Australian Ethical net inflows has jumped 150% to $96.4 million during the first half of FY20, bringing its funds under management (FUM) to $3.87 billion (up 36%).
According to the fund’s half year results announced to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), net profit after tax was up 40% to $4.4 million.
The fund said its increase in revenue was driven by continued funds under management and member growth partially offset by full impact of October 2018 fee reductions and the Protecting Your Super legislation.
Superannuation flows were up 82% year-on-year at $200 million, thanks to higher rollovers “driven by both increased member numbers and increased rollovers per member”, the fund said.
Overall FUM for Australian Ethical was up 36%, and super fund membership was up 13% to 45,946 since December 2018.
The fund it expected strong growth to continue as ethical investment moved into the mainstream.
Australian Ethical board chair, Steve Gibbs said: “The last six months have seen an unprecedented wave of public climate demonstrations with people’s concern for climate action reaching a tipping point and focusing firmly on solutions.
“As a result, we’re seeing that more Australians want to make their money matter. They are realising that investing ethically is about so much more than avoiding unethical businesses and is about investing for better returns and a future worth living in.”
The fund’s chief executive, John McMurdo, said Australians were redefining the way they thought about investing given the increase in ethical investing interest.
“It allows them to be more discerning about the impact of their investments and offers them the opportunity to align these with their personal values while also achieving outstanding financial returns,” he said.
“There is an urgent need to create a more sustainable world and we know that investing ethically can help change things for the better.”
The fund noted it planned to reduce the percentage-based standard administration fee on tis super products from 0.41% to 0.29% per annum in April, 2020.
