POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Ethical investment won’t dent returns: CEO
Superannuation and investment firms limiting fossil fuel investments will not harm financial returns in the long term, according to some firm heads.
Financial services group Hunter Hall CEO David Deverall said if firms and funds continue on the path of “unabated production of fossil fuels”, it will be harmful in the long term.
“Our view is that the production of fossil fuels, as proven through endless scientific research has proven that there is a broader impact on society than what is currently being borne by the producers of those fossil fuels,” he said.
“What we’re doing is, by making the capital harder to come by for those companies, start to put an appropriate price on the activities that they’re involved in: namely the production of fossil fuels.”
Minerals Council chief Brendan Pearce recently said superannuation funds that limit fossil fuel investments are being side-tracked from their priority of providing maximum financial returns for members.
The comments came after AMP Capital announced it would scale back investment in thermal coal, coal-fired power generation, and certain types of oil.
A day later Hunter Hall announced it would end investment in fossil fuel companies.
But AMP head of environmental, social and governance research Ian Woods said the fund did not have high exposure to those sectors in the first place.
“When the time came there were only two companies we had to ask the underlying fund manager to divest from and that gave clients some real comfort,” he said.
Deverall said Hunter Hall would focus on other sectors instead such as biotechnology and technology companies, telecommunications, banking, and industrial companies.
Recommended for you
Future Group is set to take on nearly $1 billion in funds under management (FUM) and welcome more than 100,000 new members following two significant successor fund transfers.
Insignia’s Master Trust business suffered a 1.9 per cent dip in FUA in the third quarter, amid total net outflows of $1.8 billion.
While the Liberal senator has accused super funds of locking everyday Australians out of the housing market, industry advocates say the Coalition’s policy would only push home ownership further out of reach.
Australia’s largest superannuation fund has confirmed all members who had funds stolen during the recent cyber fraud crime have been reimbursed.
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(%)
