Responsible investment, including environmental, social, and governance considerations, is taken into account in the investment policies and procedures of the scheme as at the date of this Product Disclosure Statement. You can obtain an explanation of the extent to which responsible investment is taken into account in our Responsible Investment Brochure at www.sbswealth.co.nz. Our Responsible Investment approach is guided by our stewardship principles of “driving change over time, not overnight” and “focus on opportunities, not just exclusions.” This is reflective of the nature of our investment strategy, which recognises the need for improvement but also the need to “keep the lights on” in the meanwhile. We screen our investable universe for the following types of investments and exclude exposure to them. Controversial weapons, Recreational cannabis, Whale meat processing, Nuclear weapons, Adult entertainment. We also minimise investment in companies involved with the following. Conventional military weapons, Civilian firearms, Tobacco Gambling Palm oil, Alcohol & casinos. This list is not exhaustive and may change as societal issues bring into relevance new considerations.

The SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme invests responsibly, as we utilise ESG Integration and Negative Screening to ensure that the following harmful practices are excluded or are only invested in at levels that are minimised: Controversial Weapons, Nuclear Weapons, Conventional Military Weapons, Tobacco, Alcohol, Adult Entertainment, Civilian Firearms (small arms), Palm Oil Production, Recreational Cannabis, Whale Meat Processing and Gambling & Casinos.

The scheme also involves Positive Screening and Thematic Investments by favouring investments that are less carbon intensive and less involved in the fossil fuel industry than their peers. The scheme also favours companies that are more invovlved in carbon solutions. 

We also conduct Proxy Voting on an ad hoc basis which is guided by our Stewarship Principles. 

Investors in the scheme invest in growth/income splits between the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver High Growth Fund and SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Income Fund depending on their risk profile. The risk profiles are largely based on age bands and are known as "Lifestages Auto".