ETHICS, RELIGION & SUPER

LET YOUR BELIEFS GUIDE YOUR SUPER

More and more Australians let their conscience or their religious beliefs guide how they invest their Super. And in response, more fund managers have options to suit. The Responsible Investment Association of Australasia reports that $1 from every $16 in managed funds is invested ethically in some way. There is no official definition for 'ethical investing' and there are significant differences between the approaches taken by managers offering these funds.

NOT ALL ethical FUNDS ARE THE SAME

There are two main approaches to managing an ethical investment fund.

Negative screening seeks to avoid investments in companies that are engaged in things like: alcohol, animal testing, arms, coal seam gas, tobacco, gambling, chemicals, nuclear industry, and pollution.
 
Positive screening actively supports certain causes such as climate change, human rights, affirmative environmental programs (reforestation, recycling, energy efficiency), strong corporate ethics, community engagement, renewable energy.

There is not a lot of evidence for either a positive or negative impact on returns from adopting an Ethical approach. 

One leading researcher, The Responsible Investment Association of Australia (RIAA) reports that the ‘Core responsible investment funds’ (Australian and international shares) that it monitors are delivering better returns than both the benchmark and the average of all mainstream over 3, 5 & 10 years.

LifeSherpa can help you choose a fund that matches your requirements including Halal funds that invest in accordance with Islamic principles.