Paul Costello
Part-time associate commissioner, Productivity Commission; board member, AIA Australia
Costello joined the AIA Australia board in November 2011 and is also chairman of the Blackstone Group (Australia), a New York-based alternative assets manager.
He was the general manager of the Future Fund, where he was responsible for building the organisation and leading the management team responsible for providing the Board of Guardians with recommendations on the investment strategy and for the implementation of this strategy. Prior to this role, Costello undertook a similar role for the New Zealand Government, with the establishment of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. Costello's career in Australasian financial services spans more than 20 years and includes a number of roles, including chief executive of the Superannuation Trust of Australia, which merged with the Australian Retirement Fund to form AustralianSuper, the largest industry fund in the country.
In 2011 Costello assisted the government with its superannuation reform agenda by acting as chairman of the Peak Consultative Group for the Stronger Super reforms. In early 2012 he was appointed as an associate commissioner to the Productivity Commission charged with reviewing arrangements for the nomination of default superannuation funds in industrial awards.
Costello holds postgraduate qualifications in business administration and is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.