Australia’s Hostplus Names Deputy Co-CIO

The hospitality industry superannuation fund promoted Susan Orr from within.



The Hostplus Superannuation Fund has promoted Susan Orr to deputy CIO following the recent departure of Con Michalakis, who took  the top investment job at Funds SA. The A$115 billion ($71.90 billion) industry superannuation fund for hospitality workers confirmed that Orr will now serve as co-deputy CIO alongside Greg Clerk. She will report to CIO Sam Sicilia.

Most recently, Orr was head of investment research and real assets—a role she assumed last June after seven months with the fund.

Orr joined Hostplus from Jana Investment Advisers, where she worked for 12 years as head of infrastructure. Before that, she served as a senior associate in the infrastructure, utilities and renewables group at Macquarie Capital. Earlier in her career, Orr was an economic researcher at what was then consulting firm ACIL Tasman.

Orr’s appointment surprised some investment professionals, given her relatively short time in the superannuation industry. However, they accept that her consulting experience with Hostplus would help a smooth transition into her new role.

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Industry insiders told Financial Standard that Clerk is also a former Jana employee, which means that Hostplus’ two most senior people after Sicilia come from the asset consultant.

In addition, before becoming the fund’s CIO in 2008, Sicilia had held several roles in asset consulting with Russell Investments, Frontier and Towers Perrin.

Michalakis will begin his role at Funds SA, the investment corporation owned by the government of South Australia, in February, replacing Matt Kempton, who has led the investment team for the last six months as acting CIO.

This article originally appeared in our sister publication, Financial Standard, which, like CIO, is owned by ISS STOXX.

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KKR Names Melissa Kivett as Head of Defined Contribution

The appointment comes during a push for private equity in DC plans.

Melissa Kivett

Alternative investment manager KKR & Co. has appointed Melissa Kivett as the firm’s first head of defined contribution, a spokesperson for KKR said.  

“We are thrilled to welcome Melissa to the firm. Across KKR we have nearly 50 years of private markets investing expertise and tremendous experience in annuities within Global Atlantic,” said Daniel Celeghin, KKR’s chief operating officer for global client solutions, in a statement. “Melissa brings deep knowledge and experience building partnerships with stakeholders across the DC ecosystem. She will help us to bring all the pieces together and lead our long-term focus on serving this segment of the market.” 

Kivett joined the firm last December from TIAA, where she oversaw corporate retirement solutions and business development. Her appointment comes at a time when many large alternative investment managers are seeking to enter the defined contribution market. While private equity has long been a piece of the portfolios of traditional defined benefit pension funds, these assets are relatively uncommon in DC plans.  

At his firm’s investor day in October 2024, Apollo Global Management CEO Mark Rowan said there were opportunities for the firm in the $45 trillion retirement industry, especially in the defined contribution market. The firm is a large provider of annuities through its Athene subsidiary.  

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“Whether it is stable value, tax-advantaged products, going after 401(k) or guaranteed lifetime income, there is no shortage of opportunities in retirement, and we truly have not even gotten started. We need to imagine this business not as an annuity business, not as a pension buyout business, but as a retirement solutions business,” Rowan said. 

In January 2024, KKR completed its acquisition of the remaining 37% stake in insurer Global Atlantic Financial Group, of which KKR already owned the majority, as a push into the retirement market. Global Atlantic had $158 billion in assets under management as of the end of 2023.  

“The population of folks [age] 65 and older continues to grow meaningfully, and in the next five years, the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation will retire,” said Allan Levine, Global Atlantic’s co-founder, chairman and CEO, at KKR’s investor day in April 2024. “Here’s what we know about that cohort: No. 1, they are not prepared for retirement. No. 2, they can rely less and less on defined benefit plans. Our industry is uniquely positioned to be able to provide the products that this demographic needs.” 

In KKR’s Q3 2024 earnings call, the firm’s head of investor relations, Craig Larson, noted that KKR would likely deploy its first alternative investment strategies in target-date funds as its first entry in the DC space. 

“At the same time, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that we think there’s a lot of industrial logic to introducing alternative strategies into target-date strategies, as individuals invest behind their continued retirement,” Larson said. “We expect that’s where you’ll see alternative strategies first introduced. It’s a massive market. It’s one that we do view as being a really interesting long-term opportunity for KKR in the industry.”  

Kivett was previously executive vice president of corporate retirement solutions and business development at TIAA, where she was responsible for identifying, managing and growing the firm’s distribution channels and sales pipelines in the 401(k) market. She had previous roles at Prudential and Assurant. 

Kivett earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the University of Massachusetts and an MBA from Columbia Business School.  

Related Stories: 

KKR Announces Acquisition of Remaining 37% of Global Atlantic for $2.7B 

KKR Elevates Domestic Private Equity Co-Heads to Global Roles 

Apollo Aims to Double AUM by 2029 

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