Industry Super Australia names new chair

Industry Super Australia (ISA) has welcomed a top Hostplus executive as its new chair.

Hostplus chief member officer Umberto Mecchi replaces Cath Bowtell, who was the acting chair.

Prior to Bowtell, Peter Collins led the board after Greg Combet stepped down last June.

ISA noted Mecchi has held leadership positions in several industries and is a well-known expert in marketing strategy in superannuation.

"Umberto was also one of the initial committee members for the development of the very first Compare the Pair campaign and was instrumental in building the core collective group of funds," ISA said.

Mecchi's extensive career spans over 30 years in marketing and strategy

He joined Hostplus in 2011, becoming chief marketing officer a few years later.

He left the industry fund - that looks after workers in the hospitality, tourism and sports industries- in 2018 but rejoined three years later as group executive of marketing, corporate relations, stakeholder engagement, policy and advocacy.

He was appointed to the chief member officer role just eight months ago, replacing Paul Watson, who resigned from the super fund after 12 years in the role.

Before joining Hostplus, Mecchi worked in senior marketing and strategy roles for several firms including Industry Funds Management, Zurich Australia, and AXA Australia.

In 1999, he joined a direct marketing agency - trademarkDM - as director of strategy, working on major campaigns for financial services brands. These include AXA Australia, GE Capital, Members Equity Bank, American Insurance Group and Australian Unity Funds Management.

In the non-financial services sectors, he worked on several campaigns for BP Australia, and leading pharmaceutical brands.

"It's a privilege to be involved in the great work that we do as a collective. I'm proud of the world-class marketing that we have achieved together and am excited to ensure we keep delivering benefits for our millions of members," Mecchi said.