HESTA is placing its support behind the health and community services sectors and is playing its role in raising awareness of the negative impacts of tobacco by encouraging investors to limit portfolio exposure to it, according to chief executive, Debby Blakey.
Blakey said many HESTA investors were employed in the health and community services sector and were already pre-exposed to tobacco-associated health risks.
“It’s vitally important that we raise awareness of this issue. We’re committed to responsibly investing our member’s super savings by being a careful long-term steward of their investments,” she said.
“Our portfolio-wide exclusion on tobacco and signing this Investor Statement reflects our ongoing commitment to ensuring that we’re making a positive impact on the world our members will retire into.”
The move from HESTA coincides with World No Tobacco Day, with the investor statement backed by the United Nations’ (UN) Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The UN would release a list of signatories today.
