Australia

Mindful Investing's Methodology: how we do portfolio transparency

Your superannuation represents your future. But did you know it also shapes our collective future? The companies your super invests in have real-world impacts on people and the planet. Mindful Investing enables investors to know if a fund invests in a ‘company of concern’. Investors can then decide what action to take. Here's how we do it.

What does "company of concern" mean?

"Companies of concern" covers companies whose activities cause harm to people or the planet.

There are two overall types of concern:

Sector related issues: grouping of companies with business revenues (above a threshold) in a sector that investors are concerned about due to inherent harm e.g. making tobacco products or producing oil & gas. This is binary i.e. a company either meets the criteria or it does not.

Conduct related issues: selection of individual companies whose business decisions and actions cause material harm to people or the planet. Harm is on a continuum, which is assessed to categorise the level of severity in terms of real world impacts, as well as the level of financial risk to the companies (e.g. from lawsuits). We review the available evidence from Sustainaltyics, a specialised research provider, and other credible sources, to assess the scale of impact and pattern across time (i.e. whether there are systemic failings).

Note: If a company is not on the list it does not mean there are no issues. It might have sector activity below the threshold. Or it might have some less serious conduct issues and management has responded effectively to avoid re-occurrence. In reality, the majority of companies have some mix of negative and positive aspects to their operations.

What we measure

We analyse the portfolio holdings disclosed by super funds to see whether they invest in areas of concern to the Australian public.

How do we do that?

Super funds are required to disclose on their websites the companies and funds that they invest in. The disclosure does not go far enough to provide adequate information for the public, but it provides a starting point for Mindful Investing to be able to analyse the investments. The percentage of each fund that has been disclosed is shown on the website.

Areas of Concern

We track whether funds invest in companies involved in:

  • Animal Cruelty:
    Companies involved in animal testing, factory farming, fur & speciality leather, and animal welfare issues.
  • Human Rights Violations:
    Companies operating in occupied territories or with records of significant human rights abuses such as risks to labour rights or public safety.
  • Environmental Harm:
    Companies involved in deforestation, the use of highly hazardous pesticides, palm oil production, GMOs, and in harming the ocean through plastic pollution, overfishing and waste dumping.
  • Weapons:
    Companies involved in the production and distribution of weapons, which can contribute to the perpetuation of armed conflicts and pose risks to global peace and security.
  • Social Harm:
    Companies operating within the sectors of tobacco, gambling, alcohol, adult entertainment, and predatory lending.
  • Fossil Fuels:
    Companies involved in extracting, producing, refining and distributing carbon based fuels e.g. coal, oil and natural gas. This category includes companies providing services for production and distribution and power companies generating electricity from fossil fuels.

We use tags to provide further information about the type of harm that companies cause or to specify important topics relevant to the public. By providing the 1.5°C and Expander tags we identify within the Fossil Fuel category which companies are either phasing out the use of Fossil Fuels by switching to clean energy or actively expanding extraction. The Ocean Harm and OPT tags are used to highlight two publicly relevant topics, which are the companies causing direct and indirect harm to the oceans through their operations and companies involved in human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Ocean Harm:ocean

Companies engaged in the five major drivers of ocean degradation: plastic pollution, waste dumping, physical destruction of marine habitats, overfishing, and climate emissions.

OPT:OPT

Companies complicit in severe breaches of civilian Human Rights in Occupied Palestinian Territories. We have used UN reports and other reputable sources to identify companies where there is strong evidence of severe failures to protect human rights through services or products.

1.5°C:1.5°C

Companies whose strategy is consistent with a +1.5°C scenario for global warming and the company has committed to targets to reduce its carbon emissions to zero emissions targets by 2050 (or earlier). For instance an electricity provider who is transitioning its power generation from use of fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

!! (Expander):!!

Companies expanding their fossil fuel production or power generation using fossil fuel. This means their carbon emissions are not aligned with global carbon reduction targets.

Our research process

Our analysis combines:

  • Fund disclosures: We review publicly available portfolio holdings from super funds
  • Company research: We track the activities and revenue sources of companies held in fund portfolios
  • Industry databases: We use specialist databases tracking controversial activities and ESG performance
  • Fund engagement: We communicate directly with fund managers to verify our findings and understand their approaches

The holdings used for this pilot are from 30th June 2025. Companies are required to report within 90 days.

Coverage of fund holdings

While super funds are required to give names and amounts of investments for direct investments in publicly listed companies, they are not required to disclose the amounts invested in unlisted companies or the specific names of external funds they use (only the names of fund providers).

Because of this limited disclosure, the portfolio analysis that is undertaken by Mindful Investing is limited in scope. The percentage of each fund that has been disclosed is shown on the website. Further details of coverage are provided in the report, along with recommendations for extending disclosure rules so the public has access to more information about their investments.

Disclaimer: Important information

This website conveys factual information. It presents data relating to environmental, social, ethical and governance attributes of investments and aims to enhance transparency for the benefit of the Australian public. It is not intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about a financial product. Nothing on this page is financial advice. We don't recommend specific funds for individual circumstances.

Before making any super fund decision, you may want to consider ethical issues alongside issues such as:

  • Your investment objectives and risk tolerance
  • The fees and performance of any fund
  • Your personal circumstances
  • Whether you should consult a licensed financial adviser

Super is a long-term investment. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The value of investments can go down as well as up.

More in-depth information on our methodology can be found on our New Zealand website.

Last updated: May 2026. This page provides educational information only and does not constitute financial advice.