Superannuation fund, HESTA, has joined the movement to support tobacco-free investments, signing the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge, which has 85 founding signatories, at the UN General Assembly in New York on 27 September.
CEO, Debby Blakey, said HESTA wanted to encourage more financial institutions to tackle the impact tobacco has on lives around the globe through divestment.
She said while the super industry led the world in excluding tobacco from their investments, there was still work to be done given more than half of Australia’s super funds (by funds under management) still invested in tobacco.
“Financial organisations can have such a positive impact on sustainable development and we’re starting to see this already with the focus on delivering on key UN Sustainable Development Goals,” she said.
The fund’s inaugural chief retirement officer is looking to establish a new venture.
The financial services company has made two senior appointments to its super and investments leadership team.
The $89 billion fund has named co-chief investment officers following the resignation of Andrew Lill earlier this month.
The industry body is adding 25 years of financial services experience to its leadership team with a new appointment.