HESTA Dumps Mining Company Mineral Resources Stake due to Governance, Ethics Concerns

Australian superannuation fund HESTA has sold its remaining shares in Mineral Resources Ltd. over concerns the Australian mining company is not properly addressing governance issues. The A$91 billion ($58.3 billion) pension fund concluded that MinRes is “unable to make the changes we believe necessary to restore investor confidence.”

The sale of the remaining stake follows a reduction in the fund’s investment in the company last year, when HESTA—Health Employees Superannuation Trust Australia—put MinRes on its watch list. MinRes announced in November 2024 that Founder and Managing Director Chris Ellison would step down after an internal investigation found he used company resources for his personal use. However, the resignation date was set for 18 months after the announcement: May 2026.

“Last year we outlined our concerns that the managing director’s succession timeframe did not reflect the seriousness of the issues, and the issues indicated a systemic failure of governance,” HESTA CEO Debby Blakey said in a statement. “We have since regularly engaged with senior leaders and directors at the business to encourage action we believe necessary to restore investor confidence.”

The divestment announcement comes just a few weeks after three MinRes board directors—Denise McComish, Jacqueline McGill and Susan Corlett, who made up the entire ethics and governance committee—suddenly resigned, with no explanation made by the company. The ethics and governance committee had been created after Ellison’s resignation.

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Despite no longer holding any investments in MinRes, HESTA announced it intends to maintain a “watching brief” on the company. Any future investment in MinRes would be conditional on the company showing “a demonstrated pathway to address our serious governance concerns, an effective mechanism to prevent similar issues occurring in future, and a timely and orderly succession of the managing director,” according to HESTA.

Its statement termed the board resignations “a significant step backwards in seeking to address the serious governance concerns,” adding that “we don’t currently see a path to our concerns being addressed.”

The superfund also announced that it put Australian logistics software firm WiseTech Global Ltd. on its watch list in response to governance, leadership and culture concerns.

“We believe developments in recent months call into question the company’s ability to make the necessary changes to restore investor confidence,” Blakey said in a statement. “Our concerns relate to the conduct and actions of the executive chair, the lack of independence of the WiseTech board, and uncertainty regarding company leadership and succession.”

As with MinRes, HESTA’s announcement expressed concern when four independent, non-executive members of the company’s board resigned. The company attributed the resignation to “intractable differences in the Board and differing views around the ongoing role of the Founder and Founding CEO, Richard White.”

White stepped down as CEO in October 2024, following media reports that he misled the firm’s board about having close personal relationships with an employee, as well as an employee of one of the WiseTech’s suppliers. Despite his resignation, the company announced he would take a “short leave of absence,” then return as a full-time consultant.

“We believe the company has a critical and immediate opportunity to appoint highly skilled and genuinely independent directors, to demonstrate a sustained focus on succession, and provide comprehensive and transparent disclosure,” HESTA announced. “Taking these actions will begin to provide investors with confidence that WiseTech is taking appropriate action.”

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Tags: Australia, Debby Blakey, HESTA, Mineral Resources, MinRes, Superannuation, WiseTech

Karen Horn Welch

Karen Horn Welch was named CIO of Spider Management, an outsourced CIO provider owned by the University of Richmond. Currently the deputy CIO, Welch’s promotion is effective July 1, when she will succeed Will McLean, Spider Management’s current president and CIO.

McLean will continue as president through December 31, 2026.

Spider Management is owned by the University of Richmond, manages the university’s $3.2 billion endowment and allows other endowments and foundations to invest alongside the university. The firm manages $6 billion in assets overall.

“I am honored to be selected as the next chief investment officer, and I am committed to building upon the strong foundation that Will and my predecessors have laid,” Welch said in a statement. “It is a privilege to lead the talented investment team to grow and protect the endowments of our non-profit partners and the University of Richmond to support their missions for current and future generations.”

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Welch joined Spider Management in 2016 as a director. She was appointed deputy CIO in January 2024. Previously, she spent a decade at Stanford Management Co., which manages the endowment of Stanford University, as director of portfolio strategy and director of public equity.

Welch earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics and international relations from Bucknell University and a master’s degree in public administration with a focus on international economics from Harvard University.

With a per-student endowment value of about $940,000, Richmond is one of the private universities that could be significantly affected by the tiered tax proposal being considered as part of the U.S. budget process.