13th Fund Summit
27 October 2026
The Events Centre, Collins Square – Melbourne
Agenda
09.00-09.10 // Welcome and conference opening
09.10-09.50 // The view from the top
Boards, executive management and regulators are recalibrating expectations of operations, with increased focus on resilience, transparency and demonstrable strategic contribution. This session explores what boards, top management and regulators expect from operations functions, where priorities are shifting and how operations can optimise strategic value:
- What is currently keeping regulators and boards awake at night?
- How can firms balance innovation, resilience and cost without creating new sources of risk?
- What separates operating models that create strategic advantage from those that simply respond to change?
- How should boards and executive committees challenge whether their operating models are fit for a more complex investment environment?
09.50-10.30 // The next operating model: building advantage in a lower fee, faster moving market
Fee compression, rising operational complexity and changing market infrastructures are forcing asset owners and managers to rethink how they operate, achieve efficiencies and increase their competitiveness.
This panel will explore what future operating models could look like, who will play the most strategic roles across the investment ecosystem and how firms can turn operational excellence into a competitive advantage:
- How are market structure changes, including shorter settlement cycles, digital assets, tokenisation and evolving regulation, reshaping investment operations?
- Which capabilities will become sources of strategic and competitive advantage?
- How will the role of custodians and other strategic partners evolve?
Stephanie Todd
Principal – Investment Operations,
AustralianSuper
10.30-11.00 // Refreshments and networking
11.00-11.40 // Man vs. machine: from AI pilots to production operating models
Investment firms are increasingly exploring using AI agents to take on repeatable operational workflows however moving from successful pilots to safe and scalable production use is easier said than done. This session will discuss how firms are restructuring their workforce, while maintaining oversight and accountability over automated decisions and control of their budgets:
- Unlocking scale: what tasks are best suited to agent-led execution?
- Maintaining accountability over automated decisions: what are organisations doing to meet regulatory expectations?
- Retaining control of budgets amid increasing API costs: what spend caps are reasonable?
- Managing and interacting with machines, rather than people.
- Re-imagining insourcing vs outsourcing in the age of AI.
11.40-12.20 // Data foundations: from quicksand to competitive advantage
Data quality and architecture are consistently flagged as major constraints to efficiency improvements, including the ability to use AI efficiently. This session explores how firms are redesigning their data frameworks, operating models and governance structures to create the foundations for AI, automation and more intelligent decision-making:
- What data capabilities will organisations need to execute AI and transformation strategies over the course of the next three to five years?
- How should firms redesign data ownership, architecture and governance to enable enterprise-wide scale?
- Where should organisations standardise data and where should they preserve flexibility to support innovation?
- From strategy to execution: what successful data transformation initiatives delivered measurable impact, and what lessons can be learnt?
12.20-12.45 // The journey to scale: an interview with Peter Curtis
Having retired from AustralianSuper mid-this year after two decades with the organisation, this session will review Peter’s journey at the fund; its remarkable growth story and operational underpinnings.
Independent
12.45-13.45 // Lunch & networking – joint pre-function area
13.45-14.25 // BREAKOUT STREAM 1: Optimising liquidity and treasury management
Treasury and liquidity management have become increasingly important as firms navigate customer in & out flows, market volatility and changing investment opportunities. Some have gone as far as to appoint specific ‘chief liquidity officers’ to strengthen oversight and decision- making.
This session will examine how investment managers are rethinking and restructuring liquidity management in the broader investment process:
- Managing liquidity through changing market conditions.
- Balancing capital efficiency and risk management.
- Enhancing treasury visibility through data and system integration.
- Connecting treasury, collateral and data: removing manual reconciliation.
Stephen Donaghy
Deputy Head of Portfolio Implementation & Liquidity Management,
UniSuper
General Manager – Defensive, Liquid Assets & Portfolio Intelligence,
Australian Retirement Trust
13.45-14.25 // BREAKOUT STREAM 2: The next frontier in distribution: delivering personalised investment solutions at scale
As investment appetites and distribution evolve, the rise of platforms, model portfolios, SMA’s and private market access is driving demand for more personalised investment solutions and lower cost products; placing greater pressure on firms to modernise their operating models. This session will discuss redesigning products, technology and distribution capabilities to deliver greater personalisation without compromising speed, scale or operational efficiency:
- Building operating models that support scalable multi-channel distribution.
- Accelerating product innovation and distribution through data, technology and emerging investment structures, including tokenisation.
- Delivering personalised investment solutions at scale, from model portfolios to customised mandates.
14.25-15.05 // BREAKOUT STREAM 1: Best practice: governance and valuations in private markets
As investments into private markets grow and regulatory oversight increases, how can investment management firms maintain robust governance and valuation frameworks that meet regulator expectations and are appropriate considering the complexities of their assets under management?
- Meeting regulatory expectations around valuation oversight and internal expertise.
- Managing independence, transparency and consistency.
- Responding to increasing stakeholder scrutiny.
14.25-15.05 // BREAKOUT STREAM 2: Scaling reporting without scaling cost
Investment managers are under increasing pressure to deliver timely, tailored reporting across clients, regulators and distribution platforms, while managing growing product complexity and tightening cost constraints.
This session explores how firms are redesigning reporting operating models to create a more scalable, consistent and data-driven capability:
- Can reporting be simplified and standardised across client, regulatory and platform requirements?
- How can data architecture, automation and AI improve quality, reduce manual effort and accelerate delivery?
- Is a single reporting data layer the key to supporting future product innovation, distribution and regulatory change?
15.05-15.35 // Refreshments and networking – joint pre-function area
15.35-16.15 // Mandatory climate reporting in practice
Mandatory sustainability and climate disclosures are fast approaching for Australian financial entities, with the ‘group 2’ annual reporting period having started on 1 July 2026. This session will discuss how firms can best prepare for the upcoming reporting obligations:
- Building reliable sustainability data foundations.
- Integrating climate reporting into business processes.
16.15-16.55 // Building resilience in a world of dependency: redesigning the future operating model
As investment organisations become increasingly dependent on cloud platforms, AI, specialist technology providers and custodians; operational resilience is becoming a strategic design challenge rather than simply a risk function. This session explores how firms are rethinking operating models, managing critical dependencies and ensuring they remain resilient as technology, outsourcing and market structures continue to evolve:
- What are the early signals from APRA’s system-wide stress test and what do they reveal about emerging vulnerabilities across the investment ecosystem?
- Where are organisations most vulnerable today and are traditional approaches to operational risk management still fit for purpose?
- How can firms build resilience into operating models as dependence on technology providers, custodians and critical third parties increases?
- Managing concentration risk in an interconnected ecosystem.
Adam Swanwick
Head of Risk & Compliance,
ESS Super
16.55-18.00 // Networking reception, drinks and canapés