Amanda Richman

Leading ethical investment manager, Australian Ethical Investment is calling on QBE Insurance Group Ltd to disclose the risk climate change presents to its ongoing business, and its justification for its policy that allows the continued unrestricted underwriting of new oil and gas projects to at least 2030, and in some cases out to 2040.  

Almost half of QBE’s underwriting business is in property and agriculture and is therefore exposed to the physical risk of climate change. As a shareholder, Australian Ethical is concerned that a significant portion of that business may be at risk of becoming uninsurable over the next three decades. This follows QBE’s 2024 reporting that it has already begun to exit property insurance exposures due to climate risk. 

At the same time, QBE’s policy allows it to continue to underwrite new oil and gas projects without any restrictions, or assessment of Paris alignment. This is out of step with its industry peers and IEA analysis that states no new oil and gas should be developed to reach net-zero by 2050 and limit warming^[1].  

Australian Ethical says it’s unclear whether QBE is assessing how this policy may be exacerbating physical climate risk over the long term and further threatening its ability to provide general and commercial insurance at the current scale.   

This is as 1 in 23 Australian homes are already uninsurable and another 1 in 10 are experiencing abnormally high insurance costs according to a new report from the Climate Council^[2]. 

Ethical Stewardship Lead at Australian Ethical, Amanda Richman said, “We’re calling on QBE to disclose how much of its current underwriting it expects to have to exit over the next three decades because of climate change.  

“Shareholders aren’t getting access to the information we need and we’re questioning whether board and management are making decisions in QBE’s long-term interests.

“While some may consider that raising premiums can help manage QBE’s exposure to climate risk and protect margins temporarily, there is a natural ceiling,” Ms Richman said.

Australian Ethical Investment has engaged with QBE about its climate commitments and polices with respect to its underwriting activities since 2016. 

In March, Australian Ethical sent a letter to the board asking QBE to clarify its current approach to oil and gas underwriting, to provide further information about the nature of its engagement with oil and gas clients and with governments, and to disclose what its modelling says about the extent to which QBE is expecting to exit insurance lines because of physical climate risk exposure. 

Australian Ethical was disappointed to not receive definitive answers in QBE’s response. 

As at 31 January 2025, Australian Ethical held $56 million worth of QBE shares. 

The post Australian Ethical calls on QBE to disclose its climate risk appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Amanda Richman

Australian Ethical has sold its shares in Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC) over its planned development at Mt Gilead in south-western Sydney that could threaten the survival of one of the last remaining healthy koala colonies in NSW.

In December, Australian Ethical warned it would divest its shareholdings in Lendlease if it proceeded with Stage 2 of the development in its current form without providing critical information about planned koala corridors.

Independent advice from the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer (OSCE) makes clear that Mt Gilead is critical to the survival of this important koala colony and that wildlife corridors need to provide koalas safe passage across the site.

Australian Ethical says it has lost faith after recent talks with Lendlease stalled, and the NSW Department of Planning & Environment (DPE) has failed to commit to a meaningful public consultation ahead of its statutory deadline for making a decision by July 2023.

“For over four years we have used our shareholdings in Lendlease to encourage it to strengthen koala protections, but Australian Ethical cannot continue to support a company that appears to be failing to take biodiversity protection seriously,” Australian Ethical spokesperson Amanda Richman said today.

“We’ve been clear that Australian Ethical would continue to advocate until we have exhausted all avenues with Lendlease to improve koala protections, and we’ve now reached that point,” said Ms Richman.

Australian Ethical is calling on the NSW Minister for Environment & Heritage, the Hon. James Griffin MP, to intervene.

The NSW Government’s environmental protection body, the Environment and Heritage Group (EHG) wrote to DPE in December stating that the (current) Lendlease proposal is inconsistent with recommendations contained in the OSCE advice and subsequent expert reports.

EHG told DPE that “EHG does not support the exhibited planning proposal, including the structure plan or the Biodiversity Certification Assessment Report and Strategy,” essentially due to a lack of information on the proposal* – which mirrors the concerns Australian Ethical raised with DPE late last year.

“Neither Lendlease or the NSW Department of Planning & Environment has given the public meaningful information about the proposed koala corridors at Mt Gilead, and we have serious concerns about the way the reports from the NSW Chief Scientist and other experts are being interpreted by the Department,” Ms Richman said.

“The previous public consultation on the development is redundant from a biodiversity perspective because the public hasn’t been given the full picture. Our fear is that this development will be approved without proper public consultation on the environmental impacts.”

“The Minister needs to ensure there is a transparent public consultation because, as it stands, we cannot be confident that this koala colony will survive the developments proposed for the area,” Ms Richman said.

The post Australian Ethical walks away from Lendlease over koala development appeared first on AdviserVoice.

The appointments are in response to Australian Ethical’s ongoing growth in funds under management (FUM) and memberships as ethical investing continues to gain mainstream attention

Australian Ethical Investment’s Managing Director Phil Vernon said having a clear business purpose and value-aligned investments is attracting top talent

“We are a purpose-driven business and people are highly motivated to join us because our work is having a long term positive impact,” Mr Vernon said

“We believe a financial system based purely on the pursuit of profits or financial returns is not enough. A new model is needed where all decisions are made conscious of their broader impact on the world around us. Our employees tell us they feel very connected to a business that is so aligned to their values.

New team members include:

Ms Deana Mitchell, Equities Analyst (appointed 19 March)

With over 20 years’ experience in equity markets, Deana joins the investment team at Australian Ethical as an Equities Analyst.  Deana comes from Macquarie where she worked for almost 14 years in various roles in equities research. Most recently she was Deputy Head of the Emerging Leaders Research team, which was ranked number one in the Peter Lee Survey.

Prior roles were Head of ESG Research, where her research was highly regarded in the market, and senior analyst in the financials team, where her insurance research product was rated number one for five consecutive years.

In 2017, Deana was awarded #8 overall stock-picker of all Australia/NZ sell-side analysts in the Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards.

Ms Amanda Richman, Ethics Analyst (appointed 19 February)

Amanda Richman has joined the team as an Ethics Analyst. In her previous role, she was a Senior Associate at Allens law firm.

Amanda intends to use her legal training and six years of commercial experience to critically assess investment opportunities and advocate for change.

In 2016, Amanda was a finalist of Lawyers Weekly’s 30 under 30 in the Dispute Resolution category. She also received an Australian Young Lawyer of the Year Award in 2013. She brings to Australian Ethical a wealth of experience as an animal advocate, as former Chair of the NSW Young Lawyers Animal Law Committee and as a senior lawyer at the Animal Law Institute.

Ms Dimity Macdonald, head of Communications (appointed 2 February)

With more than 25 years’ experience in financial services, Dimity was appointed Head of Communications in February after a year contracting in the role. Most recently Dimity spent four years at Qantas Super as Head of Member Experience for the $7 billion fund, previously holding senior marketing and communication roles at J.P. Morgan and AXA.

These senior female appointments come on the back of Australian Ethical’s attainment of 50% gender representation on the Australian Ethical Investment Board and the naming of one of its Board members, Mara Bun, as the first female president of the Australian Conservation Foundation.

The post Purpose-driven culture attracts top talent appeared first on AdviserVoice.