Cbus Super announces Chief Investment Officer transition

“We are pleased to welcome Leigh to the Chief Investment Officer role. Leigh has a proven track record as an investment leader, delivering strong returns for members, shaping strategies, portfolios and teams,” Mr Fok said.

“An industry veteran with more than 25 years’ experience, Leigh has the deep expertise and skills necessary to deliver the outstanding investment results our more than 920,000^† members deserve.”

“Leigh’s previous CIO experience, and skills honed managing local and global portfolios will allow him to build on our already strong investment foundations. Leigh’s tenure begins as the fund aims to deploy over $20 billion of our members’ savings in the next five years, where the aim is to deploy at least $5 billion for private markets and $10 billion for domestic investment.”

Mr Gavin will oversee the launch of Cbus’ active large-cap Core Australian equities strategy and continue to grow our internal global markets strategies.

He will also continue to build on the differentiated hybrid investment model that has helped attract the best investment talent to Cbus, as the fund drives down investment costs.

New Cbus Chief Investment Officer Leigh Gavin said, “It's a tremendous honour to be appointed as the Chief Investment Officer for the hard-working Cbus members and to lead an expert investment team of more than 100 people who are all committed to generating the best net returns to members we possibly can.”

“I am passionate about making a contribution for our members, it is energising knowing every extra basis point our teams can earn goes directly to these hard-working Australians.”

“We are focused on growing their savings and aim to seek new opportunities in infrastructure – including data centres which are the bricks and mortar of the AI revolution, looking for diverse opportunities in property and investing in the energy transition.”

“Cbus is a fund with a well-earned reputation for strong long-term returns that also makes a difference for members and the wider economy through our expertise in the built environment and job creation for members. It is a privilege to lead the investment team in the next phase of its growth, to implement new strategies and build on the strong platform developed by Brett and Kristian.”

Mr Gavin was selected following an evaluation of the external market led by the CEO with input from Chair of the Board’s Investment Committee Stephen Dunne and Board Chair Wayne Swan.

Mr Fok thanked outgoing CIO Brett Chatfield for his many years of service, delivering strong long-term returns for Cbus members with the Fund’s default Growth (My Super) Option being in the top five best performing funds in the SuperRatings industry survey over the 10 and 15 years to 31 March 2025^‡.

“Brett has spent the last few years bolstering the investment senior leadership team, hiring exceptional investment professionals with whole-of-fund experience – like his successor Leigh Gavin. Cbus has always had a strong focus on succession planning and having a strong depth of leaders.”

“Brett has been a key driver of the Fund’s strong long-term performance and successful build out of internal investment management. When Brett joined Cbus, funds under management were around $22 billion^¶. Today, the portfolio is valued at around $100 billion^†.”

“Brett’s commitment to members and his determination to deliver them the best investment returns, and retirement outcomes, is unquestionable. He has lived and breathed Cbus for over 12 years and members are undoubtably much better off because of it. His experience with the Fund’s investment portfolio also extends to his prior time advising the Fund while at Frontier Advisors.”

Mr Chatfield will be moving to a CIO role at a large private family office, once completing a transition to Mr Gavin.

Outgoing CIO Brett Chatfield said, "I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such a dedicated, diverse, and talented team and the privilege of investing on behalf of more than 920,000 Cbus members.”

“With Leigh at the helm, I have no doubt that the investment team will continue to drive strong returns for our members and steer the Fund towards its ambitious goals. Congratulations to Leigh on this well-deserved appointment."

The Cbus investment team's purpose-driven, collaborative and innovative approach has seen the team grow to over 100 investment professionals today and attract a diverse range of investment talent. The high-quality team is central to the success of Cbus's investment strategy, as it aims to move from about 34% of our investments managed internally to 50% within the next three years^*.

This talent strategy is playing out with the appointment of Matt Kempton to the role of Head of Equity Strategies, reporting to the CIO, who will begin in August. Matt was most recently the Deputy CIO at Funds SA, where he has worked for the last seven years, and has extensive experience in equities, property, and asset allocation, including other senior roles at ESS Super, Frontier Advisors, and ISPT.

Background: Mr Gavin joined Cbus in 2023, joining the Fund from AustralianSuper where he was Head of Investment Model Design. Prior to this, Mr Gavin was Chief Investment Officer of LUCRF Super following a long career advising some of Australia's largest funds at Frontier Advisors.

The Fund’s investment team has low turnover and has bolstered its internal Investment capabilities with several high profile appointments over the last two and a half years, including industry veteran Justin Pascoe (Head of Portfolio Construction) who has worked at AustralianSuper, Goldman Sachs, State Street, and spent eight years as the CIO at VFMC; and Jordan Kraiten who was promoted to Head of Private Markets & Infrastructure in 2024 and previously spent over 12 years at HostPlus.

The recent hires join the broader depth in the team including the senior leaders who make up the Investment Leadership Team of Linda Cunningham, Myooran Mahalingam, Ros McKay, alongside Justin Pascoe and Jordan Kraiten. Cbus Super’s Head of Debt and Alternatives, Linda Cunningham, was recently named Industry Thought Leader of the Year at the Super Review Super Fund of the Year awards. The award was for Linda’s pioneering work to make institutional investment in social and affordable housing more viable.

Cbus recently passed the $100 billion in funds under management mark^†, and is in the top five best performing funds over the last 10, 15, and 20 years (to 31 March 2025)^‡. Members of Cbus continue to benefit from the investment internalisation program which has delivered investment fee and cost savings of more than $1 billion since 2018^§.

Media enquiries: media@cbussuper.com.au or +61 3 9100 4930