Australian Ethical Investment

Australian Ethical Investment is an Australian financial-services company and ethical investment manager headquartered in Sydney. Founded in 1986, it provides superannuation, pension, managed-fund and other investment products for individual, adviser, institutional and values-aligned organisational clients. The company is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker AEF and operates as a specialist, or pure-play, ethical investment manager rather than as a diversified conventional financial-services conglomerate. The company’s investment philosophy is anchored by the Australian Ethical Charter. The Charter provides the principles used to determine which activities and investments are acceptable, and which should be excluded because they are considered harmful to people, animals or the environment. Australian Ethical combines negative screening with positive selection: its research process seeks businesses and projects that can contribute to environmental or social progress while also meeting the return objectives of each fund. The approach is applied across Australian equities, international equities and multi-asset strategies. Australian Ethical’s products include superannuation options, pension options and managed funds. It also provides direct access to selected investment products through digital channels, sells through advisers and private-wealth firms, and maintains a smaller institutional business serving organisations such as not-for-profits and other clients with compatible values. Its offering has expanded beyond traditional ethical managed funds to include a separately managed account and an exchange-traded fund product. The investment process has three connected elements. First, the in-house Ethical Research team assesses prospective and existing investments against the Charter’s principles and related decision frameworks. Second, the investment team constructs portfolios according to each strategy’s risk, asset-allocation and return requirements. Third, the company undertakes ethical stewardship, using engagement, voting, collaboration, public advocacy and, where appropriate, divestment or the threat of divestment to influence investee companies and wider market behaviour. The company has identified issues such as fossil-fuel expansion, animal testing and research, livestock-related deforestation in Australia, and emissions associated with high-emission building products as areas for strategic engagement. Its model therefore seeks not only to avoid activities that conflict with its Charter but also to use ownership rights to encourage changes in corporate conduct. Australian Ethical became a founding Australian Certified B Corporation in 2014 and was described as the first listed B Corporation in the region. It subsequently received strong B Corp assessments, including recognition in the organisation’s Best for the World rankings in several years. In 2023, its recertification result was reported as making it the highest-scoring Certified B Corporation in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand at that time. A major corporate development occurred in November 2022, when Australian Ethical completed the successor fund transfer of Christian Super. The transaction brought Christian Super members and assets into Australian Ethical and transferred its impact-investing portfolio. Those impact-oriented strategies were subsequently made available to a broader audience through Australian Ethical’s multi-asset managed-fund options. Following the transfer, the business continued to operate under the Australian Ethical brand.

Australian Ethical Investment was established in Australia in 1986 to provide investment products for people seeking a closer connection between their financial decisions and their social, environmental and ethical values. From its beginning, the business developed an investment model based on the Australian Ethical Charter. The Charter became the central reference point for determining both the activities the company would avoid and the activities it would seek to support through investment. During its development, Australian Ethical established itself as a specialist ethical investment manager. Rather than offering a conventional broad-market product range alongside a separate responsible-investment label, the company positioned ethical considerations as fundamental to its investment process. Its activities came to include superannuation, pensions, managed funds and institutional mandates, with portfolios spanning Australian shares, international shares and multi-asset investments. The company became a public company on 17 December 2002, when it listed on the Australian Securities Exchange under the code AEF. The listing gave Australian Ethical a public-market presence while it continued to focus on values-based investment management. Over time, the company also developed direct-to-consumer distribution, including digital marketing and online access to investment products, while retaining relationships with financial advisers, private-wealth firms and institutional clients. A significant milestone in its corporate identity came in 2014, when Australian Ethical became one of the founding Certified B Corporations in Australia. It was identified as the first listed B Corporation in the region. B Corp certification complemented, rather than replaced, the Australian Ethical Charter by providing an external framework for assessing governance, social and environmental performance. The company received Best for the World recognition in a number of years between 2015 and 2022, based on its performance within relevant size categories. In July 2023, the business reported a recertification score that made it the highest-scoring Certified B Corporation in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand at that point. Australian Ethical’s investment approach has developed around three linked functions: ethical research, portfolio construction and stewardship. Its Ethical Research team assesses prospective investments against the Charter’s principles and associated contemporary criteria. The investment team then builds portfolios designed for particular risk and return objectives. After investment, the company may engage with companies, vote on resolutions and director or remuneration matters, collaborate with other investors, raise issues publicly or ultimately divest. This means the company uses both exclusion and ownership influence as tools of responsible investment. Its stewardship priorities have included opposition to financial and insurance support for fossil-fuel expansion, reducing animal harm associated with testing and research, addressing livestock-driven deforestation in Australia and reducing emissions from high-emission building products. These activities reflect the company’s view that ethical investment involves influencing corporate and systemic behaviour as well as selecting securities. On 25 November 2022, Australian Ethical completed the successor fund transfer of Christian Super. The transaction expanded the company’s member and client base and brought Christian Super’s impact-investment portfolio into the Australian Ethical platform. The transferred strategies were later made available to non-superannuation investors through multi-asset managed-fund options. Australian Ethical continued to operate under its own brand after the transfer. The company remains an ASX-listed Australian ethical investment manager. Its current offering includes multiple superannuation and pension choices, managed funds across major ethical asset classes, and additional products such as a separately managed account and an exchange-traded fund. Its business continues to combine retail distribution, adviser and wealth channels, and a smaller institutional operation serving organisations with compatible investment values.

1. 2023Highest regional B Corp score reported

   After recertification, Australian Ethical is reported as the highest-scoring Certified B Corporation in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand at that time.

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2. 2022Christian Super successor fund transfer

   The company completes the transfer of Christian Super’s superannuation business and impact-investing portfolio on 25 November.

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3. 2014Founding Australian B Corporation

   Australian Ethical becomes a founding Certified B Corporation in Australia and the first listed B Corporation in the region.

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4. 2002ASX listing

   Australian Ethical Investment lists on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker AEF on 17 December.

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5. 1986Australian Ethical Investment is founded

   The company begins providing investment-management products designed to align financial returns with ethical and environmental values.

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A specialist Australian ethical and sustainable investment manager that combines values-based screening, positive-impact investing and active stewardship. The brand emphasizes alignment with environmental and social principles while pursuing competitive investment outcomes.

• SuperannuationRetirement savings

  Australian Ethical offers superannuation investment options for members seeking retirement savings managed according to the Australian Ethical Charter. The range covers different portfolio mixes and is designed to provide exposure to ethical Australian equities, international equities and multi-asset strategies.

• Pension optionsRetirement income

  The company provides pension options for investors drawing retirement income. These options apply the organisation’s ethical screening and portfolio-construction process to retirement-oriented investment strategies.

• Managed fundsInvestment funds

  Australian Ethical’s managed funds cover Australian equities, international equities and multi-asset portfolios. The funds are distributed directly to customers and through advisers and private-wealth firms, and seek exposure to investments considered compatible with the company’s ethical principles.

• Separately managed accountPortfolio management

  The separately managed account product extends Australian Ethical’s ethical investment approach into a portfolio format in which investors receive managed exposure to selected securities under a defined strategy.

• Exchange-traded fundExchange-traded investment product

  Australian Ethical also offers an exchange-traded fund, providing a listed vehicle for investors seeking access to an ethical investment strategy through the exchange-traded-fund structure.

• Fossil-fuel finance and insurance engagement

  Australia

  Australian Ethical has used investor engagement and stewardship to challenge financial and insurance support for expansion of the fossil-fuel sector.

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• Animal testing and research engagement

  Australia · International

  The company has identified reducing harm to animals from testing and research as a priority stewardship issue.

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• Livestock-driven deforestation engagement

  Australia

  Australian Ethical has engaged on the environmental effects of livestock production, including deforestation associated with livestock in Australia.

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• High-emission building products engagement

  Australia

  The company has pursued stewardship intended to reduce emissions associated with building products with particularly high embodied emissions.

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• 2022Proceed with the Christian Super successor fund transferM&A

  Christian Super’s superannuation business and impact-investing portfolio were to be integrated into Australian Ethical.

  What changed. Australian Ethical completed the successor fund transfer on 25 November 2022 and continued to operate the combined business under the Australian Ethical brand.

  Aftermath. The transaction increased the company’s member and client base and made the transferred impact-investing portfolio available through Australian Ethical’s multi-asset managed-fund options.

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• 2023Australian Ethical records leading regional B Corp assessment

  Following recertification in July 2023, Australian Ethical was reported as having the highest B Corp score among Certified B Corporations in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand at that time.

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• 2022Australian Ethical completes Christian Super successor fund transfer

  On 25 November 2022, Christian Super’s members, assets and impact-investing portfolio were transferred to Australian Ethical through a successor fund transfer.

  M&A
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• 2014Australian Ethical becomes a founding Australian B Corporation

  The company joined the founding group of Certified B Corporations in Australia and was described as the region’s first listed B Corporation.

  Other
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• 2002Australian Ethical lists on the Australian Securities Exchange

  Australian Ethical Investment was admitted to the ASX under the ticker AEF on 17 December 2002.

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1. Australian Ethical Investment
2. Australian Ethical Investment official website