00:00Paul Bourne signed up to Australian Super's socially aware option because it promised
00:07not to invest his money in fossil fuel companies.
00:10But when he learned the fund had been lending to coal, oil and gas companies, he says he
00:16was horrified.
00:17I was quite shocked.
00:18It looks like it's greenwashing.
00:21The fund's policies make clear it doesn't invest in shares of companies that directly
00:25own thermal coal, oil or gas reserves.
00:29But it does allow other types of investments in the sector, such as direct loans to companies.
00:35This fund is trying to appeal to people, to investors that want to do the right thing
00:41by the planet.
00:42That's why they have this fund.
00:44And when I looked at what was involved there, I thought this is not good.
00:48Australian Super has been lending members' money to fossil fuel companies, including
00:53Indonesian coal miner Adaro, Canadian oil and gas company Batex and US-based Magnolia
01:00Oil and Gas.
01:01Paul Bourne complained to the regulator when he spotted some of the investments in the
01:05fund's financial disclosures two years ago.
01:08ASIC told him it would investigate, but he heard nothing until last week when the ABC
01:14asked the regulator what happened to the case.
01:17ASIC got in touch with me to advise that they had found that legally Australian Super
01:24had not broken any law.
01:26We should have got back to him earlier, we've apologised for that, but we really rely on
01:30people like Mr Bourne and others to refer these matters to us.
01:36ASIC says it raised concerns with Australian Super about the wording of its policies, but
01:41didn't find evidence to prove in court it was greenwashing.
01:45We think these statements on the Australian Super website go pretty close to crossing
01:51a line for investors.
01:53Australian Super wouldn't comment on camera, but in a statement says its holdings and policies
01:59are clearly communicated to members.
02:02Paul Bourne's not planning to switch to another fund just yet, but he hopes his message to
02:08Australian Super will push it to change.
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