You can’t stock-pick your way out of environmental collapse, superannuation boss warns

(The Guardian, 13 Sep 2022) David Neal, whose IFM Investors manages $200bn, says global heating could slash portfolios by up to 40%.

Pension funds must use their global power as big investors to push “the new clean economy” to avoid an environmental collapse that could slash the value of their portfolios by as much as 40%, an Australian superannuation chief says.

David Neal, the chief executive of IFM Investors, which manages $200bn for superannuation savers, says pension funds could not avoid the effects of global heating simply by not investing in carbon-emitting companies.

“You can’t stock-pick your way out of systemic risks like climate change,” Neal told a Governance Institute conference on Tuesday.

“They will and are impacting our entire economy. And these impacts will compound such that future market returns will deteriorate and many of the superannuation members we are investing for will have much lower retirement incomes as a result.”

He said a disorderly transition to net zero emissions by 2035 was conservatively estimated to slash 14%, or US$7tn, from pension assets if not done in an orderly way.

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The Guardian, 13 Sep 2022: You can’t stock-pick your way out of environmental collapse, superannuation boss warns