(L to R): Vivek Bhatia & Matthew Pavlich

MUFG Pension & Market Services (a member of MUFG, a global financial group), has announced a new three-year Premier Partnership with the Sydney Swans, reinforcing the organisation’s long-term commitment to building brand leadership and visibility in Australia.

The partnership brings together two high-performing organisations with a shared commitment to discipline, leadership, and building success that endures well beyond any single season. It reflects a deliberate focus on long-term value, trusted relationships, and meaningful engagement within the communities they serve.

The Sydney Swans are Australia’s most supported sporting club, with more than 2.2 million supporters nationwide and a reputation for consistency, integrity and high performance across both the AFL and AFLW competitions. That legacy closely aligns with MUFG Pension & Market Services’ own focus on agility, teamwork and delivering outcomes that matter.

As a Premier Partner, MUFG Pension & Market Services will gain prominent brand presence across Swans assets, alongside access to premium experiences, professional development opportunities and curated events designed to foster connection, leadership and shared learning. As part of this, the partnership will play an important role in engaging employees, clients and partners through memorable experiences that reflect the energy and values of the club.

While high-profile sport partnerships are traditionally associated with consumer brands, MUFG Pension & Market Services views this partnership as a deliberate investment in brand leadership, recognising the importance that familiarity, trust and cultural presence play in long-term decision-making by institutional clients, especially C-level decision makers.

Vivek Bhatia, CEO & Managing Director of MUFG Pension & Market Services said: “Following our acquisition by MUFG, and rebrand to MUFG Pension & Market Services in May 2024, we were very deliberate in seeking the right partner that could help elevate our brand in an authentic way,”

“The Sydney Swans are a high-performing organisation defined by discipline, commitment and strong leadership. They have succeeded across different eras and circumstances, and that resonates deeply with us.”

“This partnership allows us to showcase who we are alongside a club that reflects our values, while strengthening connections with the broader community we are part of. It’s a unique opportunity to align with an Australian sporting institution that embodies excellence on and off the field.”

Matthew Pavlich, CEO of the Sydney Swans, said: “We are thrilled to welcome MUFG Pension & Market Services to the club ahead of the 2026 season.”

“MUFG aligns strongly with our club’s values and vision, and we’re looking forward to working with the team at MUFG and building a strong partnership in the years ahead.”

The partnership will be activated across the AFL and AFLW competitions, with further initiatives and experiences to be announced throughout the season.

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Rodrigo Kede Lima

MUFG Pension & Market Services (MPMS) has announced a five-year strategic partnership with Microsoft aimed at accelerating the global adoption of AI-powered solutions across its MUFG Retirement Solutions and MUFG Corporate Markets business divisions.

The long-term agreement is built on a co-investment model, with Microsoft providing expertise, technology and enablement to drive innovation at scale across MPMS operations in Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. The partnership reflects a shared commitment to building modern, secure and intelligent financial services that deliver tangible outcomes for superannuation & pension funds and their members, and listed entities and their investors.

“This collaboration with Microsoft is about creating smarter, AI-powered experiences for our clients – while keeping the human experience at the centre. Whether it’s using advanced AI to help a member access their pension or giving listed companies intelligent tools to better engage with shareholders, we’re focused on solutions that remove friction and add value,” said Vivek Bhatia, CEO & Managing Director, MUFG Pension & Market Services.

“The scale and certainty of a five-year strategic partnership allows us to confidently leverage Microsoft’s cutting-edge AI capabilities, modernise rapidly, and deliver innovations across the member and investor journey on behalf of our clients. It also allows us to invest in our people as we create the ‘roles of the future’ to deliver solutions that matter most to our clients.”

“At Microsoft, we believe AI has the potential to redefine every industry – and financial services is no exception,” said Rodrigo Kede Lima, President, Microsoft Asia.

“Our partnership with MUFG Pension & Market Services is a powerful example of how AI can be used responsibly and at scale to deliver meaningful outcomes for people – from simplifying pension access to modernising investor engagement. We’re proud to bring the full strength of Microsoft’s technology and expertise to help MPMS lead with innovation across the markets they serve.”

The partnership will focus on two key areas of transformation, member experience and investor experience.

MPMS will harness Microsoft’s AI technologies to enhance and automate core superannuation processes, to enhance service-levels and member experience overall. This will enable faster, more accurate, and more personalised support during critical life events.

MPMS will deploy AI to streamline investor communications, reduce manual handling, and enable straight-through processing. These will deliver a simpler, more transparent experience for listed companies and their shareholders.

As part of the transformation, MPMS has already begun rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot to uplift productivity, enhance knowledge management, and embed AI literacy across its workforce. These tools are enabling faster delivery of digital services and smarter ways of working, particularly in frontline and client-facing functions.

All AI and cloud initiatives will be built on Microsoft’s secure-by-design principles to ensure compliance with data governance, privacy, and regulatory requirements across jurisdictions. The roadmap includes joint investment in AI governance frameworks, capability building, and production-grade deployment of agent-based services.

This five-year agreement builds on MPMS’s recent investments in cloud modernisation and positions the organisation to lead the next wave of transformation in superannuation and investor services.

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Held at The Star in Sydney and hosted by Australian comedian Peter Rowsthorn, the awards recognise the great achievements of insurance companies and insurance professionals.

The broking and general insurance categories saw some familiar faces take home awards, including Austbrokers Coast to Coast, who won Small Broking Company of the Year; Aon, for Large Insurance Company of the Year; RAA Insurance, for Small-Medium General Insurance Company of the Year; NRMA Insurance, for Direct General Insurance Company of the Year; and Allianz Australia, who won Large General Insurance Company of the Year.

‘With a breadth of the industry represented amongst this year’s winners, it is very pleasing to see that this industry and its people are increasingly focused on the betterment of our industry, our staff and our community through various projects, programs and innovations. While not everyone can be a winner, it’s been great to see this focus evident throughout many submissions for this year’s awards,’ says ANZIIF CEO, Prue Willsford.

Other winners from the night included GSA Insurance Brokers; who took home Medium Broking Company of the Year; CHU Underwriting Agencies Pty Ltd, for Underwriting Agency of the Year; AIA Australia, for Life Insurance Company of the Year; Suncorp’s Cyclone Resilience Benefit, for Innovation of the Year; Barry.Nilsson., for Professional Services Firm of the Year; TAL, for Women’s Employer of the Year; and Allianz Australia’s One Service, which won Insurance Learning Program of the Year.

‘The winners of this year’s awards really speak for the glory of the industry. Insurance still has so much to offer society, and the winners of tonight’s wards must make this pitch and push the standards higher,’ says Asia Insurance Review Editor-in-Chief, Sivam Subramanian.

Among the awards for individual excellence, Kimberley Jonsson of CHU Underwriting Agencies Pty Ltd was announced Young Insurance Professional of the Year, Vivek Bhatia of icare was announced Insurance Leader of the Year and John Lamble, who has been credited with redefining the insurance landscape, was recognised with the ANZIIF Lifetime Achievement Award.

The winners for each category are listed below:

• Service Provider to the Industry of the Year: Gallagher Bassett
• Professional Services Firm of the Year: Barry.Nilsson.
• Women’s Employer of the Year, sponsored by Suncorp: TAL
• Insurance Learning Program of the Year, sponsored by Suncorp: Allianz Australia, One Service
• Innovation of the Year, sponsored by IAG Australia: Suncorp, Cyclone Resilience Benefit
• Small Broking Company of the Year, sponsored by QBE: Austbrokers Coast to Coast
• Medium Broking Company of the Year, sponsored by QBE: GSA Insurance Brokers
• Large Broking Company of the Year, sponsored by QBE: Aon
• Life Insurance Company of the Year: AIA Australia
• Underwriting Agency of the Year, sponsored by UAC: CHU Underwriting Agencies Pty Ltd
• Direct General Insurance Company of the Year: NRMA Insurance
• Small-Medium General Insurance Company of the Year, sponsored by JB HI-FI Solutions: RAA Insurance
• Large General Insurance Company of the Year, sponsored by Aon: Allianz Australia
• Young Insurance Professional of the Year, sponsored by Guidewire Software: Kimberley Jonsson, CHU Underwriting Agencies Pty Ltd
• Insurance Leader of the Year, sponsored by DXC Technology: Vivek Bhatia, icare
• ANZIIF Lifetime Achievement Award: John Lamble

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