Why invest ethically?
When you make a financial investment, you are also making an investment in the type of future you want.
This is at the heart of ethical investment. Do you want to invest in a world with more live animal exports, nuclear weapons and poker machines, or a world with more clean energy, healthy food and accessible education?
Most super funds make investment choices without considering a company’s real-world social, ethical and environmental impact. If a company is large or looks profitable, who cares if they make the money from killing and torturing animals, manufacturing nuclear weapons, selling cigarettes, or burning fossil fuels?
Cruelty Free Super members care.
Our members don’t want their retirement savings funding activities that are harmful to people, animals and the planet. That's why we won’t invest in any company that fails our strict ethical criteria. Instead, we invest your super money in companies building a better world.
Ethical investing is about seeking a good financial return by investing in ways that align your money with your values. It means the investor accounts for the whole impact of a company, not just their bottom line.
Choosing ethical investments
Some super funds are called 'ethical' or have a 'sustainable' option, but it’s not easy to work out what this means.
We are upfront about our values, and transparent about where members' money is invested.
Here’s how we use ethics to shape our investment decisions.
At Cruelty Free Super we use a two-step ethical screening process to ensure your money is invested in companies that can both grow your super savings and build a better world.
- Out with the bad: our negative screen rules out harmful and destructive industries like animal testing, cruelty and export, fossil fuels, detention centres, nuclear, tobacco, and more.
- In with the good: our positive screen ensures we actively seek out companies that are doing social and environmental good, such as renewable energy, education and IT.
Our ethical research team constantly monitor the companies in our portfolio to make sure they match our values.
Transparency
An important part of investing ethically is knowing where your money is invested. While most super funds only disclose their largest 10 investments, we are fully transparent. Check out the full
Cruelty Free Super portfolio.