Mutualism and Labourism in the Experience of Westfund

Bernard Mees and Cathy Brigden, Workers’ Capital: Industry Funds and the Fight for Universal Superannuation in Australia

“…There are MOBs, such as health funds, where general members do not elect the boards of directors and a distinction is made with a small group of ‘governing members’, who have a relevant expertise or particular community interest and can attend general meetings and elect the board of directors. Like MOBs, industry superannuation funds focus on the best interests of their members and their communities rather than external investors as in an Investor Owned Business (for some recent discussions of MOBs, see Balnave and Patmore, 2017; Knowles et al., 2017). This is highlighted by the range of concerns shown by industry superannuation funds, such as disinvesting from tobacco companies and Cbus’s property development business which advocates new standards for green investment in the construction sector (pp.…”