Spaceship, Australia’s innovative superannuation fund targeting younger Australians, today announced several new Board and management appointments to strengthen the company’s compliance and governance capability.
The appointments follow two recent technical breaches by Spaceship and its trustee Tidswell Financial Services last year that attracted infringement notices from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) last month.
Andrew Moore and Sarah Goodman join the Spaceship Financial Services Pty Ltd Board of Directors, with Mr Moore appointed Independent Non-Executive Chairperson. Ms Goodman will serve as Board Observer, in addition to her role as Chairperson of the Spaceship Advisory Board.
Mr Moore has more than 20 years’ experience in financial services, including senior leadership roles at Westpac, GE Capital and Bankers Trust.
Ms Goodman has more than 20 years' senior executive experience in strategic regulatory policy, governance and risk management including her previous role as Executive General Manager at the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA).
In addition, Daniel Yip joins the management team as Chief Risk Officer (CRO). Mr Yip has seven years’ experience at APRA, most recently as a Principal Analyst.
Finally, Thomas Kildea has been appointed Senior Compliance Manager to lead Spaceship’s internal compliance team, joining from AON where he was Senior Compliance Officer.
Spaceship founder and CEO Paul Bennetts said Spaceship had an ambitious plan to be best in market for the internet generation of Australians aged under 45 and its compliance and governance frameworks were being strengthened to reflect that.
“Spaceship operates in a unique and highly regulated industry, where customers and regulators both put a premium on best-in-class governance structures,” Mr Bennetts said.
“The expansion of the Board, along with two senior executives will substantially strengthen Spaceship’s experience and capability, providing a commensurate lift in our strategic direction and governance.”
“Attracting two new senior executives with APRA experience will provide reassuring emphasis on regulatory best practice.”
On 18 December 2017, Spaceship Capital Limited (Spaceship Capital) was granted an Australian financial services licence (number 501605).
Mr Moore said he was delighted to join Spaceship as Chair, as the organisation was focused on innovation and had the capability to disrupt the market to ultimately deliver significant benefit to young Australians.
“Spaceship is unique in the market and it has the potential to offer Australians a modern superannuation alternative, helping them engage easily with their lifetime investment,” Mr Moore said.
“Spaceship values access, transparency, affordability and trust and these appointments will help Spaceship strengthen them even further.”
About Spaceship Capital and Spaceship Financial Services Pty Ltd
Spaceship was launched in 2017 as an online alternative to the legacy products being offered by long-standing superannuation providers in Australia.
Spaceship Capital Limited (ABN 67 621 011 649, AFSL 501605) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Spaceship Financial Services Pty Ltd.
Australia’s superannuation industry is expected to double its assets under management to $4.6 trillion over the next 10 years.
Even though Spaceship is little more than 12 months old, it has already attracted more than $180 million in funds under management.
About Andrew Moore
Andrew Moore has 27 years of experience in financial services, including senior management level positions at Westpac Group for over eight years, including the role of Chief Operating Officer at St George Bank.
Earlier he served as Managing Director of GE Capital’s home lending business in Australia & New Zealand, and worked in corporate finance at Bankers Trust.
Mr Moore is a Chartered Accountant, holds a MBA from INSEAD in Paris and has Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Science degrees from the Australian National University.
About Sarah Goodman
Ms Goodman has 22 years senior executive experience in strategic regulatory policy, governance and risk management, including her previous role as Executive General Manager of the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA).
She has served as a member of several different advisory panels to various Australian regulators, including ASIC, AUSTRAC and the Privacy Commissioner.
Prior to her APRA role, Ms Goodman served as Chief Compliance Officer at BT Financial Group and the Company Secretary of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). She has sat on Independent Compliance Committees of the Responsible Entity for managed investment funds, and been Company Director for large commercial businesses.
About Daniel Yip
Mr Yip has spent the last seven years at APRA as a Principal Analyst, Superannuation Specialist and a Senior Analyst within Superannuation. Prior to APRA, Mr Yip held superannuation related roles at KPMG and IBM.
About Thomas Kildea
Thomas Kildea was previously Senior Compliance Officer at AON, where he served for almost four years.
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