Legalsuper hires CEO, CIO from HESTA, Qantas

legalsuper has appointed a new chief executive and a new chief investment officer, poaching both executives from rival Australian superannuation funds. The specialist industry fund hired Stephan Reilly from HESTA and Chris Grohan from Qantas Super.

Reilly, currently chief operating officer at HESTA, will take over as chief executive on August 17. Grohan, formerly deputy chief investment officer at Qantas Super, is due to start on October 26. The moves fill two of the most senior roles at the fund, which manages retirement savings specifically for Australia’s legal sector.

What the new executives bring

legalsuper chair Kristen Mander said both hires bring deep experience across profit-to-member funds and institutional investment. “Stephen comes from major profit-to-member super fund HESTA, where he has been chief operation officer since 2015,” Mander said in a statement.

She noted that Reilly also spent more than a decade in management consulting and senior strategy roles with Booz & Company and the Commonwealth Bank.

Mander said the board was drawn to Reilly’s interest in running a smaller, specialized fund. “We were particularly impressed with Stephen’s observations during the recruitment process about the attraction to him of working with a smaller specialised and high performing fund like legalsuper and this alignment with his interests in organisational strategy and operating model differentiation,” she said.

Grohan arrives after 13 years at Qantas Super, most recently as deputy chief investment officer. Before that he spent more than a decade in senior public sector investment roles. The back-to-back appointments signal a deliberate leadership refresh.

It is not a rushed patchwork of interim placements.

A fund that doesn’t want to be big

Reilly said legalsuper’s niche focus and track record made the job attractive. “I’ve appreciated legalsuper’s firm commitment to excelling as Australia’s only fund specialising in the legal sector,” he said. “In addition to demonstrably strong investment performance and member engagement practices, legalsuper continues to challenge more conventional views that ‘bigger is better’ within Australia’s superannuation discourse.”

The appointments follow legalsuper reporting a 10.09% return for its MySuper Balanced option in the 2025-26 financial year. That came after a 12.56% return the prior year.

Mander described the result as “a great follow-up to our market-leading return for the prior year” and credited the fund’s disciplined investment approach. “legalsuper’s focus on delivering strong, sustainable outcomes for members is reflected in our consistent ranking among the top funds and is a credit to our team and its disciplined, long-term investment approach,” she said.