Iress welcomes new super chief

Former Insignia general manager Sam Wall has joined Iress as CEO of its superannuation business, effective 9 September.

Wall departs from Insignia as general manager for master trust and insurance products, a role he has held since June 2021.

According to Iress, during this time he had oversight of Insignia’s MySuper, retail superannuation, and investment products across multiple brands, including MLC, Plum, ANZ Smart Choice, OnePath, and IOOF, as well as overall business management for the superannuation, investments, and insurance teams.

Before this, he held senior positions at MLC Wealth, Colonial First State, and Zurich Financial Services across platform, product, and operational roles.

“Sam has a strong track record of leading transformational change within the wealth management industry, with considerable experience of the operating and risk environment within superannuation,” said Iress CEO Marcus Price.

“He brings extensive experience in designing and delivering market-leading superannuation offerings for the benefit of members, with a focus on simplification and operational efficiency.”

According to the CEO, Wall joins the firm at an important time for its superannuation business, which is now seeking to reset its strategic priorities to drive improved performance and outcomes for its customers.

“I’m delighted to welcome his expertise to the Iress leadership team,” Price said.

Commenting on his appointment, Wall said: “I’m excited to be joining Iress at a time of considerable change and opportunity.

“I’ve always been a believer in the role that technology plays in delivering better results for super funds and their members, and I’m looking forward to working with clients to support them in their growth aspirations.”

The appointment comes after Iress confirmed it had sold its UK mortgage business to Bain Capital Tech Opportunities LP earlier this month.

The sale was first announced earlier this year on 15 March, with Iress having acquired the UK mortgages business over 10 years ago, during which time it has become a leading provider of mortgage sales and origination software (MSO) to banks and building societies in the UK.

According to Price, the completed sale marks the fourth and largest divestment the firm has successfully accomplished under its transformation program and is part of Iress’ strategy of simplifying its operations and divesting non-core businesses to retire debt.

Last year, outgoing CEO of superannuation at Iress, Paul Giles, labelled the superannuation segment of the company as a “growth business”.

“We are scaling and optimising our resources and technology, especially our core registry system, Acurity, to meet the growing pipeline of work and scale of demand for our software,” Giles said at the time.

“It’s an exciting time at Iress and we are keen to be able to work with superannuation funds to optimise the use of our digital-first technology to deliver efficiencies that reduce the cost to serve to members and improve retirement outcomes.”