Ausbil’s head of environmental, social and governance (ESG) research, Måns Carlsson-Sweeny has been appointed to the Australian Government Modern Slavery Expert Advisory Group, part of 10 Australian experts working to combat modern slavery.
Jason Wood, Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs, said the expert advisory group was a world leading initiative that brought together key experts with practical knowledge and expertise in combating modern slavery.
“This new body will provide strategic advice to Government to support the effective implementation of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act and drive best-practice responses to eradicate exploitation in our supply chains,” Wood said.
Paul Xiradis, Ausbil executive chair and chief investment officer, said the company was honoured Carlsson-Sweeny was recognised with the appointment.
“ESG is a key part of our investment decision making process, and a company’s performance on modern slavery is actively considered as part of this process, amongst many other ESG factors,” Xiradis said.
Nicholas Condoleon, Ausbil co-portfolio manager for the active sustainable equity fund and head of equities research, said modern slavery and any kind of human rights abuses was not consistent with sustainable earnings growth.
“We take a strong position on ESG matters as part of our integrated engagement process, and we believe this not only achieves better outcomes for our world, over time it also reduces investment risk, and business models are more likely to thrive,” Condoleon said.
Carlsson-Sweeny said he was grateful to be selected to the panel to work on the eradication of modern slavery.
“We take the risk of modern slavery very seriously as investors, and increasingly, the companies who we engage on this issue are working to build transparency, and bring about change in this area, with the aim of eradicating all risk of modern slavery in supply chains,” Carlsson-Sweeny said.
