Are you concerned about whether your investments could be harming people, animals, future generations and the planet?
Are you worried about the risks that could affect the long-term performance of your investments?
An Ethical Review will help you to identify the companies that cause harm and identify financial risks, for example:
- Investments in companies that own ‘stranded assets’ that are likely to lose value as the energy system transitions to renewable energy, e.g. coal-powered utilities, oil, gas and coal reserves and production infrastructure.
- Investments in companies that lose shareholder value through damage to their reputation from social or environmental controversies.
- Investments in companies and sectors, such as gambling, that are exposed to high regulation risks.
Mindful Money brings an independent lens
Mindful Money offers a service in analysing self-selected portfolios, DIMS, overseas funds and adviser-designed model portfolios.
For the individual investor, an Ethical Review can highlight investments in companies and funds that may be causing social or environmental harm. We can assess the degree of alignment of your actual investment holdings with your values and concerns, and we can alert you to potential financial risks from ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) factors and climate change.
For a Trustee, an Ethical Review can help you understand ESG risks as part of your fiduciary obligations, including meeting the best interests and preferences of beneficiaries. Mindful Money’s annual surveys of the New Zealand public provide insights into the preferences of different demographic groups. Mindful Money’s focus on ethical issues can complement existing reporting from your adviser.
Our approach
Our analysis covers direct investments and holdings in sub-funds within the portfolio. The Ethical Review will ‘look through’ sub-funds to generate a complete list of securities in the portfolio and identify which companies are involved in harms such as human rights violations, animal cruelty, weapons, environmental damage, fossil fuels and social harm (tobacco, gambling, pornography, alcohol and predatory lending). These are the issues of most concern to members of the public, as shown in annual surveys.
The output will be a schedule with the companies of harm and a summary of the reasons, in a format that is suited to your needs, normally a spreadsheet and/or presentation.
Fees and how to access this service
Please contact us at ethicalreview@mindfulmoney.nz for a quote. Generally costs are $500-1000 depending on the number and scope of holdings.
We will observe strict confidentiality of the portfolio analysis. All we need to know are the names of the companies or funds you hold. Understanding the % of each holding is also useful. We can usually provide you with the report within 5 working days.
"The ethical review undertaken by Mindful Money was very useful. It provided us with an objective analysis of how our funds are currently invested, highlighting companies that members of the public are likely to find concerning. The analysis included an assessment of active ownership practices and positive impact investments in our portfolios, along with an overview of comparative financial returns. Mindful Money also provided suggestions for strengthening our ethical policy and our SIPO, as well as ethical investment options. It was an important analysis in understanding and strengthening our ethical Investment practices.”
Cheryl Spain, Executive Director of The Gift Trust