Leading figures in the Australian financial services industry are paying tribute to former company director and senior executive Paul Costello who passed away last week.
Mr Costello, a member of the Reserve Bank's Payment System Board and the Qantas Superannuation Fund, fought a long and courageous battle against an aggressive form of metastatic cancer.
While he held many corporate and community service roles, Mr Costello is probably best known to readers of Banking Day as the founding chief executive of sovereign wealth funds in New Zealand and Australia.
Mr Costello sat on the Payments System Board for five years after his appointment in July 2013.
RBA governor and PSB chair, Philip Lowe, said that he and his colleagues were very saddened to hear of his passing last week.
'Paul Costello will be missed," Lowe said.
"He was always constructive and collegial, and made a significant contribution to the work of the Payments System Board.
"We admired and appreciated the grace and dignity with which he contributed to the work of the board during his illness."
Mr Costello was appointed as the inaugural CEO of Australia's Future Fund in 2006.
The Future Fund's current chief executive David Neal described his former boss as a humble and inspirational leader.
"There was a wonderful sense of empowerment you got working with him - he came across as a hands-free chief executive and only very rarely would Paul direct someone what not to do," he said.
"Paul had incredible sense of humility that is probably unusual in a CEO and it was reflected in his decision making which was based on doing the right thing.
"He had very important characteristics as our chief executive that are now embedded in the Future Fund's culture.
"It's a legacy that will live on."
Qantas Super chair Anne Ward said Mr Costello's depth of experience, coupled with his passion for achieving positive outcomes for members, meant he had left an important legacy for the fund's 32,000 members.
"Paul was a pivotal figure in the super industry, and an enormous asset to the Qantas Super Board," she said.
"Even in his last weeks, Paul remained focused on serving the members of Qantas Super, attending committee meetings and contributing strongly to matters under discussion."
While undergoing treatment for his condition this year, Mr Costello became an active fund-raiser for new therapies and treatments being developed by oncologists at Peter McCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne.
At a fund raising event in August sponsored by the Future Fund, Mr Costello raised $110,000 to support further research into the new treatments, which his wife, Denise, attributes to having extended his life by six months.
The editorial team at Banking Day extends its deepest sympathies to Denise and the Costello children, Caitlin and Harry.
A memorial service and wake will be held at the Rosina Auditorium of the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne at 2pm today.
*Donations to lung cancer research in honour of Paul Costello can be made at the following website:
https://foundation.petermac.org/paul-costello