The late Greg Bright

The riveting story of how Australia built one of the world’s premier retirement income systems is the focus of Our Money in Their Hands, an insightful exposé into the country’s superannuation industry.

Authored by the late Greg Bright, a veteran journalist who covered the industry for more than three decades, it tells the fascinating story of the political battles, policy breakthroughs, industry pioneers, and institutions that built a superannuation system consistently rating in the top 10 on the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index.

The book was launched last week in Sydney by Chris Bowen, Australia’s Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy.

Sheridan Lee, CEO of the third-party marketing firm Shed Enterprises who worked for Bright on his first superannuation publication Super Review in the late 1980s, says superannuation today is 150 per cent of the country’s GDP and the most significant pool of savings for most people.

“But as Greg graphically explains, this public benefit that helps relieve the Federal Government of the financial burden of an ageing population while financially empowering people’s retirement, was far from inevitable.

“There were many twists and turns along the away, from the first Wages Accord between the ACTU and the Labor Government in 1983 that sought to include 3% superannuation in all industrial awards to the introduction of the Superannuation Guarantee in 1992 to today’s $4.5 trillion industry.”

She says throughout Bright’s long career as a close observer of the industry, he was always fascinated by the industry’s politics and personalities.

“But he also appreciated it was much more than just an industrial relations or political story. Greg intuitively knew that once compulsory superannuation was introduced in 1992, it would spawn an industry that would drive investments, create jobs, support innovation and drive capital to where it was most needed,” she says.

“He also appreciated it would not only prove a magnet to global fund managers who wanted a slice of this ‘honey pot’, but transform the local industry from a relatively small, institutionally focused business to a major domestic investment industry.”

Lee says the book’s preface aptly explains why Our Money in Their Hands is critical reading for anyone interested in the industry. “It’s a historical reference to superannuation’s coming of age, for the politics of evolution, the visionary people who drove change, and the organisations that had profit and purpose on their minds as the industry evolved.”

She adds that superannuation also fostered a trade media to cover the industry in all its various forms – and Bright was at epicentre of this development.

“As this book demonstrates, he had a genuine devotion to the industry, a passion for its history, and a mastery of storytelling. It’s a fitting tribute to what was a long and storied career,” she says.

Copies of Our Money in Their Hands can be found in bookstores and online, .

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The late Greg Bright

Superannuation industry body FEAL has launched a new educational scholarship in memory of its co-founder and leading industry journalist Greg Bright, who passed away in 2024.

A pioneering voice in the Australian superannuation industry, Greg conceived FEAL in 1999 with the goal of bringing together super fund executives of a rapidly growing sector to collaborate, share insights and strengthen leadership. His vision was to cultivate a generation of world-class professionals who would steward the growing retirement outcomes of working Australians.

Greg’s influence extended across both media and industry, and he always knew how to back a winner. He established industry magazine Super Review in 1986 following the Prices and Incomes Accord Mark II where the ACTU agreed to forgo a national 3% wage increase in exchange for employer-funded superannuation. It would be another six years before the Keating Government’s introduction of Australia’s Superannuation Guarantee in 1992.

It was the beginnings of a lifelong passion to support, promote and investigate an industry that today delivers meaningful retirement outcomes for millions of Australians.

A financial journalist and publisher for more than 30 years, Greg was known for his passion for communication as well as for supporting and nurturing emerging talent in the industry, acting as a mentor to many journalists and communicators who have gone on to have significant roles in the investment, super and financial services sector.

One of these was Super Review editor Philippa Honner who, with Greg’s encouragement, established financial communications and marketing firm Honner in 1997. It is fitting that Honner is the inaugural sponsor of the FEAL scholarship in Greg’s name.

About the Scholarship

Aligning with Greg’s passions the Greg Bright Scholarship for Excellence in Member Communications is focused on emerging leaders in the FEAL member funds and organisations who work in a role that involves member communications and who are passionate about making a tangible difference to how their fund / the industry communicates with members.

The winner of the Scholarship will attend the highly regarded FEAL Emerging Leaders Program run by the Melbourne Business School (MBS). The program encompasses topics around leadership, taught by some of MBS’ senior faculty, and provides the opportunity to build connections with peers across the FEAL member funds and organisations. The scholarship winner will also have the opportunity to speak about member communications at a FEAL event.

FEAL Chair, Brian Delaney, spoke of the importance to FEAL of honouring Greg Bright’s role in establishing FEAL and the appropriateness of Honner as the inaugural sponsor of the Scholarship in his name.

“Greg’s vision for the superannuation funds to come together and collaborate to deliver leadership development to their executives and senior leaders has driven FEAL’s purpose for the last 26 years. The Scholarship recognises the critical importance of member communications and will provide the opportunity for an emerging fund executive to develop their leadership skills and build their profile in the industry.

“We are delighted that Honner has chosen to take up this sponsorship and join the organisations who support leadership of the superannuation industry through their sponsorship of FEAL,.” he said.

Honner founder Philippa Honner said the decision to support the scholarship was both professional and personal.

“Greg was a huge influence on my early career. He backed me when I was starting out as a financial journalist and his steady mentoring and networking support helped give me the confidence to launch Honner at a time when being a young ‘entrepreneur’ wasn’t so fashionable.

“This scholarship reflects Greg’s joy in nurturing aspiring talent, his gift for telling great stories, and his hope that more people will get engaged and understand the value of their super. We’re incredibly proud to support this scholarship in his name.”

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