In my carefree youth, I paid exactly zero attention to superannuation. And for that neglect, I accumulated an impressive array of super accounts, most with dwindling balances.
I even managed to have two with the same fund.
Then I opened a gift from a relative, a dusty personal financial management book by some guy who hated footwear, and discovered my funds were all charging fees.
As the book advised, I lumped everything into the fund with the lowest fees.
I could have left it there but then came another bolt from the blue, something the shoeless guy had failed to mention — my money had power.
Where exactly is my super money?
Back then, I was covering climate change on community radio and wrestling with the realisation that only those with a lot of cash had the influence while everyone else was shut out.
Super changed this equation.
I had more cash in my super fund than in my bank balance and thus more influence than I had first thought.
Collectively Australians have $3.5 trillion in super. If money talks, that roars. So I decided to figure out how to make my money work both for me and the climate.
First, was to figure out what my wayward cash was doing out there.
The truth about where my super money was being invested
I spoke with Brett Morgan, Superannuation Funds Campaigner from Market Forces, a not-for-profit that collects data on investments that impact the environment.
He pointed me in the direction of their list of super funds with links to "climate wreckers", their term for those companies engaging in activities that are impacting the planet, like exploring new coal, oil or gas projects.
The results were not good. While I was on the radio discussing climate change, my money was out there potentially causing harm to the environment. Or so they suspected.
Back then, disclosure was optional. Here was my money and the fund I had chosen wouldn't even tell me where it was investing it.
Since last year, it became a legal obligation for funds to disclose investments, and report every six months, but more on that later.
Now I needed to decide on a strategy.
Putting your super fund on notice
Mr Morgan explained I had two options. I could invest my super with a fund that avoids fossil fuel investments — or, I could choose a fund that actively makes investments in companies that align with my values, such as in renewable energy.
There is also a third option.
Investments are like a relationship. If the other side is being a jerk, you have a conversation: explain the problem and ask them to change.
And like most relationships you also have influence, even if it doesn't feel like it.
With superannuation, influence happens in two places, between members and their funds and between the funds and their investments. At both points, funds and investments want to maintain the status quo because that's how they make money. Leave and they lose.
So, change is not as fanciful as it sounds.
While you cannot vote directly, your fund votes on your behalf when it comes to things such as board positions and where your money goes.
Not happy with how your fund is doing things? You can effectively put them on notice.
The power of collective influence
I discovered my fund had a block of 12,000 fellow-members that wanted the same thing I did: to stop their super from being invested with fossil fuel companies.
As a unit we had collective influence. Without it I would still have sent an email but when acting with others, our ultimatum became a chorus.
Slowly my fund began to sell investments in these so called "climate wreckers".
Purely ethical funds have influence here too. These don't just work towards climate action but also screen for tobacco, weapons, nuclear and gambling.
They provide a credible alternative for disillusioned members and so can influence the behaviour of traditional funds looking to retain members.
So why not simply move my money into ethical funds and be done? This is something I still think about.
They were once significantly more expensive — one I looked into at the time had fees at 0.785 per cent and 0.81 per cent per year compared to my fund's 0.51 per cent — but have since begun to significantly reduce their fees.
The 'sustainable fund' option
My current super fund has "sustainable" options. Why not just park my money there, avoid paperwork and fees by making one switch? One word: greenwashing.
When I looked into these so-called sustainable options, I could see that for some the reality was different from the marketing.
Is that it? Not quite. Super is very much a fluid issue.
Greenhushing, Mr Morgan warned, was a tactic when big green promises are slowly and quietly reneged on, so it's important for me to stay vigilant.
With funds reporting investments every six months, and as ethical funds lower their fees, nothing is permanent.
For now, I'll be keeping an eye on my fund.
This article contains general information only. You should consider obtaining independent professional advice in relation to your particular circumstances.
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