active ownership

Our purpose is to invest in, and for, people who make our world better.

We bring our purpose to life by supporting members to face the future with confidence, being a gutsy advocate for a fair and healthy community and delivering investment excellence with impact.

That’s Super with impactTM.

At HESTA, we recognise how important a growing, sustainable and inclusive economy is to delivering strong, long-term returns for members.

As a diversified super fund with global investments, we need to respond to risks related to some of the world’s biggest issues.

That’s why we use ‘active ownership’ of the companies we invest in on your behalf.

As an investor and active owner, by engaging with the companies we’re invested in, we can seek to protect and enhance the value of those investments and the returns we can deliver to members.

We endorse the ambitions of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a framework to address issues that are at odds with a growing, sustainable and inclusive economy.

Factors like good health and gender equality support strong economic growth that drives member returns, while risks such as climate change can threaten them.

We can use our shareholder rights – “our seat at the table” with the aim to influence companies to improve their practices related to these issues.

Active ownership includes engaging with company boards and management, voting at annual general meetings and advocating to support strong corporate governance and sustainable financial markets.

Engagement takes shape in many forms. Engagement can be HESTA:

• writing to companies
• meeting with industry partners and community groups
• meeting directly with companies on key issues, and
• meeting indirectly with other investors through service providers and collaborative groups.

Collaborating with other investors enables us to amplify our voice and drive action while using our resources efficiently.

We also use our shareholder rights to vote across thousands of company holdings each year.

Voting is a key part of our active ownership and an important link in the chain of accountability between a company and its shareholders.

When deciding how we’ll vote, we assess how companies are managing risk and if they’re doing so in a way that protects the best financial interests of our members.

Sometimes engagement and voting alone won’t achieve the change needed to improve members’ retirement outcomes.

That’s when we may use our voice, both independently and collectively, on policy issues that build and maintain strong and stable financial markets.

We focus on choosing the active ownership levers that can most effectively support strong, long-term returns while delivering Super with impact™.

You can find out more at hesta.com.au/responsible