Your super is
powerful
Invest ethically for a better world
Your super is
Investment in companies that mine, extract and burn coal, oil and gas is actively avoided. We give our members the opportunity to invest in a more equitable and sustainable future.
Ethical investing is our cup of tea
A few ways we make ethical investing easy
We avoid
investments that don’t align with our members’ values
We seek
investments that have a positive impact for women, the broader community and the environment
We strive
to achieve the best financial returns for our members
Feel good about where
your super is invested
Total transparency is our sort of super
Transparency without compromise
At Verve we’re serious about investing ethically and living our values.
That’s why we’re transparent about how and where your super is invested. You can check out Verve Super’s investment holdings and decide for yourself.
How we screen our ethical investments
Verve Super’s screening process seeks to direct retirement savings away from companies and assets that we’ve assessed as harmful to the environment and society, and allocate retirement savings to companies and activities which strive for a fairer, more equitable society.
Negative Screens
The negative screening process seeks to avoid investment in companies or assets with a material involvement in the following activities*
- Listed companies with all male board directors
- Direct, repeated and systemic labour rights violations
- Significant harm to communities without adequate remediation or redress
- Owning fossil fuel reserves, and the mining, extraction or burning of fossil fuels
- Providing products, services and transportation that are specific and significant to the fossil fuel industry
- Large global financiers of fossil fuel companies and significant fossil fuel projects
- Operation of casinos and gambling facilities and the production of gambling products
- Production and manufacturing of tobacco products
- Production of pornography
- Manufacturing, production, engineering or sale of armaments and weaponry
- Operation of nuclear energy plants
- Uranium mining
- Live animal export and cosmetic testing on animals
- Owning or operating factory farms or abattoirs and production of controversial animal products
- Production or manufacturing of controversial agricultural chemicals or contamination of environments with harmful chemicals such as arsenic
- Activities with a direct negative impact on recognised UNESCO World Heritage or High Conservation Value areas
- Activities that directly enable the mandatory detention of asylum seekers and the operation of for-profit prisons
- Lending products and services with unfair or exploitative terms, including payday loan schemes
- The screening process also seeks to minimise investments in companies involved in the production, sale and distribution of alcohol and junk food.
Positive Screens
The positive screening process is used to increase investment exposure to particular attributes. Verve seeks exposure to*
- Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation holders
- Carbon leaders - industry leaders in carbon efficiency or companies engaged in activities that actively minimise carbon emissions.
- Sustainability leaders - companies involved in activities that align with the achievement of the United Nations Sustainability Goals.
- Green bonds - bonds issued to fund projects that have positive environmental benefits and are verified as meeting the standards set by the Climate Bonds Initiative.
*The application of these screens varies depending on the asset class and the type of positively screened activity. Screens may not be applied across all asset classes or asset types. For more information about how and when these screens are applied, please contact hello@vervesuper.com.au or learn more about our approach to screening here.
Get to know how
your super is invested
More about Verve Super
The Vision Fund provides microfinance to loans to low-income households with a focus on supporting women. Small loans of just a couple of hundred dollars can be all that a woman and her family need to start or build a business and break the cycle of poverty.
Through The Synergies Fund, Verve Super is investing in transforming disability housing in Australia to support Australians on the NDIS to live independently at home or in specialist disability accommodation.
Through investing in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Verve Super supports Meridian in their generation of large scale solar facilities and other renewable energy assets, including wind, geothermal, hydro-electricity, hybrid solutions and other future technologies.