Australia’s Pension Giants Up the Ante With Shareholder Activism
(Bloomberg) -- Australian pension funds are increasingly weighing the use of shareholder resolutions to improve environmental, social and governance issues at the companies they invest in.
Funds are looking to be more forceful on issues such as climate change and gender equality by supporting ESG-linked resolutions and also filing their own, according to Simon O'Connor, chief executive officer of Responsible Investment Association Australasia, whose members oversee A$9 trillion ($6.8 trillion) in assets globally.
“It's a step up,” he said in an interview. “We're going to see more of this, because the super funds are feeling like they need to be much more proactive to influence change and to protect not only long-term investment outcomes, but really the environment within which they invest in.”
Recent resolutions have included those launched by Health Employees Superannuation Trust Australia this year against Hormel Foods Corp. on antibiotic use and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc., where the fund accused the social media giant of a lack of oversight on misinformation.
O'Connor expects HESTA's resolutions and other actions taken by Australia's pensions to be in focus at the RI Australia conference starting Wednesday in Sydney. Managers overseeing the nation's A$3.5 trillion in retirement savings are also collaborating more, through bodies including the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment, he said.
“They're much more willing to step up and flex their ownership muscles to influence change and disagree with companies and try to really influence and shape companies much more forcefully,” O'Connor said.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
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