Is your KiwiSaver scheme funding the war in Ukraine?

Our Members, like everyone else, are attempting to understand the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Our thoughts are of course with all those people directly impacted by the invasion, and their family and friends around the world. 

Mindful Money, a well-known charity promoting responsible investment in NZ, has just released a list of KiwiSaver funds that have investments in Russian Government bonds or Russian companies with ties to the Kremlin. The list is long and includes many well-known KiwiSaver providers. See for yourself here. 

MAS is one of several responsibly invested KiwiSaver schemes that are not on the list.  

As part of the MAS charitable group, we have strong principles about doing what’s right. Our responsible investing approach means that the investment manager for the MAS KiwiSaver Scheme and MAS Retirement Savings Scheme screens out investments in the Russian Government and Russian companies with ties to the Kremlin. Our only exposure to Russian shares is two small and uncontroversial holdings, representing less than 0.01% of funds under management. One company is a supermarket operator and the other a fertiliser company.  The Russian Central Bank is currently preventing any foreigners from selling shares on the Russian stock exchange. 

It is at moments like this when the importance of responsible investing becomes very visible.

If you would like to find out more about our responsible investing approach, you can read more here: 

Responsible investing with MAS