Ethical Investment | Ethical Investment Advisers

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Published on: July 20, 2018Category: Ethical Investment

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Ethics pay’ for astute investors

Published on: July 8, 2018Category: Ethical Investment

Karen McLeod In the Media

‘Ethics pay’ for astute investors
SID MAHER THE AUSTRALIAN 12:00AM June 14, 2018

Karen McLeod didn’t need a royal commission to show her that when it comes to
financial advice, ethics does pay.

Ms McLeod, who runs Ethical Investment Advisers at Bulimba in Brisbane’s inner eastern suburbs, said investors did not have to sacrifice returns to back businesses that made the planet sustainable.

The Deal magazine published in The Australian tomorrow finds that ethical investment businesses are finding increased interest from potential customers as the misdeeds of financial advisers working for some of the nation’s biggest financial services companies have been exposed at the royal commission.
“Culture is important,’’ Ms McLeod said.

While time will tell whether the royal commission will ultimately push more people toward ethical investment advisers, Ms McLeod said she believed nine out of 10 people wanted to see their money invested responsibly.

Yet when it comes to ethical investing there is a fair bit of nuance to what people are looking for, and it depends of their background. Geologists, for example, might be looking to focus on lithium or nickel but pretty much everyone looking at the ethical investment space wants to avoid backing alcohol or tobacco or gambling.

Ms McLeod said there were good opportunities in the ethical investment space such as backing recycling technologies or health technologies or the environment … “things making life cleaner’’.

She said many of her customers were looking towards the future and backing “the planet they would like to live on in the next 20 years’’.
Any suggestion that it was necessary to sacrifice performance for ethics was a “myth’’.

A benchmarking report by the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia, the peak industry body representing the ethical investment sector, shows its funds
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/financial-services/ethics-pay-for-astute-investors/news-story/b54eac6a97e6ecf83e79d2d3bc1c70b1?csp=81ee82bcd4… 1/5
6/18/2018 ‘Ethics pay’ for astute investors
have outperformed average largecap Australian share funds over three, five and 10 year time horizons.

The average return of responsible investment funds was 7 per cent over one and three years, 13 per cent over five years and 6.3 per cent over 10 years.

Largecap Australian share funds returned 8.8 per cent over one year, 5.4 per cent per cent over three years, 10.8 per cent over five years and 3.8 per cent over 10 years.

The S&P/ASX 300 accumulation index returned 11.8 per cent over one year, 6.6 per cent over three years, 11.6 per cent over five years and 4.4 per cent over 10 years.

Investors Are Increasingly Engaged, but Where is the Information they Demand?

Published on: June 22, 2018Category: Ethical Investment

Australians investors are not finding it as simple as they’d like to locate information about the stocks involved in their super funds. Investors and shareholders don’t have a convenient way to gather information from a single source, and that’s becoming more of a problem as investors become increasingly engaged.

Investors care deeply about the social and environmental impacts of their investments, as research by the RIAA recently revealed. An overwhelming majority (86%) of Australians believe it is important for a super fund to invest money responsibly. They expect managers to investing in companies that build clean energy infrastructure or avoid investments that can harm communities such as weapons manufacturing. This preference has already increased from 69% in 2013.
Despite massive and growing interest, serious problems with available information remain.

Australia’s problem with investor information

Engaged investors need information to act on their values. Understanding the impact of a super fund in Australia requires gathering information from infrequent and exhausting sources. Some investors are getting the only information they can by engaging with company boards during Annual General Meetings (AGMs). Of course, these meetings happen only once a year, and there is only limited time for questions.
Others have tried writing or calling fund managers directly to discuss stock investment or divestment, but super funds can involve hundreds or thousands of stocks to talk over.

Clearly, a more accessible solution is needed for investors. As more of them choose to engage, they’ll start expecting better access. That access is most likely to come from either a legislative solution or from funds and advisors manoeuvring to better serve their clients.

Is a legislative fix on the way?

Many countries already have Portfolio Holding Disclosure laws on the books that require companies to collect and provide information about each fund to investors. In fact, Australia is now the only market in a recent study by Morningstar that didn’t have any form of legislation requiring disclosure in place. That study rated Australia’s transparency at a D+, compared to other nations.
It’s not that a legislative solution to disclose holding lists hasn’t been considered. In fact, the draft of that legislation has been moving through parliament for years. Just recently, it was pushed back for the fourth time, and won’t be considered again until 1 July, 2019. It seems for the time being, Australians may be stuck with incomplete disclosures and limited access to information from executives.
Without hope for a legislative solution for at least another year, the question of how engaged investors can be better served falls to the private market.

How should super funds respond to rising engagement?

There is much that super funds and their managers can do to better serve engaged investors, and plenty of reasons to get started as soon as possible. If funds cannot build trust with investors, they may find

themselves reliant on independent organisations for credibility. At this point, more than half of all Australians (56%) believe there is not enough independent information available about switching to a responsible ethical super fund, or such an option within a fund.
One possible path could be to step in front of future legislation by ensuring that reporting requirements are already met before the law goes into effect. In addition to providing information that engaged investors are hungry for, this path has the added benefit of future proofing the fund’s practices so that eventual changes in the law are easier to weather.

Ultimately, a relationship with an independent certification organisation may also be necessary. 86% of Australians agree that they would be more likely to invest in an organisation, fund or product if it had been certified by an independent third party. If a certification organisation already has more trust among investors, it’s practical to take advantage of that by beginning a relationship, and meeting the standards for certification.

What does this engagement mean for the future of investing?

Now that investors are starting to care deeply about the impact of their stocks, they aren’t likely to stop. The demands for more information and more accurate reporting will likely be a major feature of stockholder meetings and AGMs, at least until Australia mandates more comprehensive reporting through legislation.

Until then, fund managers and investment advisors must develop their own means of meeting their client’s demands. Creating strong reporting standards and forging relationships with independent certification organisations can help bridge the gap between what investors want, and the reporting that’s available for engaged investors right now.

Karen McLeod of Ethical Investment Advisers in Brisbane.

Published on: June 7, 2018Category: Ethical Investment

Picture: Richard Whitfield

The Australian
May 26, 2018

Reporter
Melbourne
@RichAFerguson

Has the Banking Royal Commission proved there are ethical investors and unethical investors?

The banking sector needs to figure out how they align their values and understand what their customers actually want. The Responsible Investment Association has surveyed consumers and they expect super and other investments to be invested responsibly. They don’t want their CEO to be unfairly renumerated or doing things that are illegal. When banks and other financial institutions align their values with their customers, people may start trusting them again.

Some ethical ETFs have already dropped bank stocks. Is there is a case for taking banks and insurers off ethical investment lists?

We always look to write either a letter to the board, or a resolution at an AGM. And if nothing comes of that, divesting that stock. We’re about supporting or rewarding companies that do the right thing. We’re looking at how banks are responding to the commission, who is doing the right thing, and why are they doing it.

Can ethical investing make money?

The returns have been quite strong and been outperforming the average mainstream counterparts year on year. In 2017, the benchmark report showed that these funds had been outperforming competitors over three, five, and 10-year horizons. Responsible investment is not something that’s new. It’s something that’s been consistently setting ethical funds apart.

So you are saying that are you all doing well?

The reason for that is we know the companies we’re investing in so much better. We’re not just looking at a set of numbers. We’re looking at how they’re viewed by the community, how other stakeholders view them, how they treat their customers and what the diversity is like on their boards. And how they respond to questions — that speaks volumes about a company.

Tell us about your main fund.

We’ve run a mid-cap model portfolio for roughly four years which is fossil free, and we deliberately have a positive screen on that fund. We’re looking at companies that do good in the world as well as excluding all the obvious things. And it’s done 8.29 per cent since inception, as about July 30. For the past 12 months, it’s done 5.94 per cent. And for three years, it’s done 6.96 per cent. If there’s anything there that clients don’t like, we can exclude them from it. It’s only happened once or twice, but we want customers to know they have that freedom. Listening to clients is something the financial sector clearly needs to do more of.

What ASX-listed stocks are you interested in?

The majority is in renewables: companies like Meridian Energy are doing very well. There are stocks that are not necessarily aligned to an environmental output. Hub 24 (an investment platform) is a stock we own — it’s a financial tech company that helps ethical investors to invest in stocks that have just come to the country. Separately, we like stocks such as blood products group CSL, Freedom Foods and Select Harvest.

Coal is going for another run on the stock market. When will it no longer be an investment option?

It’s estimated there won’t be any coal-fired power in the electricity market by 2030. That’s quite soon really if you’re an investor. I can’t say when a coal stock will be suitable to sell, but I would be a bit concerned.

Do you invest in nuclear or uranium stocks?

My clients and I don’t support these stocks. There simply hasn’t been a decent response to how we deal with the waste. It’s not something that’s of interest to us when we have free sun and wind to back power (laughs).

It seems like ethical investing is becoming more built into the broader financial market now … would you agree?

One-hundred per cent. I don’t even mention it most of the time; it’s just part of what we do. We care about corporate governance and we do look at diversity on the boards. Not just gender diversity but diversity of expertise. You don’t want a board that agrees on everything, that would be boring, and gender and ethnicity are a part of that.

How did you get into ethical investing?

I was working at a large financial institution that helped wealthy individuals invest their money and I became dismayed at the lack of understanding in issues beyond finance. Investing my clients’ money in Coca Cola and tobacco seemed to me against the things I wanted to support. I couldn’t see why I wanted to invest in a company that hurts people’s health. The light bulb moment for me was watching Al Gore’s first film. I realised I could make a difference by helping people help the planet.

What are your own personal investments?

A lot of my money is in our mid-cap fund (laughs). My super and my personal assets are in there because that’s where my values lie.

What was your first big investment?

Starting this business I suppose, about 13 years ago, and just understanding that I could break away from traditional financial services. I’d encourage advisers who consider moving into ethical investment to do it. There’s better work-life balance and there’s great satisfaction in influencing and changing things like water scarcity and energy efficiency. It’s unbelievably rewarding.

This article was published in The Australian Weekend

Seeking Riches? Chances are, you aren’t willing to Compromise Your Values

Published on: March 16, 2018Category: Ethical Investment

If you strongly believe that your investments should be managed responsibly and ethically, you aren’t alone. In fact, recent research into consumer attitudes by the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia showed that an overwhelming majority of Australian investors (92%) expect it. That research also revealed many other ways that values are likely to dominate investing trends for the next decade.
Below are some of the most important findings of that research, and some information on how these attitudes are likely to change investing.

Young Investors are driving a change in attitudes

Perhaps not surprisingly, young investors are the most committed to acting on their principles. Compared to Gen X and the Boomers ahead of them, they are significantly more likely to prefer responsible funds over funds that maximise returns. Nearly 9 in 10 millennial investors claimed that they would move their investments if they found that their current fund engaged in behaviour that violated their values.

Women (millennial women in particular) felt strongly that they should expect ethical behaviour from their funds. Women are a rapidly growing portion of Australia’s investors, and their strongly-held beliefs are no doubt contributing to the fact that ethical investing has gone beyond a preference and become an expectation.

Preferences for ethical investing have become expectations

Australian investors are no longer just shopping around for ethical investments; they are expecting ethical behavior as a standard. More than half of all Australians already expect that their advisers are considering societal and environmental values before making decisions about their accounts.
Moreover, it has become a priority for investors that their funds not merely avoid harmful practices, but actively seek out ways to accomplish good through investment. Investors cared most about renewable energy, but cared almost as much about societal issues such as the treatments of laborers.
Yet, ethical investors don’t believe they’re being given all the information

Australians care about making ethical investments, but many of them still feel that they aren’t getting as much information as they need to make these decisions. Nearly 60% of Australians claim that the independent information available is not sufficient. This may signal a coming demand for a legislative or 3r d -party solution.

Amid this uncertainty, certifications have become an important signal for marking ethical investments. A high percentage of Australians (86%) believe that certification by a third party is a good mark of safety for an investment. They are far more likely to prefer an investment that has been certified over one that has not.

Funds need to adapt fast

Value-based investors have become a significant amount, even a majority, of all investors. As this new generation looks for more options and more information, those who are able to create solutions that speak to those needs have the potential to carve out a powerful place. At least for the time being, investing on values may be the most profitable proposition.

Clean Technology—A Force for Disruption?

Published on: February 17, 2018Category: Ethical Investment

The 2017 RIAA annual conference covered quite a few exciting topics. One event that generated a lot of discussion was a presentation by Professor Tony Seba . Dr. Seba is a world-renowned Silicon Valley futurist, known for his focus on clean energy. His presentation covered some of the ways that clean energy may become not merely a great investment, but a major disruptive force with the power to reshape the market.

As Dr. Seba and other thinkers have begun to warn us, clean energy is going to significantly change the look of our cities and the sorts of services that are offered in them. Combined with trends like autonomous vehicles, the whole landscape of city economies will shift. As a result, whole industries and all the workers and vendors who rely on them may be pushed toward obsolescence. The industries most at risk are not necessarily the ones you’d expect.

Here are some of the industries that are facing disruption in the next decade…

Petroleum Engineering

Clean energy’s disruptive potential has already been noted in the press. Earlier this year, the Financial Times covered the story of an English business in crisis. The company in the article develops fuel saving devices for petrol engines. When trying to pitch their latest device, they suddenly discovered that there were no auto manufacturers left in the world who were willing to devote development funding to petrol devices.

Instead, electricity and batteries have become the focus of every manufacturer. This change was not announced, and seems to have taken place almost overnight. Overnight, the options of tens of thousands of career engineers and researchers have been put in question. Even more troubling than that is the possibility that these changes are happening faster than universities can adjust to them. There is a real risk of students graduating with skills are may not be required in just a couple years.

Naturally, the same goes for the training and development involved in the extraction of these resources.

Gas Stations

The average gas station relies heavily on the profits that are brought in from petrol. Even if these stations switch to electric, they can expect nowhere near as many customers (many cities are beginning to install unmanned stations and poles for charging). This is a troubling disruption. Gas stations typically provide important services for travelers and are often relied on heavily for

general goods in rural areas. Without petrol to keep them afloat, it’s an open question what can fill this role.

Toll Roads

Roads are expensive to maintain, even when they aren’t traveled often. This is because vehicles only account for a small amount of a road’s daily wear and tear. The sun—and the constant expansion and compression its heat causes throughout the day—makes regular maintenance necessary.

With far fewer cars on the road, there are many toll roads that may lose the ability to manage their maintenance budgets. That leaves open the question of who is going to pay for them. Local governments and taxpayers alike may balk at the idea of taking on the cost, and many of these roads could simply close.

The Good News?

Many industries may see surprising disruptions as a result of renewable energy. However, wherever there is the possibility for change, there is also opportunity. In this case, moving forward means taking long-overdue steps to protect our world for the next generation.

10 Steps to Becoming a more Conscientious Consumer

Published on: November 30, 2017Category: Ethical Investment

Now is an important time in human history to be aware of how your consumption affects the world. Many resources may be in crisis in the next few decades, so it’s important that habits begin to change now. One way you can help is by becoming a conscientious consumer—someone who is self-aware of their habits and makes changes in those habits that are better for the earth or other people.

Here are 10 steps you can follow to become a more conscientious consumer…
Choose to do with less: One of the first things you can do to consume more ethically is to consume fewer items. Cut out the items that you don’t need.

Learn about the names behind the products you buy: The manufacturers of your products are easy to find. Research their names with your preferred search engine to learn more about them. Stop buying brands that aren’t in line with your values.

Create a list of manufacturers/brands you trust: To make ethical consumption easy, make a list of the brands that you trust based on the research you’ve done.

Continue to hold your favourite companies responsible: Make an effort to be aware of the companies you choose to purchase from. If their behaviour changes and they are no longer consistent with your values, make sure that you stop buying from them.

Choose products that are produced sustainably: There are many companies that produce products in a sustainable way, or craft them from sustainable materials. Try to choose these companies whenever possible.

Choose products that can be recycled: Recycled products are always marked with the international recycling symbol. Watch for it to help you choose recycled products.

Choose locally-produced products: Choosing local products allows you to support your own community while ensuring that products don’t have to travel far. A lot of waste is produced shipping products around the globe, so a local preference can.

Network with friends to share used products: Instead of throwing out used products, create a network to share items that are no longer needed with your friends. Baby clothes, child’s toys and old furniture are great trading items. Donation to a charitable organisation is another option that avoids waste.

Choose durable products: Whenever possible, choose the products that are designed to last. Even if it means paying more once, not needing to replace an item for a longer amount of time means both lower costs and less waste in the long term.

Provide proper maintenance for your products: Another part of choosing durable products is giving them the maintenance they need to last for their full lifetime. Even if it’s inconvenient, the proper maintenance guidelines for anything from cars to appliances should be followed closely.

Start Becoming an Ethical Consumer Today

Changing habits can be hard, but the reward for responsibility is a better world for all of us. Make an effort to become a more conscientious consumer today.

5 of the Latest Trends in Ethical Investment

Published on: November 22, 2017Category: Ethical Investment

Ethical investments are no longer the domain of a select few socially-conscious investors. Interest in responsible investing has swelled to become a phenomenon that is sweeping across all types of funds and projects, creating new opportunities and growing to match the preferences of the astute investors. This is an exciting time for ethical investment. Here are five of the latest trends to watch:

Addressing Homelessness with Social Impact Investing

Housing development has always attracted a lot of attention from investors, but lately, far more emphasis is being placed on the community impact of developments. Ethical investors and the funds that cater to them are beginning to engage developers who care about the social impact of their developments. More specifically, investors are trying to avoid contributing to community problems that result from imbalanced development, such as gentrification and housing crises that force young residents out.

Developers, in response to this pressure, are starting to plan around creating a balance of housing in their projects, instead of housing developed exclusively for the most affluent. Affordable housing wings are becoming a more common part of even luxury development projects. This emphasis helps protects the diversity in even high-demand areas into the future.

A New Focus on Renewable Infrastructure over Research

Green technologies have always been an important part of ethical investment, but the focus of these funds is starting to change. Research and development has taken a backseat now that energy sources such as solar collection have become viable models pursued on an international scale. The modern ethical investor is now far more interested in visionary applications of this working technology—specifically a speedier development of massive renewable infrastructure capable of finally replacing the infrastructure of the last generation of energy.

Modern cities are going to be a greater challenge, so many renewable energy infrastructure developers are choosing to focus on the developing world. Ethical investors appreciate these projects both for their positive impact on developing communities and for the lessons the entire world will learn as these projects succeed and scale up.

Greater Accountability through Data

In most countries around the world, a fund does not have to meet any requirements to label itself as ‘ethical’. This presents a challenge for investors who care deeply about whether their

investment is being used the way they intended. Fortunately, the arrival of “Big Data” created the potential for countless new tools for evaluating ethical investments.

Complex corporate or fund structures once made it more difficult for investors to understand how their investments were being used. This was not only a concern for investors, but also for the managers of these funds who were accountable for assurances to their ethically-conscious clients. The rapid expansion of data collection and analysis methods within the past few years has made it far easier for firms—and their media and shareholder watchdogs—to evaluate the path and effect of any money that is invested. These new tools provide for a new level of transparency and accountability that may lead the way to far more transparent investing in the future.

Ethical Practices that Outpace Regulation

Major corporations and their local regulatory bodies are not always the closest friends. However, in response to many influences, including the growth of ethical investments, corporations around the world are outpacing their own regulators when it comes to adopting more sustainable and socially-conscious practices.

The most interesting part of this trends is the effect: These companies are being rewarded not only by investors who are flocking to more sustainable funds, but also by consumers who are increasingly showing a preference for brands that share their values. Even in countries like the US, where there is little state pressure for more sustainable practices, companies are choosing to assume that leadership for themselves.

More Profitable Ethical Investment

In part because of the trends that were covered earlier, ethical investments are on track to be a better opportunity than ever before. The challenges faced by the world, including diminishing supplies of water and oil, have galvanized investors all over the world to make impact awareness part of every investment. Instead of resisting, companies appear eager to partner with their investors to tackle these problems in a way that promises a better world for everyone.

With more funds ready to serve investors, more exciting projects to pursue and better data to evaluate all of it, ethical investment is going to be far more than just a strong trend through 2018—It stands to change the face of investing forever.

Who is Choosing Ethical Investments?

Published on: November 15, 2017Category: Ethical Investment

Ethical investment has been growing as a movement for several years now, but it’s only recently that it has become such an active and public one. Millennials, who have reached an age where they are beginning to invest, are perhaps the group most responsible for the new focus on sustainability and social impact. However, some credit must go to all the major role models who are showing them the way. Here are some of the influencers who are choosing to make their investments ethical .

Visionary Entrepreneurs

More than a few of the entrepreneurs disrupting old markets or forging new ones have shown an interest in making sure that their products as well as their own investments are ethical. Elon Musk is one entrepreneur who is notable for pursuing sustainable goals with both his companies and his investment choices. Elon has been a major pioneer in moving electric cars to the market with Tesla. However, he’s not only known for that. He’s also a major investor in solar panels, efficient public transportation methods of the future and many other sustainable projects.

Entrepreneurs, especially those with celebrity status, can play a powerful role in shifting public perception of sustainable businesses. Such endorsements can help sustainable projects get the funding that they need. That so many of entrepreneurs are now making ethical considerations in public ways should be considered a very promising sign for the future of ethical investment.

Major Investors

While it’s always encouraging to see entrepreneurs embracing sustainable businesses practices and investments, it’s also expected that young entrepreneurs will embrace the newest technologies. Some might argue it says a lot more about how important ethical considerations are becoming when they’re embraced by experts whose first priority has always been the performance of the investment.

Billionaire Warren Buffet is one of the most successful investors in the world, and has written several well-regarded books on the subject of investing. His early investment into the Chinese electric car company BYD was baffling to his critics, but he has since been vindicated by that company’s growth into the largest electric car manufacturer in the world. While Warren Buffet does not consider himself an ethical investor by definition, his risky investment showed the finance world that green can be a smart investment.

Big Multinationals

Google made an extraordinary promise last year: that all of their operations would be powered by completely renewable energy by the end of 2017. It was a bold goal that would require them to make many expensive decisions that had nothing to do with their product. However, they were not only looking to purchase renewable power, they were beginning a massive project to produce some of it for themselves.

Google isn’t the only company making renewable commitments for the year. Competing technology companies Apple and Microsoft have also made ambitious goals to power their operations with renewable energy. While these companies have not revealed how these changes will affect their costs, it seems reasonable to believe they expect these moves to return a profit in the long run.

Investing ethically can be for everyday Australians not just influencers and entrepreneurs. Be inspired and invest ethically.

The Latest Trends in Renewable Energy Technology

Published on: November 9, 2017Category: Ethical Investment

There’s always something exciting going on in renewable energy, and this year is no exception. There has been so much news about renewable energy production and storage within just the last few months, that it can be hard to keep track of all the latest developments. Here’s a list of a few of them that you’ll be hearing more about we move into the next year.

Mini-Grids

Mini-grids, or micro-grids, have become an important part of the conversation about the future of renewable energies and the deployment of their infrastructure. These small, independent grids are light enough enough that they can be powered by renewable energy technologies that already exist. They can be deployed to allow certain structures or small communities to be powered only by renewable fuel while in a grid powered by a traditional power plant—or in a place where there is no grid at all.

This allows for low-budget deployment of renewable infrastructure, and will likely play a major role in philanthropist missions to expand electric power in developing nations.

Lightweight Delivery

Many renewable energy companies are intensely interested in batteries, and other portable means of energy storage. The introduction of drones—which replace an entire vehicle while being powered with only a light battery—as delivery vehicles for food services and shopping services like Amazon is going to have a major impact on the market demand for batteries. This may have several positive consequences for renewable energy investors, including an infusion of interest and funding into the promising science of storage.

High-Performance Renewable Fuels

Renewable liquid fuels have received a cold reaction from the market compared to other preferred sources such as batteries. Perhaps part of the reason that renewable fuels have had trouble catching on is their (undeserved) reputation for low performance compared to gasoline. That reputation is likely to change soon, however, because renewable fuels have reached a level of refinement that allows for extremely high performance. The first renewable jet fuel has been successfully tested this year, and it may lead the way to renewable fuels being used for many more applications.

China Leading the Way?

If you want to know what’s next for renewable energies, look to China. While countries like Germany have made a name for themselves with ambitious national energy projects, no one seems as excited or as ready to go all in on renewable energy as China. China has overtaken the rest of the world in the development of solar power production, surpassing their ambitious goals and moving years ahead of the schedule they set for adopting solar power.

China is now home to many of the largest solar panel manufacturers in the world, and it’s citizens use more solar panels than any other nation in the world. China’s eagerness to adopt solar power and played a large role in pushing the price of solar panels down until more consumers all around the world could afford them.