Exclusions
Our preference is to use engagement and proxy voting to positively influence the behaviour and ESG practices of the companies we invest in.
However, in some circumstances we do exclude a particular sector or company from our investment portfolios.
As a result, we have implemented fund-wide restrictions and exclusions, so we don’t invest in:
- Tobacco
- In 2012 we were one of the first super funds to divest from tobacco, setting a precedent in the industry.
- We have no direct investments in tobacco manufacturers and/or producers (including subsidiaries, joint ventures and affiliates) which derive 5% or more of their revenue from the manufacture and/or production of tobacco products.
- Thermal coal
- We have no direct investments in companies generating 10% or more of their revenues directly from mining thermal or energy coal.
- Controversial weapons
- We have no direct investments in companies that derive any revenue from the manufacture and/or production of controversial weapons including chemical weapons, cluster munitions, land mines and depleted uranium1. This exclusion applies to companies manufacturing whole systems only (i.e. these weapons in their entirety) and does not apply to companies assembling these types of weapons where one or more components are manufactured by another company. In addition, it does not apply to companies involved in the deployment of these types of weapons such as aviation companies.
1 The fund-wide controversial weapons exclusion does not apply to companies involved in the development, production or maintenance of nuclear weapons. Note that these companies are excluded from the Socially Conscious investment options. See Socially Conscious investment options for more information.
Note that the above exclusions don’t apply to indirect exposure to these types of companies. This includes derivatives, exchange traded products such as ETFs, and investment vehicles governed by an uncontrolled entity including, but not limited to, unit trusts and fund of funds via pooled vehicles. In addition, the implementation of these exclusions may be affected by the accessibility and accuracy of data, or an error by an external service provider. This may result in inadvertent holdings, typically over the short term, in investments we are seeking to exclude.