While progressive super funds have largely divested from fossil fuel companies, some still invest members’ savings in pokies, casinos and online betting companies.
Leading superannuation funds with “socially aware” or progressive options are investing millions of dollars of members’ retirement savings in poker machine and gambling companies, despite some funds starting to divest from gambling products.
In fact, by proportion, AustralianSuper’s socially aware portfolio invested more in Aristocrat and Endeavour than its flagship “balanced” fund . That fund, worth $200 billion in total, has $1 billion invested in Aristocrat. “It’s pretty shocking,” Mills said. “Because of HESTA being the type of fund that it is, it’s not a question that would even cross your mind. There’s no way they’d do that, surely.”
A Rest spokesperson said the fund’s sustainable growth option excludes companies that generate more than 5 per cent of their revenue from ownership or operation of gambling facilities, or the provision of key gambling products and services. “Some of these companies are marketing themselves as having some kind of social superiority and moral responsibility because they’re looking out for Australians and they’re concerned about ESG,” she said. “Surely, there needs to be some kind of accountability for that.”