Meet our partners: Kate Leplaw

The TAL group insurance partner community brings together leaders from across the superannuation sector. We’re fortunate to be able to draw from the vast experience and diverse perspectives of our partners. This month we spoke AustralianSuper’s Head of Member Engagement, Kate Leplaw, to discuss her career journey, commitment to enhancing member engagement and insurance awareness.

Can you walk us through your career and how your role has evolved across these different industries?  

My career began at Metway Bank (now Suncorp) in Brisbane, after I graduated with a business degree majoring in marketing and public relations. I started in product management, focusing on margin lending, a relatively niche area at the time. This role gave me a strong understanding of the full marketing mix where I covered product, distribution, pricing, advertising and communications. Having exposure to these elements in my first job laid a solid foundation for the rest of my career.  

After a few years in this role, I was headhunted by Westpac to lead their margin lending product development, which meant a move to Sydney. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to work in banking, wealth management, energy, insurance and now superannuation, focusing on customer-centric products and service delivery.  

How is the fund responding to its evolving needs, including the insurance needs of the diverse membership? 

We need to consider the disparity of financial literacy, digital literacy and language literacy amongst members. With almost 3.5 million members, each member has a different level of awareness and understanding of insurance.

I’m keenly aware of the underinsurance issue in Australia, and I'm committed to helping improve member awareness and understanding of insurance. I’m particularly passionate about digitising insurance journeys and automating simpler tasks to enable members to engage in their own time through their preferred channels.   

We know members need personalised service in certain life moments, like making a claim or transitioning to retirement. We’re working hard to make sure our members get the right help when they need it the most, while improving efficiency with scalable solutions. 

What's the best career advice you've ever received? 

The things that everyone else is avoiding are often the things that need to be done or said. If there’s a tough task that no one else wants to take on, that’s the one you should take on. It’s the challenges that will teach you the most, position you for the next opportunity and ultimately, provide value to the organisation. 

I believe in stepping up to challenges that others might avoid - these are the moments where learning and growth happens. Speaking up, even when it’s uncomfortable, often leads to the biggest breakthroughs.

What is your advice for women or the next generation of leaders coming up in your industry? 

My advice to the next generation of leaders is to have a blend of confidence and humility. Confidence in terms of - why not you? Whether that is for a job, a pay rise or whatever it is; and humility, in that you’ve been given this opportunity over everyone else. So, make the most of it - whatever your unique capability is, make sure you bring it. 

Believe in your abilities, seize opportunities and stay open to learning and growth from every experience. 

What drives you personally and as a leader? What are you most excited about working on in the year ahead? 

Now I’m a mother of two daughters, I’m motivated to show them what women can achieve in the professional world. I want them to see that it’s just as normal for women to hold leadership roles as it is for men.  

In my leadership role, I have an opportunity to play a role, however small, in transforming the superannuation industry to better serve its members. Moving from a “set and forget" approach to a truly member-oriented service model is incredibly exciting.  

I believe the next few years will be a time of incredible opportunity and transformation for the industry. 

If you weren't in this role at Australian Super, what other career aspirations have you had or where would you be? 

After school, I spent a year overseas before returning to study journalism at the University of Queensland. I’ve always loved writing, so I thought journalism would be a natural fit. After a few months, I realised that the style of writing taught in journalism wasn’t quite what I had in mind, so I transferred to a business degree instead. If I had stuck with journalism, I like to imagine my passion for writing and fashion might have eventually led to a career at Harper’s Bazaar!