day we urge the finance sector to embrace the role it plays in protecting women against financial abuse, by making it harder to inflict harm.

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.    Far from improving, violence against women in Australia is getting worse. Sherele Moody's Femicide Watch has recorded 86 Australian women lost to violence so far in 2024, with 15 Australian women killed in the last three weeks.    As we have discussed at both our National Road Show and our Threads of Inequality Conference this year, violence against women takes many forms. The UN defines it as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” This affects women at all stages of their life, including education, employment, and opportunities. Some women and girls, such as those in vulnerable situations or humanitarian crises, migrants, LGTBI, indigenous people or those with disabilities, face greater risk.Violence against women continues to be an obstacle to achieving equality, development, peace as well as to the fulfillment of women and girls’ human rights.   In marking this day, the UN are calling for robust responses, holding perpetrators accountable, and accelerating action through well-resourced national strategies and increased funding to women’s rights movements.   Women in Super has always encouraged and assisted super and financial services to embrace the role it plays in protecting women against abuse - including financial, by making it harder to inflict harm.

Wonderful to be back at the ASFA Conference again this year with our Networking Breakfast. This morning, a captivated audience benefited from the insights of Deloitte partner, Sruthi Srikanthan talking to her report Remaking the Norm. Followed by a conversation facilitated by WIS CEO Jo Kowalczyk with Sruthi and ASFA CEO Mary Delahunty. Sruthi unpacked how gender equality could deliver economic benefit of $128b over the next decade through driving increased productivity and labour force participation. A big thank-you to Deloitte for supporting this important conversation. You can read Remaking the Norm here: https://lnkd.in/gnjZhSg4

WIS' end of year events have kicked off early in Brisbane! What an enjoyable night at the WIS QLD End of Year Trivia event last week! The WIS QLD team are so proud to have raised more than $1,000 for charity Friends with Dignity with our raffles on the night. Well done to the winning trivia team… the ME Bank team!! Thank you to our members and sponsors for a fantastic year and we look forward to seeing you all again at our events in 2025. Thank you to Vincents for your venue and sponsorship. Michelle Ingram Ann Janssen Sara Bradford Renee Davidson Karla Harvey Kim Heironymus Deline Jacovides CFP® Jaspreet Kaur Anne Kemp Emily Monk Katherine Noonan Mailene Wheeler

Attention WIS VIC members and supporters, it's the day you've all been waiting for: the countdown is on for the WIS VIC Annual Christmas Luncheon. This sought after opportunity to come together with the industry's best and brightest to celebrate another successful year. This year, VIC will be joined by champion aerial skiier, Jacqui Cooper. Jacqui Cooper represented Australia in the sport of aerial skiing for over 20 years. Spotted on a trampoline in Melbourne at age 16 she was quickly recruited with a vision for her to be a World Champion 10 years later. With a detailed plan in place and unwavering commitment from Jacqui she became a World Champion; and in the decade that followed, Jacqui Cooper dominated and revolutionised her sport. Jacqui Cooper's story is one of triumph, tragedy, defeat and success. It’s a story that makes you believe in the strength of the human spirit. Her passion, persistence and unwavering dedication to a sport that is brutal and cruel, is absolutely inspiring. Jacqui takes you on a journey – a journey that lasts 21 years in her sport. As well as being entertained and inspired, your audience will be left with a lasting impression that “success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” Tickets for this luncheon are selling like hotcakes so jump onto our website to register: https://lnkd.in/gWiDNVT2 Erin Quinn Melanie Munro Elisha Bellingham Melissa Bodycoat Melissa Divaris Blair Fenech Emma Higgs Laura Judge Natalie Lister JessicaPamela Reptis Karen Shen Thakshi Wijesundara Rufimy Khoo Katrina Waghorne Elizabeth Paligora Ruchika Wali Dianne Ghosn Jennifer Shields

WIS CEO Jo Kowalczyk is speaking at the ASFA | The Voice of Super Conference next week! Joining MetLife's Lina Saliba, Professor Rod Baber and Mayflower Consulting's Sarah Penn for an open discussion about the impact of menopause and the need for systemic and workplace change. See you there!

Who are the women in super? As our member numbers continue to steadily grow over time, we've noted that it can be tricky to maintain the same sense of community, and fostering of connections that Women in Super was built on. To combat this, we have begun spotlighting some of our members so they can share their experience, to explore the different ways that being part of our network has influenced their life - both personal and professional - or vice versa. Renae Anderson’s career has taken many forms over the last 20 years, across both corporate funds and industry funds, leading her to her current role as Manager, Select Advice at UniSuper. Most of the decisions about the way her career has progressed over this time, were made when she wasn’t even in the room, highlighting the importance of a strong personal brand that speaks for you, and understanding how you show up to other people. Education has also played a big part in Renae’s career. The financial planning profession has evolved during her time in it, and she has attained four different financial planning qualifications. But there are also important skills that you can learn on the job, and Renae feels that this is where she continues to learn the leadership skills that serve her as part of the Advice and Member and Advice Leadership Teams at UniSuper. Click through to read more of Renae's story: https://lnkd.in/gwvZkdBt We'd love to hear whose journey you'd like to see next - tag a colleague, mentor or yourself!

Celebrate 30 years of Women in Super, the end of the year; and modern, epic retirements with WIS NSW! Be inspired by remarkable keynote speaker Bec Wilson, one of Australia's leading authorities on modern retirement, followed by a Q&A with Aware Super CEO Deanne Stewart. Bec is a powerful communicator with weekly financial columns in Nine Newspapers, financial podcast ‘Prime Time’ and Australia’s best-selling retirement book ‘How to Have an Epic Retirement’. She’ll inspire the room – backed by science, evidence and fact – as she redefines and reimagines modern ageing and just what can be achieved pre-retirement and post-retirement. Gather your colleagues and organise a table to network and connect over a gala lunch where Bec’s secrets, practical advice and actionable strategies to help women gain financial confidence are sure to be real conversation starters for the super sector. Register now for Tuesday 3 December 2024 - this is the WIS NSW end-of-year celebration you’ve been waiting for! https://lnkd.in/gcqt5YRc This End of Year Luncheon would not be possible with the support of our sponsors. Platinum Sponsor: First Sentier Investors; Gold Sponsors: Natixis Investment Managers, TAL Australia and State Street; and Silver Sponsors: Iress, MSCI Inc.; Citi and SS&C Technologies. Charmayne Connelly Lata McNulty Dena Brockie Jane Couchman Larissa Davis Miriam Herold, Morgan (Nowicki) Houston Jorjet Issavi Natalie Kalouche Anastasia Polites Angelica Tziotis