POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
RI demands highlight consumers’ super engagement
Growing consumer advocacy calling on superannuation funds to invest responsibly and ethically is highlighting how engaged Australian investors are, Responsible Investment Association Australasia chief executive, Simon O'Connor believes.
Launching the 2015 Responsible Investment Benchmark Report today, which highlighted the strong performance of ethical investments against benchmark funds, O'Connor said Australian investors were driving the growth in uptake of funds with environmental, social and governance (ESG) focuses.
"Consumers in ever greater numbers are awakening to the fact that you can invest prudently and profit without compromising your values, which is resulting in the growing retail interest," he said.
"The notion that Australians are disengaged from their superannuation has started its terminal decline and we anticipate that this will only result in greater interest in these issues.
"Those investors who are taking account of environmental, social and ethical issues in addition to financial issues are well positioned to capture this wave of growing demand."
O'Connor said the Australian responsible investment sector accounted for more than $630 billion in assets, with advisers, superannuation funds and fund managers increasing their allocations to responsible investment options over the last 12 months.
The RIAA report found that interest in retail responsible and ethic investments had grown 24 per cent on 2014, to more than $32 billion, while Australia's largest institutional asset managers have continued to integrate responsible investment strategies, with almost $600 billion in assets managed being held under ESG integration strategies.
The top five funds with "significant" core responsible investments
|
Super fund |
$m in AUM |
|
Local Government Super |
$4806 |
|
UniSuper |
$1835 |
|
VicSuper |
$793 |
|
Australian Ethical |
$681 |
|
Christian Super |
$642 |
AUTHOR
Nicholas O'Donoghue
Nicholas is a journalist for Money Management and Super Review. Nicholas has several years experience as a journalist, reporting and managing websites for various news publications covering the medical and pharmaceuticals sector.
Recommended for you
New research has shown that investing in alternative assets and using active management has, to this point, delivered strong results for Australian super funds.
Australia’s $4 trillion superannuation industry is fundamentally reshaping the nation’s external accounts, setting the stage for a more sustainable current account surplus despite weaker commodity markets.
Rest has expanded its portfolio of renewable energy infrastructure by supporting a Victorian solar farm and battery project.
Economic growth was weaker than expected, once again highlighting an economy largely sustained by population growth and government spending.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
90.28 3 y p.a(%)
2
GAM LSA Private Shares AU I
37.08 3 y p.a(%)
3
DomaCom Lot 21 Chellaston Road Munno Para West SA 5115 Australia
31.44 3 y p.a(%)
4
Fidante Credit Suisse Global Private Equity
31.12 3 y p.a(%)
5
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
28.28 3 y p.a(%)
