Australian Ethical’s funds under management (FUM) grew to $5.05 billion on 31 December, up 30 per cent as it realised an “audacious goal” it set for itself five years ago, and it’s now looking to build on that growth by “creating a movement” with its customers.
“We’ve shown stellar results and performance to date, and so we’re going to continue to grow that. Part of that is to be the leading ethical investment manager, and break through into the high-net worth and advice markets,” Australian Ethical CFO Mark Simons told InvestorDaily.
With ethical investing becoming a more crowded field, Australian Ethical is also “keeping an eye on all the responsible investment managers” – but believes its status as the “original” will keep it ahead of the competition.
“It’s our early mover status. We are the real deal, and there’s no greenwashing…the rising tide of competitors coming into the space is validating our approach, and we are getting record inflows,” Mr Simons said.
Part of those inflows is as a result of what Mr Simons calls the “David Attenborough effect” as people become increasingly aware of the loss of biodiversity and the physical impacts of climate change. But Mr Simons believes the biggest obstacle to ethical investing – whether it was considered mainstream – has now been removed.
“Certainly what you’re seeing for Australian Ethical through our exceptional investment performance over the last six months and over the last 12 months is that you don’t need to trade off ethics for performance,” Mr Simons said.
Australian Ethical’s half-year net profit after tax rose 17 per cent to $5.2 million, while it saw record net inflows of $422 million – up 43 per cent. Customer numbers rose 22 per cent from 31 December 2019.
“While in many ways the pandemic has reinforced our investment philosophy as Australians seek to do more with their money than just generate competitive financial returns, now is not a time to sit on our laurels. Instead, we remain committed to the long-term growth aspirations of our business and amplifying the impact of ethical investing,” said chief executive John McMurdo.
