Reflections on my journey as CEO – with Ben Palmer

In July last year, Ben Palmer became our Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Ben was previously our General Manager, Investments.

We sat down with Ben and had a chat about his journey this past year and how he’s found the transition.

‘It’s been really stimulating and rewarding for me moving from an investments role into the CEO position. In my previous role, as a member of the Executive Leadership team I had good exposure to and understanding of our different business areas, but I’ve really enjoyed taking on the additional responsibilities as CEO.’

We asked Ben what he thought some of the highlights of the past year were for both him, and GESB as a whole.

‘Our focus over the last year has continued to be on putting our members first, with the ultimate goal of achieving better outcomes for them. Some initiatives have included reducing our administration fees in October last year, followed by removing transaction fees in December.  More recently, we’ve made some significant enhancements to our insurance offering which come into effect on 1 October 2019.

In the past year, we’ve also focused on growing our digital capabilities, which not only helps keep fees and costs down, but will also allow members to access all their important information in one place, online.  It also saves a lot of paper!

We’ve recently launched our new online Retirement planning calculator, which is a useful tool for members to model different scenarios and estimate both their retirement savings and income in retirement. We also introduced our Live chat service, and we’re excited to be rolling out online member statement summaries in October.

We’ve taken some great steps in formalising our commitment to indigenous reconciliation with the launch of our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in July. We’ve participated in regional events and helped these members with over $4 million of their superannuation savings. We’ve worked hard to make our website accessible to all our members, including those who may face more challenges in doing so than others.  You can read more about these initiatives in the News section of our website.’

We asked Ben what he thinks the focus of GESB will be over the next year or two and what impact this would have on members as a whole.

‘Looking forward, we continue to work through our plans to digitise processes, to be more efficient, and to make sure our members’ experience is a good one.  We’re looking in more detail at the outcomes we deliver for our members across a broad range of areas, to make sure we achieve our overall purpose and goal, which are to look after our members’ superannuation with excellence and improve our members’ long-term superannuation benefits.’

Fast facts about Ben

Here are some interesting things to know about our CEO:

• Ben is responsible for providing strategic leadership to GESB. He is accountable for achieving our strategic, business, policy and budget objectives, and for compliance with legislative requirements
• Formerly our General Manager, Investments, Ben was also our Acting CEO from 30 January 2017 for six months and from 1 February 2018 for a further five months
• Ben has over 18 years' experience across superannuation and investment management. Before joining us, Ben spent eight years with Schroders in London and prior to returning to Australia was Head of Portfolio Management for the group's UK private wealth business
• Ben holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment, and completed a Certified Investment Management Analyst qualification in 2013. He joined us in December 2012
• Outside work Ben is involved in a number of charitable and volunteer roles.  In his spare time Ben likes to spend time with his family, play guitar and work on old cars

Find out more

• Find out more about our Executive Leadership team
• Read more on our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)
• Find out more on our online member statement summaries
• Visit our Super news section