Media releases

Australia’s largest superannuation funds are ramping up their engagement in responsible investing to drive superior financial performance, reduce risk, and better meet their members’ and beneficiaries’ expectations, a new report from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has found. From backing shareholder resolutions demanding company disclosure on climate risk to divesting from companies with poor governance or engaged in unethical activity, Australian super funds are increasingly flexing their muscle to influence better company behaviour. RIAA’s Super Fund Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2018 finds that 81% of Australia’s largest super funds are committed to responsible investment (up from 70% in 2016), and 62% report annually on activity, highlighting how deeply responsible investing has become part of Australian investment markets. Australia’s largest superannuation funds are ramping up their engagement in responsible investing to drive superior financial performance, reduce risk, and better meet their members’ and beneficiaries’ expectations, a new report from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has found. From backing shareholder resolutions demanding company disclosure on climate risk to divesting from companies with poor governance or engaged in unethical activity, Australian super funds are increasingly flexing their muscle to influence better company behaviour. RIAA’s Super Fund Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2018 finds that 81% of Australia’s largest super funds are committed to responsible investment (up from 70% in 2016), and 62% report annually on activity, highlighting how deeply responsible investing has become part of Australian investment markets. The Super Fund Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2018 presents the results of a survey of Australia’s 53 largest superannuation funds1 – accounting for $1.4 trillion in assets under management.

The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has welcomed the Productivity Commission’s draft report Superannuation: Assessing Efficiency and Competitiveness highlighting the importance and benefits of Australia’s superannuation capital being invested responsibly to create the Australia its members want to live in and leave behind. “We agree wholeheartedly with the Productivity Commission’s report that our superannuation system needs to work for all Australians, meeting the needs of members and retirees, and delivering high performance,” said RIAA CEO Simon O’Connor. “Responsible investment provides a critical vehicle for Australia’s superannuation industry to optimise financial returns for its members. Environmental, social, corporate governance and ethical factors have become critical considerations in investment practice, increasingly impacting upon valuations and investment returns. “Responsible investment funds are outperforming their average mainstream counterparts year on year, as the market for responsible investment continues to grow in Australia. RIAA’s 2017 Responsible Investment Benchmark Report shows ‘core’ responsibly invested Australian share funds and balanced multi-sector funds have outperformed their equivalent mainstream funds over 3, 5 and 10-year horizons. Beyond RIAA’s own research, these findings have now been supported by academic and industry research from across the world’s most esteemed universities and institutions. “The bulk of evidence now clearly concludes that to ignore environmental, social, corporate governance and ethical issues blinds investors to some of the key investment risks that are increasingly determining performance of investment outcomes,” said O’Connor.

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.

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…

London June 1 2017: The Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, the collaboration of leading national sustainable investment bodies from Europe, the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Australasia, has expressed strong disappointment in the US Government’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The GSIA – representing $12 trillion of assets managed, banked or advised globally – has condemned the decision which comes at a critical moment when global capital is moving to play their part in financing the transition towards a low carbon economy. The GSIA urges the Administration to reconsider the decision and join with the other 195 nations who are committed to tackling climate change through the Paris Agreement.

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

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

A new superfund benchmarking report launched at RIAA’s Responsible Investment Conference in Melbourne today has found that over two-thirds of the largest superfunds in Australia now have embedded a commitment to responsible investment, highlighting just how deeply the move to invest with a responsible approach has become a part of Australian investment markets. The inaugural Superfund Responsible Investment Benchmarking Report (the Report) involved a detailed assessment and survey of the largest 50 superfunds1 in Australia – a universe that accounts for around $1.3 trillion of assets under management.