Most investors don't know this says Barry Coates, chief executive of the ethical investment charity Mindful Money.

He says $9.3m of Kiwisaver funds are invested in Boeing, the largest supplier of weapons to Israel - including missile guidance systems, bombs and aircraft.

Mindful Money research also found $9.6m of Kiwisaver funds has been invested in Rolls-Royce Holdings whose German subsidiary makes engines for Israeli battle tanks.

Kiwisaver has invested $8.1m in Honeywell too. Those funds will help make components for missiles and drones.

Ethical investments sought

Mindful Money's annual surveys show that most people have ethical concerns about where their money is put to use. They don't want it invested in weapons.

Of the three million people enrolled in Kiwisaver, he says most weren't told where their money was invested.

"Where your money is invested has consequences ‒ for people, for workers, for the environment, for climate change."

Most investors want to avoid human rights violations, animal cruelty, fossil fuels, social harm from tobacco, alcohol and gambling, as well as weapons.

Demand for more ethical options had driven a huge change in investing over the last five years, Coates says.

This has seen Kiwisaver and investment fund managers advertise their investment policies. Today they are likely to say their investments are ethical, sustainable or using ESG [environmental, social and governance] policies.

"But the objective test is where they invest our money. Investing in weapons companies that profiteer from unjust wars is deeply offensive to most Kiwis" Coates says.

The Mindful Money website has resources - including a fund checker and a fund finder tool - available to help people review their Kiwisaver fund and be matched with a new one if necessary.

Source

• Stuff

The survey for Boston-based Catholic Investment Services found that about 87 percent of respondents would be more likely to donate to Catholic institutions if they knew the money would be invested in ways consistent with church teaching and values.

In contrast, about 14 percent of respondents said ethical investing was not a consideration when donating to Catholic institutions. Read more

Senior Church of England officials are conducting a wide-ranging review of the church's holdings, and its Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) was considering new guidelines on porn, which addresses the ease in which hardcore sexual images can be viewed over the Internet.

The soon to be concluded review will recommend how part of the church's NZ$10.5 billion portfolio should be invested in relation to Internet companies.

The Church of England ethical investment policy does not allow it to invest in companies that fuel problems against which it campaigns.

The ethical investment policy screens out those companies whose 'major part' of their business is engaged in the "production, transmission, publication or distribution of pornography."

Church officials said that investing today is complex because while its fund might not directly invest in platforms used to publish pornographic material, other businesses in its portfolio could have financial interests.

The church has already issued policies on how it should invest in businesses in areas such as alcohol, cloning and gambling.

Sources

• Telegraph
• Image: The Guardian

The Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) wants to tighten its policy on cheap supermarket booze because of concerns about "corporate complicity in the misuse of alcohol, including through inappropriate pricing and promotions."

Supermarkets and other retailers that derive five per cent or more of their revenue from the sale of alcohol could be excluded under its new ethical investment policy.

It is the first time that supermarkets have fallen under the scope of the Church of England's ethical investment policy on alcohol.

Supermarkets have been accused of fuelling Britain's binge drinking problem by offering cut-price alcohol deals.

John Reynolds, Chair of the EIAG, said: "The EIAG is concerned about corporate complicity in the misuse of alcohol, including through inappropriate pricing and promotions.

"Institutional investors don't talk to the supermarkets about this and our old policy had no teeth because we couldn't divest from a supermarket.

"We want to use our influence as shareholders to bear down hard on poor corporate practice and to encourage good practice."

The EIAG said it would "engage" with retailers that fail to meet the minimum standards on responsible sales before imposing the ultimate sanction of exclusion from investment.

Until the EIAG makes new recommendations, the old exclusions of companies deriving more than 25 per cent of revenues from alcohol will continue to be applied by the National Investing Bodies.

Sources

• The Nambian
• Christian Today
• Image: The Daily Mail