ESSSuper hires new strategy lead

ESSSuper, the fund for emergency services and Victorian government employees, has hired a former UniSuper staffer as head of strategy and insights.

Rosalyn deVries is taking up a senior leadership position that will be pivotal in shaping the asset owner's strategic direction and driving data-driven decision-making.

In the new role, deVries will lead a team of data scientists and research analysts to conduct research, analyse data, and generate actionable insights.

Among other tasks, she will lead strategy meetings with the executive leadership.

deVries replaces Sue Johnson who left six months ago to join the Australian Financial Complaints Authority as a strategic insights manager.

deVries joins the $34 billion fund from Catholic Church Insurance, where she spent three years driving strategy and performance.

Before that, she was with Club Assist Asia Pacific overseeing strategy and business planning as well as product engineering & development, brand, market research, and corporate communications.

Before her seven years with the battery technology specialist, deVries spent the same amount of time at UniSuper as a marketing intelligence manager.

During her career in the financial services industry, she has worked with Bank of New York Mellon, Advance Funds Management, Perpetual Trustees, and AXA.

ESSSuper group executive of strategy brand and insights Duncan Winton said the expertise Ros brings to support strategy refinement will be invaluable as the super fund continues to grow.

"ESSSuper is committed to making a lifetime of positive difference for the people who serve and have served the Victorian community.  To best support our members and to maximise their income in retirement, ESSSuper relies on insights from its data.

"Ros's deep experience in running data analytics functions at a diverse range of organisations including Catholic Church Insurance, Club Assist and UniSuper will enable us to continue to build out the capability of the insights function."

"I am grateful to be part of this stellar team focused on delivering the best superannuation and retirement outcomes possible for those who serve our community."

ESSSuper was the top-performing balanced superannuation fund for the year ending June 2023, according to Industry data.

The fund returned 13.3 per cent, compared to the median of nine per cent.