How we approach Responsible Investing

We know that the way your money is invested is important to you.

We also know that each of you has a unique perspective on what's important.

So, when we invest on behalf of all our customers, we do so in a way that is transparent, consistent and considered.

Our investment decisions are guided by processes, policies and frameworks and this ensures you, and all our customers know what to expect from us and helps us fulfil our responsibilities to you.

We follow a responsible investment approach across the ASB KiwiSaver Scheme and ASB Investment Funds, which means we take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors when making our investment decisions.  This helps us to manage investment risk and aim for sustainable, long-term returns for our customers.

We have a duty to seek optimal risk adjusted returns for our customers to help them save for their short, medium and long-term goals, such as retirement.

Our investment beliefs are:

• We aim to make the best possible asset allocation and currency hedging decisions to help maximise financial returns for customers
• We ensure we have clear governance and decision-making structures that promote efficiency and accountability  
• We make investment decisions based on medium to longer term expectations, while monitoring portfolios for near term risks
• We consider investment risks including environment, social and governance, to ensure the returns appropriately reflect the risk taken to achieve those returns. This includes the investment risks and opportunities that may result from climate change. Moving to a Paris Aligned Index for global equities
• We keep costs down for customers by choosing the most suitable investment management style, whether active or passive management. The latter seeks to replicate the market return by tracking an index.

We exclude these from our investments, regardless of their financial performance.

Because we invest in companies all over the world and on behalf of more than half a million New Zealanders, we believe in transparency and consistency in applying our exclusions.  This helps you have the information you need to decide about whether to invest or not in accordance with your values and what you care about most. 

So that our customers can rely on our consistent approach over time we have a framework that we apply to determine what we should exclude. 

Under our exclusion framework, we consider factors such as international conventions and sanctions, the position of the New Zealand Government, including any sanctions it puts in place, and enduring preferences held by the majority of our customers.  This helps to ensure our decisions are guided by rules and standards, and not the personal views of people who work at ASB. 

Like many institutional investors in New Zealand and around the world, we also use an independent third-party to provide Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) research, to analyse and assess the companies we invest in to ensure they are compliant with our exclusion criteria. 

We are transparent about the companies we won't invest in, and we publish this list on our website Responsible Investing Exclusions. 

To assure you that we are meeting responsible investment standards and our commitments, our funds (except the NZ Cash Fund, which does not invest in listed companies) are independently certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA). 

ASB was also a founding signatory of the Stewardship Code Aotearoa New Zealand, supporting responsible asset allocation in New Zealand to create and preserve long-term value for current and future generations. The Stewardship Code gives investors a way to use their influence to steer the companies they own on critical environmental, social and governance issues.

We are committed to the ongoing development and improvement of our responsible investing approach.

Interests in the ASB KiwiSaver Scheme and ASB Investment Funds (Schemes) are issued by ASB Group Investments Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of ASB Bank Limited (ASB). ASB provides administration and distribution services for the Schemes. No person guarantees interests in the Schemes. Interests in the Schemes are not deposits or other liabilities of ASB. They are subject to investment risk, including possible loss of income and principal invested. Fees may change. For more information see the ASB KiwiSaver Scheme Product Disclosure Statement or the ASB Investment Funds Product Disclosure Statement available from this website and the register of offers of financial products at www.disclose-register.companiesoffice.govt.nz (search for ASB).