Rothschild super goes ethical
Rothschild Australia Asset Management(RAAM) has added an ethical share investment option to its flagship retail superannuation product, the Five Arrows Retirement Fund.
The Five Arrows Retirement Fund, which is made of the Rothschild Super and Rollover Plan and the Rothschild Allocated Pension Plan, will offer the Ethical Share option to individual investors alongside its six other diversified and sector specific investment options.
The ethical option will use a combination of negative and positive investment screens to both avoid unethical investments and seek out companies with sustainable products and services.
The screens will mean the fund will not invest in companies with a poor environmental or human rights record, that are involved with uranium and weapons manufacturing, that produce alcohol or tobacco or that manufacture or provide gaming facilities.
Rothschild has appointed the Sustainable Investment Research Institute (SIRIS), an independent ethical investment research group, to carry out the screening process.
The addition of the ethical investment option to the Five Arrows Retirement Fund follows Rothschild’s launch last year of three separate ethical funds: the Rothschild Ethical Share Trust, the Rothschild Ethical Conservative Trust and the Five Arrows Ethical Share Fund.
The launch of the Ethical Share option was prompted by a national survey of investment advisers by Rothschild earlier this year which uncovered strong demand for ethical investment options to be offered in retail unit trusts, master funds and especially retail superannuation products.
The Rothschild Super and Rollover Plan has a minimum investment of $20,000, or $10,000 under a regular investment plan schedule. The Rothschild Allocated Pension has a minimum investment of $40,000.
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