Verve Super’s new investment options: the 101

Verve Super has a new, expanded investment menu. All six options offered by Verve Super are screened to invest in companies that are champions for equality, and keep members’ money away from industries that cause harm.

The new investment options are designed to see you through your working life and guide you into retirement. They offer different levels of risk, designed so that you can pick and choose what works for you at different life stages while remaining climate conscious.

All these options are brand new, so data is still being gathered. Members will be updated with performance data as soon as it’s available, which will be since inception to 30 June 2025 (available in July).

Performance data builds over time as the options are in place. In the meantime, you can review the investment objectives, strategies, and benchmarks in the PDS (Product Disclosure Statement)  to get an understanding of how they are expected to perform, remembering that past performance is not necessarily a reliable indicator of future performance.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) is a government organisation that collects gender equality data from Australian companies. Every company in Australia that has more than 100 employees is required to report their stats to WGEA.

Thanks to all this data, this option is able to invest more in gender equity leaders – this is achieved by  biasing the investment approach in favour of the companies that are doing the best work in this area. All other screens still apply to this option too, so there’s no investing in publicly listed companies with all-male boards, nor  in fossil fuel companies, tobacco companies, weapons manufacturers or gambling companies.

The option is 100% invested in Australian shares, so that means it’s vulnerable to market movements. Think about the charts you see on the news showing how much the ASX was up or down each day – markets move a lot!

That’s why, if you were an existing Verve Super member before the change, you were transferred into a 50/50 split between Gender Equity Australian Shares and Sustainable Moderate. The latter option has more diversification because it includes Australian shares alongside international shares, alternative assets and defensive assets like cash and bonds. That diversification kind of works to insulate a portfolio against volatility in share markets.

You’ll notice each option has a different asset allocation split between defensive and growth assets.

Growth assets are things like shares traded on stock exchanges – they have lots of potential to gain value but also have potential downside. Stock markets go up, but they also go down. So growth assets are riskier than defensive assets.

Defensive assets are things like cash and bonds. There’s a smaller chance of losing your principal investment in these asset classes. But there’s also a limit to how much money you can make – think about the cash in a bank account earning interest as an example. You know roughly how much interest you’re going to earn, the rate might move a little higher or lower, but there isn’t the potential for making gains (or losses) beyond that.

Investors have to take on some risk to make money.

In your member portal you can choose a new investment option any time, you can also choose a mix of two or more options and allocate a percentage of your account to each.

You may want to take the asset allocation split between defensive and growth into consideration if you decide to split your super across a couple of options – some people prefer not to have their whole account invested in higher risk options.

If you need help with this kind of thing, don’t hesitate to reach out to our coaching team! They love this stuff.

Every option contains a mix of asset classes, including:

• Australian equities: Shares traded on the ASX. One example is Brambles, a supply chain logistics company that’s part of the circular economy. They keep our supermarket shelves stocked and are improving the way things are done by reusing things like pallets and containers and reducing waste.

• International equities: This is where big names like Apple and Netflix come in. One company in the international equities portfolio is Vestas – they make recyclable wind turbine blades and they’re working on a sustainable aviation fuel.

• Cash: We don’t have to tell you what this is! In an investment portfolio cash plays a couple of roles – it's nice and stable, earning interest like you might in a bank account, and it also gives a portfolio liquidity. Liquidity means you have money handy to invest when opportunities arise, and you don’t have to sell anything first.

• Bonds: Bonds are debt investments; they’re issued by companies or governments to raise capital. Investors lend the principal amount on the agreement they’ll get that initial investment back plus regular interest payments.

• Alternatives: This includes things like infrastructure and property. At Verve Super, alternatives also present an opportunity to generate positive social or environmental impacts alongside financial returns. For example, by investing in renewable energy assets and in funds that make social and affordable housing projects possible.

See more information on investment options, including a fee breakdown.

Want more information or help deciding which option is right for you? Chat to one of our financial coaches.