Today’s article on the front page of the Australian Financial Review reports that coal miners are under ‘Green attack’. Coal Miners such as BHP and Rio Tinto are not happy about the approach, the latter describing it as ‘economic vandalism’. The article: http://www.afr.com/p/national/business_outraged_by_anti_coal_campaign_O09SRiOhlOTYeUJZr9CkXO What is the real issue here for investors? Capital loss? Poor returns? Whether […]
Read MoreSuper Secrets Unmasked: Breakthrough on Disclosure for Super funds
In breaking news today, ASIC Chairman Greg Medcraft has had an amazing insight: investors actually want to know where their money is invested!!! See: http://www.afr.com/p/national/super_secrets_unmasked_wZwYJwpcpVui15DWhY4BtJ Let’s not be concerned that Mr Medcraft is claiming an idea that Responsible Investment Advisers (such as ourselves) have been raising for decades. The fact is that this is a necessary […]
Read MoreWhat’s Your Money up to? Invest Responsibly
We all want our superannuation and investments to be safe and earn a solid rate of return, but there are other things we care about too: You might feel passionate about the effects of climate change, the provision of affordable and accessible health care services, managing resources sustainably to meet our current needs and those […]
Read MoreJules attends UK Ethical Investment Week #2: Occupy London
Interestingly, on my way into St Paul’s Cathedral the ‘Occupy London’ protest was raging outside on the streets. It was ironic that we were meeting for ethical and sustainable investing on the inside – it would have been wonderful to have some more engagement with the two parties who it would seem have a similar ideology. […]
Read MoreJules attends UK Ethical Investment Week #1: Blood & Gore
After jetsetting to Europe I have touched down in Perth, returning from an inspirational week in London for National Ethical Investment Week (NEIW). As a part of the event I was invited to attend a Reception at the House of Commons, hosted by Hugh Bayley MP and the UK Social Investment Forum (UKSIF). Others who attended […]
Read MoreAustralian Ethical visit: Coal Seam Gas divestment
We were fortunate to be able to visit Australian Ethical Investments’ Canberra office a couple of weeks ago. We also checked out a couple of Canberra commercial properties that they’ve recently invested in. Australian Ethical occupies Trevor Pearcey House, a building which they purchased and then renovated in order to achieve a ’6 Star’ Green rating (see: http://australianethical.com.au/files/documents/other/Trevor_Pearcey_House_facts_and_figures.pdf). In […]
Read MoreQ&A: Perpetual’s Ethical SRI fund & the UN Principles for Responsible Investment
Following a recent review by Standard & Poor’s, Perpetual’s Ethical SRI Fund maintained its ‘4 star’ rating. Highlights from Standard & Poor’s Sep 2011 report include: ‘We still regard this fund as an attractive, true-to-label offering in the ethical/SRI Australian equities peer group.’ ‘We remain comfortable with the strength of Perpetual’s experienced team and its robust and […]
Read MoreNews Corp: a lesson in Corporate Governance
Today Rhett Kessler of fund manager Pengana Capital was quoted in the AFR discussing why he is buying more News Corp…ultimately he feels that the ongoing phone-hacking scandal will be a good thing for News Corp shareholders. But I question why anyone in their right mind would want to profit from such unethical behaviour? The amazing […]
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