Past Event: November 2013 - David Murray

David Murray AO

Former CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Chairman of the Future Fund

David Murray joined the Commonwealth Bank in 1966, was appointed Chief Executive Officer in June 1992, and retired from this position in 2005. The Commonwealth Bank is one of Australia's four major banks.

In David Murray's 13 years as Chief Executive, The Commonwealth Bank has transformed from a partly privatised bank with a market capitalisation of $6 billion in 1992 to a $49 billion integrated financial services company. In the process it generated total shareholder returns (including gross dividend reinvestment) at a compound annual growth rate of over 24 per cent, one of the highest total returns of any major bank in Australia.

In November 2005 the Australian Government announced that Mr. Murray would be Chairman of the Future Fund. The Fund's objective is to invest budget surpluses to meet the long term pension liabilities of government employees and reduce pressure on the Federal budget from aging of the population. His statutory term ended in April 2012.

Mr. Murray is a member of the Oliver Wyman Senior Advisory Board and Senior Advisor to Credit Suisse, Sydney. He has previously served as a member of the Finance Sector Advisory Council and was the inaugural Chair of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds.

Mr Murray has deep experience in cultural transformation of large organisations and their governance. He believes that human systems are more important than business and technical systems in driving continuous improvement and competitive advantage. He is the principal of Top Dog Leadership, which helps leaders and organisations deal with improvement and change, including in the context of finance and the economy.

In 2001, he was awarded the Centenary Medal for service to Australian Society in banking and corporate governance and, in 2007, he was made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) for his service to the finance sector, both domestically and globally, and service to the community.

Mr. Murray holds a Bachelor of Business from the NSW Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration, commenced at Macquarie University and completed at the International Management Institute, Geneva. He holds an honorary Ph.D. from Macquarie University and the University of Technology, Sydney.

Mr. Murray was born in New South Wales and lives with his family in Sydney.