Responsible investment and your super
June 30, 2021
While TelstraSuper considers many things before we invest your money, responsible investment or ESG thinking, is very important.
If you haven’t heard the term ESG before then let’s break it down:
- E stands for environmental –the effect a company has on the natural environment
- S stands for social –how a company manages relationships with its employees and the wider community
- G stands for governance - the way the company is run, for example its leadership team, the way decisions are made and the rights that shareholders have.
We believe ESG thinking is not only essential to being a good corporate citizen, but it’s also key to our investment returns because we think that companies that act in a responsible way tend to make less risky investments and could be more likely to succeed financially.
We take our responsibilities seriously and aim to avoid those investments with bad ESG credentials. For example, we do not invest in the tobacco manufacturing industry, or companies that make land mines.
Instead, to help achieve the best financial outcomes for you, we actively invest in industries we feel have good ESG credentials such as:
Renewable energy companies across the globe
- The Powering Australia Renewables Fund (PARF) develops and owns large-scale renewable energy generators across Australia. Their current assets include the Broken Hill Solar Farm, Nyngan Solar Farm, Silverton Wind Farm all in New South Wales, and the Coopers Gap Wind Farm in Queensland.
- Finerge is the second largest onshore wind portfolio in Portugal consisting of 29 fully operational wind farms within the country and 8MW of solar PV on the Western border of Spain.
- Sonnedix is a global solar platform, which owns and operates solar projects across France, Italy, Spain, Puerto Rico, Japan, Chile, and the UK, with a further 350MW under construction.
Commercial construction that focuses on wellbeing
Lendlease
Lendlease is one of TelstraSuper’s unlisted property investment managers. In a world first, Lendlease has achieved a WELL portfolio rating from the International WELL Building Institute.
Previously, the rating had only been applied to individual buildings. But now, the world’s leading health-focused building standard applies to 14 of Lendlease’s assets which span 570,000 sqm and impacts nearly 60,000 Australian office workers.
Their rating was achieved through a focus on air and water quality, natural light, comfort, nourishment, fitness and mind. It’s also hoped these initiatives will help assist in a safe return to work post COVID-19.
Sweet treats from sustainable sources
Darrell Lea
Darrell Lea is an investment in our Private Markets portfolio. Darrell Lea is one of the few remaining iconic Australian food brands still owned, operated and manufactured in Australia—and they’re now 100% Palm Oil Free.
After 2 years and 100 recipe changes, they are the first homegrown chocolate brand to go 100 per cent palm oil free, replacing it with sunflower oil in all of their products.
They’ve also moved to 100% sustainably sourced cocoa with Cocoa Horizon, a top global sustainability program which supports productivity, community, sustainability and children’s education.
To find out more information, please visit the Responsible Investment section of our website.
At TelstraSuper we’re here to help you build a secure financial future. TelstraSuper Financial Planning has a team of phone-based Advisers who can provide you with simple and general advice about your TelstraSuper account at no additional cost to you. If you’d like to discuss your super, contact us on 1300 033 166 or by filling in our online contact form.