High Performance, Human Leadership with Melinda Howes

I've, I've watched your leadership from afar, and certainly you're one of the actuaries in our profession here in Australia who has quite a public profile, uh, and, and doing lots of interviews and great things out in, in the public domain.

So it's really exciting to have this conversation with you today.

Um, [clears throat] and before I get into all the questions about leadership, 'cause I know you've got some really great stories and lessons to share, um, for those of you, uh, for those of our listeners who maybe haven't met you or don't know you very well, Melinda, could you tell us how do you use your actuarial superpowers to make a difference in the world?

Oh, well, definitely for good, not evil, Julia.

[laughs]

[laughs] Well, that's a relief.

With great power comes great responsibility, as Spider-Man said.

Um, no, look, I'm, I'm privileged to be responsible for helping 580,000 Australians have a better retirement outcome.

Mm-hmm.

And that's, um, what we do here at AMP.

I lead the AMP Super, uh, fund and, um, the associated investments business under CIO Anna Shelley.

So she makes all the investment decisions, but I do all the, uh, admin and organizing around that on my team.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and really AMP's been around for 177 years, and right from our foundation, um, as a charitable organization helping widows and orphans, uh, right back then and, and helping the poorest people in society, um, basically be able to live better, morphed into an insurance company, now is predominantly a superannuation business.

Um, we run a platform and a super business, and my super fund, um, has people or members that are spread right across the Australian demographic, and what we're trying to do is help those average Australians have a better outcome.

And where we think we are really making a big difference there is in the innovative post-retirement offers that, that we give those people.

Um, so we've just launched a lifetime pension, and what we're really trying to do is create the modern defined benefit for the average Australian.

So a combination of the age pension, their account-based pension, and a lifetime, flexible lifetime income stream along the lines of the variable annuities we know so much about from the States.

Um, we think...

Or we've been able to demonstrate that that materially optimizes people's retirement income, helps them have, in the first 10 years of retirement, our average member will get an extra $100,000 through a combination of being able to draw more out of their pension and a bit more age pension through optimizing with the rules there.

So that's what we're all about, and that's how I'm using my powers for good.

Oh, that's such a great way to be using your powers, Melinda, and such a, an interesting application of both the actuarial, you know, longevity and, [clears throat] um, you know, future, future projections, uh, type skills that we have as actuaries, but also your leadership skills to help you lead that innovation and to, to drive that change and to have an impact, not just, uh, for those who are quite well off, but for, as you said, the average Australian, uh, to help everyone in their retirement.

So yeah, what a great way to be using your actuarial superpowers.