Moderate

Balanced

Socially
Responsible

Aggressive

Cash

Diversified
Bonds

International
Shares

Australian
Shares

Socially Responsible

This option failed the annual performance test run by APRA at 30 June 2023. Learn more
outlook

If you're a medium to long‑term investor and want your investments made in line with an extended set of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles, Socially Responsible may be suitable for you. The option employs multiple responsible investment approaches, including negative (exclusionary) screening for shares, ESG integration, and sustainability-themed investing, as set out in our QSuper Investment Guide (pdf).

Accumulation objective

CPI +3.5% p.a.

For Accumulation and Transition to Retirement Income accounts

An annual return of CPI +3.5% (after fees, costs and tax1), measured over rolling 10-year periods.

Income objective

CPI +4.0% p.a.

For Retirement Income accounts

An annual return of CPI +4.0% (after fees and costs1), measured over rolling 10-year periods.

Timeframe

5 years

Suited to investors with an investment timeframe of more than 5 years.

Cost of product for $50,0002

$425 p.a.

Cost of product is a summary of ongoing fees and costs that can affect your super investment over 1 year. View detailed fee breakdown

Risk level

Very low
Low
Low to medium
Medium
Medium to high
High
Very high

Investors should be aware that a negative annual return is expected between 4 and 6 times in any 20 years. Read more about the standard risk measure.

Performance

As at 31 August 2023 (updated monthly)
Account 1 month 3 months 1 year 3 years p.a. 5 years p.a. 7 years p.a. 10 years p.a.
Accumulation -0.26% 1.12% 0.33% 1.37% 2.40% 4.10% 4.91%
Income -0.31% 1.26% 0.30% 1.41% 2.63% 4.52% 5.46%
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.3

Asset allocation

As at 30 June 2023 (updated quarterly)
Assets Allocation 4 Ranges

Cash 6.2% 0 - 30%

Fixed interest^ 14.9% 0 - 40%

Real estate 13.6% 0 - 35%

Equities* 60.8% 20 - 75%

Infrastructure 4.6% 0 - 30%

Commodities 0.0% 0 - 15%

Alternative assets 0.0% 0 - 20%

View the detailed list of what this option invests in for Accumulation or Income accounts.


The following negative screens apply to the Socially Responsible option’s Australian and international shares asset classes.

Exclusions 5 Description Threshold
Thermal coal Mining of thermal coal (including lignite, bituminous, anthracite and steam coal) and its sale to external parties 5% gross revenue (reported or estimated) threshold in most recent year of financial reporting
Metallurgical coal Mining of metallurgical coal (including coking coal) and its sale to external parties
Oil and gas Extraction and production or refining of oil and gas
Fossil fuel power generation Thermal coal, liquid fuel, and natural gas-based power generation
Alcohol Companies that manufacture alcoholic products, including brewers, distillers, and vintners. It also includes companies that own or operate wine vineyards.
Gambling Companies that operate gambling facilities such as casinos, racetracks, bingo parlours, or other betting establishments
Adult entertainment6 Companies that produce adult entertainment materials
Tobacco and alternative smoking products7 Companies that manufacture tobacco products, or products aimed to replace or supplement tobacco products No threshold (companies deriving any revenue from manufacture of these products are excluded)
Controversial weapons Companies that have any tie to controversial weapons (cluster munitions, landmines, biological/chemical weapons, depleted uranium weapons, blinding laser weapons, incendiary weapons, and/or nondetectable fragments) Any involvement
Nuclear weapons Companies that have an industry tie to nuclear weapons
Live animal exports Australian shares companies that own and/or operate live animal export operations Australian shares companies identified by internal desktop research to own and/or operate live animal export operations

Exceptions to these exclusions

The screening criteria does not apply to pooled vehicles or derivatives, which may have indirect exposure to companies exceeding the negative screens.

The thermal coal and metallurgical coal exclusions do not apply to companies deriving revenue from coal mined for internal power generation, intra-company sales of mined thermal and metallurgical coal, or revenue from coal trading.

The implementation of the exclusions above (other than the exclusion concerning live animal exports) relies upon accuracy of data from a third-party provider (MSCI).

Sometimes we may accept excluded listed shares as part of super fund mergers. In this instance, we seek to divest in a manner aligned with members' best financial interests, usually within 30 days. Exclusion lists are updated twice yearly. Following those updates, we inform external investment managers which listed equity shares are required to be excluded from new and existing investments.

For other asset classes to which the negative screens referred to above do not apply, we still take steps to integrate consideration of material ESG risks and opportunities into investment decisions we make for the QSuper ESG options as set out in the Investment Guide (pdf).

5. Thermal coal, oil and gas, and fossil fuel power generation exclusions are based on MSCI ESG Climate Change Metrics Methodology (November 2022) and associated universe coverage. The metallurgical coal exclusion uses data supplied through, and defined within, MSCI ESG Manager platform. The alcohol, gambling, adult entertainment, tobacco and alternative smoking products, controversial weapons, and nuclear weapons exclusions use MSCI ESG Business Involvement Screening Research Methodology (October 2022) and associated universe coverage. The live animal export exclusion applies to listed Australian shares companies, and internal desktop research is conducted by Australian Retirement Trust.
6. Companies that produce adult entertainment materials that fall into the following six categories: producer of X-rated films, producer of pay-per-view programming or channels, producer of sexually explicit video games, producer of books or magazines with adult content, live entertainment of an adult nature, producer of adults-only material on the internet.
7. Tobacco and alternative smoking products refers to companies that manufacture tobacco products (or products aimed to replace or supplement tobacco products), such as cigars, blunts, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, inhalers, beedis, kreteks, smokeless tobacco, snuff, snus, dissolvable and chewing tobacco. This also includes companies that grow or process raw tobacco leaves.

Shareholdings

As at 30 June 2023 (updated quarterly)

Top 10 by value

No. Company Country
1 Daiwa House Industry Japan
2 Novartis Switzerland
3  Johnson Matthey  United Kingdom 
4 Umicore Belgium
5 Vestas Wind Systems Denmark
5 Kimberly-Clark USA
6 WH Group  Hong Kong
7 Digital Realty USA
8 East Japan Railway
 Japan
9 West Fraser Timber Canada
10 Vonovia SE Germany

View the detailed list of what this option invests in for Accumulation or Income accounts.

1. For Accumulation and Transition to Retirement accounts, this means after investment fees and costs, transaction costs, and investment taxes. For Retirement Income accounts, this means after investment fees and costs, and transaction costs.
2. The cost of product assumes a balance of $50,000 at the beginning of the year, and is based on fees and costs for the year ended 30 June 2023. Other fees and costs may apply. If you have insurance, premiums will apply. Investment fees and costs includes an amount of 0.02% for performance fees. Read the Accumulation account product disclosure statement (PDS) for full details.
3. Returns are net of administration fees and costs, investment fees and costs, transaction costs and investment taxes where relevant, deducted from the unit price. For periods greater than 1 year, the return is a compound annualised return.
4. These figures have been rounded for member reporting.


^ In the Lifetime option and Diversified options, these assets provide diversification and a hedge against inflation. This asset class is also referred to as bonds.