About $60 million of Kiwisaver funds are being invested in companies supplying weapons and components used by the Israeli military for the conflict in Gaza. 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 Read more
KiwiSaver providers are cutting back on harmful investments, as larger fund managers begin to follow the lead of their smaller counterparts. Analysis by ethical investment charity Mindful Money, showed investment in harmful products fell by about $800 million in the six months ended September 2023, to $7.9 billion. Mindful Money said it was the biggest Read more
New Zealanders are withdrawing money from their KiwiSaver schemes to help them through financial hardship at twice the rate of last year – and one supervisor says it’s largely because of rising interest rates. Data from Inland Revenue shows that there was $21.5 million withdrawn from KiwiSaver accounts for reasons of financial hardship in October, Read more
Passive investment strategies and index funds are having an adverse impact on the environment, animals and human welfare, according to Barry Coates. Coates is CEO of Mindful Money. Analysis conducted by Mindful Money reveals that of the $98 billion of KiwiSaver investments, a substantial $8.6 billion (8.9%) is now allocated to unethical stocks. This figure Read more
Good ethical practice has it that now’s the time to rid yourself of any investments in schemes that benefit Russia in any way. Early starters are KiwiSaver managers, some of whom have been selling millions of dollars in investments in Russian companies. Others, like the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, are reviewing their positions as Russia Read more
Although there is an improving trend in ethical investment, $4.1 billion of KiwiSaver funds is still invested in companies that the public wants to avoid and $2.3 billion of retail investment funds. This is one of the findings revealed in the most recent annual surveys undertaken jointly by Mindful Money and the Responsible Investment Association Read more
New Zealanders’ long, proud anti-nuclear weapon history is being compromised by KiwiSaver investments according to Paul Brownsey, Chief Investment Officer of Pathfinder Asset Management. “We have strong opinions about where our money is invested. We especially don’t like it to go to organisations manufacturing nuclear weapons.” Yet according to Brownsey, some New Zealanders are helping Read more
Mindful Money, a new charitable social enterprise helping people to invest ethically, was launched last week in New Zealand. The launch took place at a Go Live event in Auckland. Mindful Money, a free service, provides members of the public with a platform to check what is in their current KiwiSaver investments and to easily Read more