Commenting on Richard’s departure, AEI’s Chair Steve Gibbs said: “Richard has brought deep investment insight and a strong commitment to responsible and impact‑led investing, and we thank him for his valuable contribution and service to Australian Ethical. We congratulate him on this exciting role at the Future Fund and wish him all the best for the future.

Reflecting on his time on the AEI Board, Richard Brandweiner said: “It has been a privilege to serve on the Board of Australian Ethical during a period of significant growth and capability building for the organisation. Australian Ethical is a for purpose and for-profit business that for 40 years has pioneered ethical investing, leading the industry and role modelling best practice. I’ve always believed that investing can and should deliver both positive returns and positive impact, so it was a real privilege to support an organisation that walks the talk in this respect, and I leave confident in its long‑term direction and continued ability to deliver positive outcomes for members, investors and the wider community.”

Richard joined the AEI Board on 1 September 2024, and his resignation is effective from 4 May 2026.

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Richard Brandweiner

Pendal Group (Pendal) shines a light on financial advisers and the role they play in creating positive change in its latest brand campaign by ‘uberbrand’.

In this campaign, financial advisers meet disadvantaged community members benefiting from impact investing.

Financial advisers are increasingly driving the uptake of responsible investing in Australia through conversations they are having with their clients, with more than half of all advisers expected to offer responsible investing products this year, up from 41 per cent in 2021 according to Wealth Insights.

The future is worth investing in campaign features seven independent financial advisers around Australia, capturing stories about the role they play in responsible investing and the impact they have in the community.

Through a series of videos and stills shoots, the financial advisers share personal stories about responsible investing, and how they are helping their clients invest in making our world a cleaner, healthier, brighter, greener, safer, stronger, and fairer place.

This campaign showcases what responsible investment can do, taking advisers on a journey to meet recipients of affordable housing – funded by the social bonds they invest their clients’ money in  – from flood-affected people in northern NSW, to older women priced out of the private rental market.

Pendal Group CEO, Australia, Richard Brandweiner said, “We’ve long been inspired by the role financial advisers play in our community — not just building a strong financial future for clients, but by touching people’s lives in many different ways.”

“We may just have seen Australia’s first ESG election and it’s increasingly clear that we all have to play a role in shaping the planet’s future, as we go about shaping the future of our clients. This broader sense of purpose came to the fore this year when we asked advisers what made them proud.”

With this campaign, we hope to encourage more advisers to consider responsible investing options as part of their conversations with clients. We wanted to feature real advisers in our campaign. We uncovered deeply emotional stories and we’re proud to be able to highlight the amazing outcomes they helped create,” Mr Brandweiner said.

The campaign launched nationally in June and includes a series of print and digital ads, featuring in trade press, supported with a social media campaign.

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Joe Ware

Investment Giving Australia and Pendal Group (ASX: PDL) have announced an Australian-first innovation in the charitable investment sector with the launch of ‘Investment Giving’.

Investment Giving is a new product in the Australian financial services market where investors nominate a charity to receive the distributions from their investment, while retaining ownership of the investment itself. Pendal Group is the first investment manager to implement the Investment Giving structure, by issuing a new class of units – Class G – in its flagship Pendal Sustainable Balanced Fund, offering Pendal’s investors the opportunity to direct distributions from the fund to a participating charity.

The Investment Giving product was conceived and developed by Investment Giving Australia, a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to maximise the impact of charities and their supporters by enabling new forms of investment-based philanthropy.

Joe Ware, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Investment Giving Australia, said: “We are thrilled to launch Investment Giving into the market through our partnership with Pendal, marking an Australian-first innovation in the ways that the financial services sector can contribute to charitable outcomes.

“Recent decades have seen the emergence of new philanthropic structures, such as Workplace Giving and Private Ancillary Funds, which have made an enormous contribution to the strength and stability of the Australian charity sector. Investment Giving is the latest innovation in that space, enabling investors to maximise the efficiency of their charitable support, while retaining ownership of their capital.

“Our mission is to enable charities and their supporters to extend their impact, and we look forward to continuing to work with Pendal and charity partners to further charitable investment opportunities in Australia.”

Pendal’s commitment to the Investment Giving concept goes beyond the creation of Class G units, with the Group also waiving 50% of their management fee on Class G investments.

Pendal Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Brandweiner, said: “Pendal is delighted to partner with Investment Giving to offer investors the opportunity to combine purpose with performance.

“Pendal’s core belief is that active, responsible investing is an important tool to direct capital to where it can do good and away from where it can create harm. The Investment Giving model takes our responsible investing focus one step further by contributing distributions from the Pendal Sustainable Balanced Fund to worthy causes.

“The Investment Giving model provides repeat cash flows for charities and enables those wanting to donate to a good cause to retain control of their capital. This partnership is a natural alliance for Pendal and we are pleased to be able to offer our responsible investing expertise to support the initiative.”

The Pendal Sustainable Balanced Fund is a managed diversified portfolio that actively invests considering a range of sustainable, ethical and financial criteria. Investments are diversified across Australian and international shares, Australian and international property securities, Australian and international fixed interest, cash and alternative investments. Investors in Class G of the fund benefit from the same active fund management as other investors, with reduced management fees.

The Investment Giving structure is designed to allow both charities and their supporters to focus on outcomes and long-term impact: charities receive an efficient form of income, with minimal overhead cost or administrative burden; supporters experience one-time set-up, then can sit back and watch their impact continue year after year, while receiving tax deductions for the donated investment income, and preserving the ability to withdraw capital.

The structure was developed in close collaboration with Mission Australia, one of Australia’s most trusted charities, with the goal to end homelessness and ensure people in need can thrive.

Mission Australia CEO, Sharon Callister, said: “To engage existing supporters and attract and motivate new supporters, charities like Mission Australia need to innovate and adapt in a rapidly changing philanthropic landscape.

“While seeking to refresh our offerings to philanthropists, we knew it was important to include products that provide the flexibility that philanthropists are seeking – so that it’s easier and more rewarding to support our work. That’s why we are delighted to help pioneer Investment Giving as a new way to fund the work we do to support thousands of people every year.”

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Jacki Johnson

The leaders and senior executives of Australia’s major banks, superannuation funds, insurance companies, financial sector peak bodies, civil society and academia are coming together to set out a roadmap for realigning the finance sector to support greater social, environmental and economic outcomes for the country.

The Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative has today been unveiled – an unprecedented collaboration to help shape an Australian economy that prioritises human wellbeing, social equity and environmental protection, while underpinning financial system stability, in what it says is a ‘critical decade’ ahead.

Modelled on international best practice already seen in groups including the European Union’s High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance and the UK’s Green Finance Taskforce, the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative will be guided by a Steering Committee charged with developing a set of recommendations to enable the finance sector to contribute more systematically to the transition to a more resilient and sustainable economy.

IAG Group Executive Jacki Johnson, co-Chair of the Initiative, said: “The roadmap we create will include pathways, policy signals and frameworks that will better enable the financial services sector to contribute to delivering on international commitments, such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, while underpinning economic stability and prosperity for Australia.”

An Australian Sustainable Finance Roadmap will be delivered by the Steering Committee in 2020 with recommendations that will assist the financial services sector to:

1. Mobilise capital to deliver on national and global sustainable development and climate goals;
2. Enhance the sustainability, resilience and stability of the financial system by embedding sustainability, climate and human rights considerations into financial markets and products;
3. Ensure better informed financial decision making by enhancing disclosures and transparency on environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities; and
4. Deliver a financial system that meets community expectations around sustainability.

An Expression of Interest process in late 2018 called on experts active in sustainable finance to nominate to be part of the Steering Committee.

The following members and observers were appointed

Members

• Anna Skarbek, CEO – ClimateWorks
• Christina Tonkin, Managing Director Loans and Specialised Finance – Institutional – ANZ
• Damien Walsh, Managing Director – Bank Australia
• David Atkin, CEO – Cbus
• Didier Van Not, General Manager Corporate and Institutional Banking – Westpac Banking Corporation
• Emma Herd, CEO – Investor Group on Climate Change
• Eric Williamson, Executive General Manager, Corporate Finance – National Australia Bank
• Jacki Johnson (Co-Chair), Group Executive People, Performance and Reputation – IAG
• John Hewson, Chairman – Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia
• Mark Joiner, Chairperson – QBE Australia Pacific
• Mark Senkevics, Managing Director Head Australia and New Zealand – Swiss Re
• Matthew McAdam, Director Asia Pacific – Principles for Responsible Investment
• Michael Thorpe, Managing Director Institutional Banking and Markets – Commonwealth Bank of Australia
• Phil Vernon, Managing Director – Australian Ethical Investment
• Richard Brandweiner, CEO – Pendal Group
• Robynne Quiggin, Professor – University of Technology Sydney, Business School
• Sarah Barker, Special Counsel – Minter Ellison
• Simon O’Connor (Co-Chair), CEO – Responsible Investment Association Australasia

Observers

• Geoff Summerhayes, Executive Board Member of APRA, Executive Committee Member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors and Chair of the Sustainable Insurance Forum.
• Eric Usher, Head of the UN Environment Program Finance Initiative, Economy Division, UN Environment

Simon O’Connor, Initiative Co-Chair and CEO of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), says “Issues such as climate change and human rights have become material to business and the financial services community. Climate change was recently described by the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia as a ‘systemic risk’ to the stability of our economy, and APRA emphasised last week that climate risks are ‘material, foreseeable and actionable now’ ”.

“The financial services sector is both exposed to those risks, as well as having an essential role in funding and underwriting a future Australia, providing the capital necessary to deliver on sustainable development and climate-related commitments. Through a greater alignment between the financial services sector and these sustainability goals, the sector can both deliver for Australians while building a better, more stable and sustainable financial system.”

“This unique and high-level collaboration will set out a roadmap for achieving this goal and shows the willingness of the financial services sector to step up and play an active role in building a more sustainable and resilient economy for all Australians,” said Mr O’Connor.

Jacki Johnson says “a sustainable and resilient economy is a necessity, not an option, and is the foundation for ensuring Australia’s prosperity throughout the 21st century.”

“As we approach 2020, we are rapidly entering a critical decade for managing climate change and other risks,” said Ms Johnson.

“Australia has made a number of commitments to international targets. Achieving these goals extends beyond social or environmental objectives – it’s an economic and financial necessity. Our economy simply cannot prosper in an environment of ever-increasing severe weather events and the subsequent broader impacts these will have.”

“Delivering on these goals requires not just government policy and commitment, but business and finance leadership. Achieving these goals presents a sizeable economic and social opportunity.”

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Pending experience and membership requirements, these successful candidates will become CFA charterholders starting in early October, bringing the number of charterholders worldwide to more than 125,000.

There are over 2,000 charterholders in Australia, most of whom are members of one of three societies within Australia, located in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

“The CFA charter is a commitment to uphold the highest standards of ethics, education and professional integrity.  Together charterholders join the CFA Institute effort to create an environment where investors’ interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow,” said Richard Brandweiner, CFA, President of CFA Society of Sydney.

“It is this foundation in ethics and education that we believe should be a benchmark for professionals working in the finance industry,” said Mr Brandweiner.

The CFA Program is a self-study program, considered to be the most rigorous credentialing program in the investment industry.   It is organised into three levels, each culminating in a six-hour exam. To earn the CFA charter, candidates must sequentially pass all three levels and they must also have four years of qualifying investment work experience.  Candidates must also commit to upholding the CFA Institute’s long-established Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct and renew this commitment annually.

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