Future Super is a superannuation fund offering members the choice of four investment options across both accumulation and pension divisions. This application relates to the Balanced Growth Pension  investment option. Future Super Investment Services (FSIS, we, us, our) is the founder, promoter and investment manager of Future Super. The trustee is Equity Trustees Superannuation Limited (ETSL).

The Balanced Growth Pension investment option allows retirees to continue to invest inline with reducing environmental harm and their ethical preferences. 

The Balanced Growth Pension option applies the same screens as Future Super’s other investment options. This means it excludes fossil fuel investments, with a 0% threshold for direct exposure to any revenue generated by fossil fuel reserves and/or from the mining, extraction or burning of fossil fuels. The screening applied to the Balanced Growth Pension portfolio also excludes companies with any direct revenue generated from gambling, nuclear energy, tobacco, weapons, animal cruelty (such as live export), pornography, predatory lending, production or manufacturing of controversial chemicals and mandatory detention of asylum seekers or for-profit prisons. Where a company has an indirect revenue exposure to one of these screens that company must earn less than 5% of its revenue from that screened activity to still be eligible for investment.

Companies with all male board members are screened out. So are companies found to engage in activities which have a direct negative impact on recognised UNESCO World Heritage or High Conservation Value areas. Any evidence of direct, repeated and systemic labour rights violations - including child labour, forced labour, sweatshops and causing harm to communities without redress - will also result in companies being screened out. 

Some of the more nuanced screening applied to the portfolio includes: companies that gain revenue from the production of alcohol must earn less than 5% of total revenue from alcohol; companies that indirectly have exposure to sales and distribution of alcohol must earn less than 20% of revenue from this activity; and companies involved in the sale of foods determined to have low nutritional value or possessing addictive properties such as through high sugar content or additives must earn less than 33% of revenue from those products. 

Balanced Growth Pension is positively screened to gain exposure to Carbon Leaders. Carbon Leaders are considered to be companies that have a carbon efficiency that places them in the top one-third of companies in their industry or are otherwise superior performers in relation to avoided emissions. It’s also positively screened for Green Bonds, bonds issued to fund projects that have positive environmental and/or climate benefits, and Sustainability Leaders, companies which have activities deemed to be inline with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

Find more information about Future Super’s screening policies here. Read more about why we have these screens in place here. 

Balanced Growth Pension has a 70% Growth 30% Defensive asset allocation, an investment objective of CPI + 2.5% per annum over rolling ten-year periods (after fees and taxes) and fees are currently set at 0.791% + $60 per annum. Find more information about all Future Super’s investment options here.