Aware Super supercharges scale ambitions with new investment structure
20 February 2026
European outlet mall
Aware Super Chief Investment Officer Simon Warner, who was appointed to the role in October 2025, said the changes were the next evolution of the Fund’s investment model and would bring together data, liquidity management, public and private markets, and defensive assets in a more connected operating framework, which would also support a Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) to investing.
Mr Warner said: “As Aware Super has grown in size and scale, so too has the need for faster, more accurate and integrated decision making across asset classes, liquidity and risk spectrum.
“This structure is about empowering the portfolio to work as a whole, rather than silos, and ensure our teams have the data, governance and accountability needed to deliver for our 1.2 million members in all market conditions.”
Fundamental to the updated model is the Fund’s whole-of-fund investment and data platform, which integrates listed and unlisted assets, internal and external mandates, and real-time exposure and liquidity information into a single system.
A new division – Liquidity and Markets – has been created to harness the benefits of the data platform and to effectively manage both Fund and market liquidity. This division will also oversee the Fund’s $19 billion cash portfolio.
“Central to strengthening the way we make decisions, allocate capital and manage risk is the marrying of the art of investment, with the science of investment; ensuring we match our leading team capabilities with our leading digital investment architecture,” he said.
The growth and defensive role of the Fund’s respective $115 billion public market equities portfolio and $26 billion defensive assets portfolio have also been elevated with the divisions now reporting directly to the CIO.
The elevation of defensive assets which includes fixed income and private credit, also highlights their importance to the Fund’s retirement strategy.
In addition, Private Markets is now a stand-alone division overseeing $47 billion across infrastructure, property and private equity and will also have a direct line to the CIO, reflecting the increasingly important diversification and growth benefits to the Fund.
Mr Warner said: “Today’s announcement is a new era for Aware Super’s members and will empower us to achieve our ambition to be a leading global asset owner delivering strong risk-adjusted returns on their behalf.”
Reporting into CIO Simon Warner are:
- Head of Investment Strategy, Michael Winchester
- Head of Liquidity and Markets, Michael Clavin, who was recently Head of Income and Markets and led the integration of the fund’s new investment and data platform.
- Head of Private Markets, Jenny Newmarch, who has oversight of the Fund’s Private Equity, Property, Infrastructure and Operating Partner functions. She was formerly Head of Private Equity and has returned from a two-year placement in the Fund’s UK office to establish the global private equity function.
- Head of Defensive Assets, Sonia Baillie leading fixed income and private credit
- Head of Public Market Equities, Agnes Hong who will oversee direct equities, systematic equities and managed equities
- Chief Operating Officer – Investments, Justin Howell
- Head of Responsible Investment, Liza McDonald
Mr Warner added the team changes will sharpen the Fund’s strategic focus, and ensure the right leadership is in place to capture the scale opportunities both today, and by 2030 when Australia’s pension pool of capital is projected to be the second largest in the world.
“Our members entrust us with their retirement savings, and this structure aims to ensure we continue to honour that trust by enhancing discipline, improving our investment processes, and positioning the Fund to navigate the risks and opportunities ahead,” he said.