About Ethical Investing 

We aspire for our investment decisions to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As a signatory to the UN Principles of Responsible Investment (UNPRI) we have committed to aligning our investment practices with the sustainability objectives of these Goals. 

Pathfinder goes further than just excluding companies by sector, we actively look for companies that are doing the right thing, as measured by their environmental, social and governance records. We expect companies with high ESG metrics to perform better than low scoring companies. We also believe high ESG companies are better for our planet and its people. For these reasons, we will actively seek out these companies to invest in. We will exclude companies engaged in industries or activities we believe to be harmful. This includes companies focused on gambling, tobacco, cluster munitions, fossil fuels, factory farming and several other categories.

We believe the world is transitioning to a low carbon economy and companies with lower carbon intensity will make better long-term investments. With changes in consumer preferences and regulation, company behaviour around carbon intensity is significant for each company's long-term investment performance. In line with this view, we have committed to making our KiwiSaver funds carbon-neutral in 2021.

Read our carbon offset strategy 

We avoid investing in companies whose business practices are inconsistent with the dignity of individuals (for example how they treat staff, customers, suppliers or the community that the company operates in). We also care about the exploitation of animals and companies with very high levels of controversy in their operations. This means we will account for what we regard as key environmental and social issues including human rights, animal rights and awareness, women on boards and controversial weapons.

Pathfinder's Ethical Investment Policy

We believe we should vote as a shareholder to encourage positive change. This means we will vote on issues from our ESG perspective. With this approach we will at times vote against the recommendations of a company’s management where their view conflicts with our ethical values. We will also actively promote ethical investment and encourage positive change by corporates. 

On average, Pathfinder's ethical funds are 65% lower in carbon emissions than the industry standard. 

This is how much lower the carbon emissions of our Global Responsibility Fund are compared to the global benchmark. 

We voted our ethical beliefs at 99% of the companies we invest in. 

We don't invest in any companies that earn revenue from these activities. 

We voted against management on shareholder proposals 58% of the time.