Super ESG options can outperformBY JAMIE WILLIAMSON | TUESDAY, 13 NOV 2018 12:13PMThe average ESG investment option offered by Australia's superannuation funds outperformed the average MySuper default product in the 12 months to 30 September. Related News |
Editor's Choice
Future Group marks new successor fund transfer
|Future Group announced its Smart Future Trust will take on the GuildSuper and Child Care Super brands as the group continues to expand with another successor fund transfer.
HUB24 expands C-suite with innovation role
|HUB24 has strengthened its executive leadership team with the creation of a new chief operating and innovation officer role, bringing technology, innovation and strategy implementation under a broader remit.
Former director jailed for misuse of $1.75m
|Former Equitable Financial Solutions director Usman Siddiqui has been sentenced to six years and six months' imprisonment for dishonestly using his position as a director and misappropriating company funds.
PE giants partner with Nvidia for $709bn AI platform
|Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR have signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nvidia to mobilise half a trillion US dollars ($709bn) of third-party capital to further accelerate the buildout of AI infrastructure.
Videos
Brought to you by ![]()
Further Reading
Products
Expert Feed
When geopolitics becomes a portfolio risk
Geopolitics is back - again - and Australian investors can no longer treat it as distant background noise.
Does association membership still matter?
With all the changes the advice sector has experienced in recent years, such as regulatory reform and increased education and professional standards ...
Digital assets and where they stand in 2026
So far in 2026 digital assets have captured the headlines largely for the wrong reasons, but that doesn't tell the full story.
Rethinking default design in a changing market environment
The evolution underway in the US DC system highlights the value of periodically reassessing default design assumptions.
Featured Profile
Andrew Gregory
CHIEF ADVICE OFFICER
UNISUPER
UNISUPER
After 25 years, Andrew Gregory remains motivated by the impact financial advice can have on Australians' lives. As UniSuper's chief advice officer, he is not slowing down on any of his current ambitions. Matthew Wai writes.
The Financial Standard podcast Tune in each week as we discuss the latest developments in Australia's wealth management industry. |  |
I'm not sure if it's a fair comparison to line up shares options next to balanced MySuper defaults. Comparing ESG shares options to standard shares options would be a better comparison, and would show a different story (from a strictly financial perspective)
Focusing on balanced options within workplace super funds, in the year to 30 June 2018 ESG options out-performed regular balanced options on average by 0.7%, by 0.1% pa over three years and by 0.5% pa over five years. Sure it's marginal but that's the point. The message to us at Rainmaker is that well-run investment options be they ESG or regular perform similarly. There are two subsidiary points. First is the massive range that exists within the sector. Eg, over five years, the performance of regular balanced options ranged from 2% pa to 12% pa while the performance of ESG balanced options ranged from 7% pa to 12% pa. Second is that funds should not use ESG as an excuse for under-performance. Put another way, all of us should stop drinking our own Koolaid.