As the world stands at a crucial crossroads in its efforts to combat climate change, recent discussions among industry leaders emphasise the importance of strategic investments and partnerships in fostering a sustainable future. The urgency of transforming our economy to achieve net-zero emissions cannot be...
Whether you like it or not, if you are an investor, you are already investing in nature. Across Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world, all global gross domestic product depends, either directly or through supply chains, on nature: clean air and water, productive land and...
On 19 September at the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA)’s annual conference in New Zealand, I have the wonderful privilege of moderating a panel of three CEOs from prominent New Zealand listed companies: Simon MacKenzie (Vector), Jolie Hodson (Spark), and Grant Webster (THL Holdings). We...
On 5 June 2024, the Federal Court in Australia largely found for ASIC in its case against the trustee of the superannuation fund Active Super (Australian Securities and Investments Commission v LGSS Pty Ltd [2024] FCA 587). The judgment contains important developments in the application of...
Imagine: You’re a portfolio manager for a 30-stock portfolio within the Weak Governance Exchange (WGX). One of your investments is in bottled water company, Water Power. The business model is simple: selling bottled water. What is different about this business is that half of their...
The last decade has seen an increased focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policymaking and implementation, and a rise in new investment funds to match. The past few years, however, have also exposed ESG fractures in the industry. One of the areas of growing...
By Måns Carlsson OAM, who recently participated on the panel, "Modern slavery risk and reporting: Where to from here?" at the RIAA Conference Australia 2024. There is little evidence that Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) has contributed to reducing the prevalence of modern slavery, which...
Investors should care about this topic, not just because of the reporting requirements, but because of the potential investment impacts, including brand risk, the implied social licenses under which exist, earnings sustainability risks and many other operational factors...
We’re reaching a tipping point, with people pushing the planet beyond many of its boundaries. The result will be escalating geopolitical conflicts over resources, a cycle of human rights issues, and continued planetary warming, resulting in what many scientists and policymakers are calling a Polycrisis. It’s...
The year 2023 has proven to be a tumultuous period for corporate Australia, marked by a series of corporate scandals and significant shareholder dissent at AGMs. Notably, a record number of ASX300 companies recorded strikes against their remuneration reports, marking the highest tally since the...
By Kate Turner and Belinda White Where to start? How do we process the decision that Australia will not change our constitution and enshrine a Voice to Parliament for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples? Perhaps we need to go further back, to Paul Keating’s famous...
As investors and owners of firms, whether as principals or fiduciaries, we are responsible for addressing the varied potential impacts of continued greenhouse gas emissions. The projected cost of climate change is significant, affecting individuals, society, the environment, and the companies operating within it. While we...