ESG

9 in 10 Australians expect their superannuation or other investments to be invested responsibly and ethically, new research commissioned by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has revealed. In an important signal to Australia’s superannuation, banking and wealth management sectors, 4 in 5 Australians would consider switching their super or other investments to another provider if their current fund engaged in activities inconsistent with their values, and just over half will consider making ethical or responsible investments in the next 1 to 5 years. The Australia-wide polling, conducted by Lonergan Research and launched today at RIAA’s Responsible Investment Australia 2017 conference in Sydney, shows consumer demand for responsible and ethical investment is on the rise, as the responsible investment industry continues to grow in size and influence.

As part of our role supporting the development of the market for impact investing in Australia and New Zealand through RIAA’s Impact Investment Forum, we attended the Social Enterprise World Forum in Christchurch in September 2017. RIAA’s Impact Investment Forum Program Manager Carly Hammond shares her experience and take-aways from the event.

Investment funds in New Zealand have shifted towards responsible investing in droves over the past year, with negatively screened funds growing by over 2500% and reaching a total of $42.7 billion in 2016. Following the large controversy around KiwiSaver funds in August 2016, there has been a massive increase in the use of negative screens to avoid investments in tobacco and controversial weapons, the latest Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2017 has found. Launched today by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), the Report shows ‘Core’ responsible investments – made up primarily of screened funds – jumped from $1.6 billion in 2015 to $42.7 billion at the end of 2016. This jump is primarily due to the introduction of negative screening of multiple issues by the majority of New Zealand’s KiwiSaver providers.

Responsible investment funds are outperforming their average mainstream counterparts year on year, as the market for responsible investment continues to grow in Australia, the latest Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2017 has found. Launched today by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), the report shows ‘core’ responsibly invested Australian share funds and balanced multi-sector funds have outperformed their equivalent mainstream funds over three, five and 10-year horizons. “It is a long out-dated myth that financial returns must be sacrificed to invest responsibly or ethically. The performance figures and trends we are now seeing each year are telling us the opposite story,” said Simon O’Connor, CEO of RIAA…

A new initiative, the Impact Investment Forum, has been launched today to support development of the growing impact investment market in Australia and New Zealand. The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has established the forum as demand and interest grows in impact investing across all sectors, including with government, philanthropy and the superannuation industry. Impact investing seeks to achieve measurable social or environmental impact alongside financial returns. RIAA’s Impact Investment Forum will act as a dedicated hub to connect and deepen the participation of organisations and individuals in this growing field. The forum will build on the foundational work of the Australian Advisory Board on Impact Investing and Impact Investing Australia to catalyse the market for impact investing. It will receive assets Impact Investing Australia has incubated, including the Impact Investor Survey and Benchmarking Report on impact investment activity and performance. As the market enters its next phase of development, RIAA’s Impact Investment Forum will take forward these critical pieces to develop market based data and practice. Together with other market based initiatives, this will complement the ongoing work of the Australian Advisory Board on Impact Investing and the initiatives Impact Investing Australia continues to drive, including Impact Capital Australia and the Impact Investment Ready Growth Grants. A new initiative, the Impact Investment Forum, has been launched today to support development of the growing impact investment market in Australia and New Zealand. The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has established the forum as demand and interest grows in impact investing across all sectors, including with government, philanthropy and the superannuation industry. Impact investing seeks to achieve measurable social or environmental impact alongside financial returns. RIAA’s Impact Investment Forum will act as a dedicated hub to connect and deepen the participation of organisations and individuals in this growing field. The forum will build on the foundational work of the Australian Advisory Board on Impact Investing and Impact Investing Australia to catalyse the market for impact investing. It will receive assets Impact Investing Australia has incubated, including the Impact Investor Survey and Benchmarking Report on impact investment activity and performance. As the market enters its next phase of development, RIAA’s Impact Investment Forum will take forward these critical pieces to develop market based data and practice. Together with other market based initiatives, this will complement the ongoing work of the Australian Advisory Board on Impact Investing and the initiatives Impact Investing Australia continues to drive, including Impact Capital Australia and the Impact Investment Ready Growth Grants. “RIAA’s mission is to see more capital being invested more responsibly. Through the Impact Investment Forum, we want to develop and amplify the significant work done by Impact Investing Australia, and help take impact investing to scale,” said RIAA CEO Simon O’Connor.

Retail supply chain management, workplace safety, gender diversity on boards, farming and antibiotic use, and climate change are among the key issues being researched by broking firms in Australia to inform responsible investment strategies. At the 8th Annual ESG Research Australia Awards held in Sydney today, Citi and Credit Suisse took out the awards for excellence in ESG research. The Awards, attended by Australia’s leading superannuation funds, fund managers and broking firms, recognise excellence in environmental, social and governance (ESG) research with three awards, including best new ESG research, best ongoing research and best ESG broking firm. 30 pieces of ESG research conducted during 2016 were nominated from seven broking firms, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), Citi, CLSA, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Macquarie Bank. Nominations were assessed by the ESG RA Research Evaluation Committee, comprising superannuation funds and fund managers. The winners of this year’s ESG Research Australia Awards are: Best Piece of New ESG Research by an Individual Analyst or Team: Get Inside the Carbon Black Box, Look Down the Carbon Value Chain by Sandra McCullagh and Zoe Whitton, Credit Suisse Best Piece of Ongoing ESG Research by an Individual Analyst or Team: Safety Spotlight: ASX100 Companies & More by Elaine Prior and Joel Quintal, Citi Best ESG Broking Firm: Citi

$23 trillion dollars – that’s the important number from the recently released Global Sustainable Investment Review 2016, a report RIAA was pleased to be launching with our colleagues from around the world in London last week.

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 27, 2017 – Today the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) released its biennial Global Sustainable Investment Review 2016, showing that global sustainable investment assets reached $22.89 trillion at the start of 2016, a 25% increase from 2014. The Global Sustainable Investment Review brings together the results from regional market studies by the sustainable investment forums from Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia and New Zealand. Market information on Japan was provided by JSIF—Japan Sustainable Investment Forum; data on Asia ex Japan was provided by the Principles for Responsible Investment. GSIA leaders Flavia Micilotta, Executive Director of Eurosif: The European Sustainable Investment Forum; Lisa Woll, CEO of US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment; Meg Voorhes, Research Director at US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment; and Simon O’Connor, CEO of Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), hosted a media web conference on Monday, March 27th at 11:00 a.m. ET to discuss report findings

Consumer polling released today highlights just how strongly New Zealanders believe their KiwiSaver providers should consider environmental, social and ethical factors as a part of delivering good investment products and financial returns. A clear majority of respondents (81%) believe that it is important that KiwiSaver funds consider environmental, social and/or ethical factors providing a loud and clear signal to the industry that New Zealanders expect that their retirement savings are invested in a responsible manner. Launched today at the New Zealand Responsible Investment Conference in Auckland, the polling very clearly highlights that New Zealanders don’t see this as a choice between financial considerations or personal values, but that both should be part of good investment practice.

Opinion: RIAA CEO says “It’s time for default Kiwisaver products to better reflect Kiwi values”