What is responsible investing?
What is responsible investing and is it just another piece of jargon that is difficult to understand and bears no relation to our day to day life? At Christian KiwiSaver Scheme, we believe that responsible investing is an important foundation for choosing the investments that we undertake on behalf of our members.
Looking at it straightforwardly, responsible investing could be compared to shopping for eggs in the supermarket. When you find the eggs on the supermarket shelves, you are confronted by a range of different choices – bio organic eggs, paddock eggs, free-range, caged, cage-free, barn raised, etc. The selection is vast and comes with a range of prices to match your choice. So how do you choose? Would you buy solely on the price going for the cheapest eggs no matter what? Would you prefer organic eggs? Or perhaps you are concerned for the chicken’s welfare and would not select eggs from caged chickens?
On a personal level in the egg scenario, if animal welfare is an ethical concern for you and you respond by choosing free-range eggs, you could be considered to be behaving like a responsible investor.
On a broader level, when you (or your KiwiSaver provider on your behalf) are investing responsibly, you are considering investments which reflect your values and take into account how companies manage their responsibilities, for example in their dealings with the environment or the community.
You may recall either working for or hearing about, companies that were out to maximise their profit no matter the cost. However, over recent years, there has been a move to balance the interests of shareholders with other concerns such as social and environmental welfare.
There has been a big change in our supermarkets with plastic bags being replaced by reusable ones. There had been community concern about the effect that plastic bags were having on the environment due to the sheer numbers going into landfills and turning up in our waterways and oceans. This concern about the impact on our environment influenced the government to put laws in place to reduce the amount of plastic being used.
As a community, we have become interested in a variety of social and environmental issues, and this has translated into broader concerns about where KiwiSaver funds are invested. At Christian KiwiSaver Scheme we seek to avoid investments in products such as tobacco, guns and other arms manufacturing, gambling, and adult entertainment. How companies behave with regard to the environment, their employees and others, and the way they govern themselves are also things we think about when making investment decisions for our members.
Not already a member of Christian KiwiSaver Scheme? Join other like-minded Kiwi Christians growing their savings ethically today!
Membership of the Christian KiwiSaver Scheme is offered only to:
- employees of organisations whose primary activities are in our opinion Christian mission or ministry. This includes employees of charitable entities associated with or operating in the Christian Church, or employees of entities which we approve as having a Christian special character; and
- persons who express a Christian faith and have a commitment to Christian community involvement when applying (and their immediate family members and dependants).
Christian KiwiSaver Scheme is managed and issued by The New Zealand Anglican Church Pension Board (trading as Anglican Financial Care). The Product Disclosure Statement and Fund Updates are available under Documents.
