investment excellence with impact
We use our expertise and influence to deliver strong long-term returns while accelerating our contribution to a more sustainable world.
On this page:
- Investment excellence and performance
- Responsible investment
- Our responsible investment approach
- Active ownership and share voting
investment excellence and performance
Superannuation is a long-term strategy, and HESTA has a history of delivering strong long-term returns for members.
Our investment performance has been highly ranked across the industry. For HESTA super members, Balanced Growth, Conservative, Sustainable Growth and High Growth have all been ranked in the top 10 for investment performance against their respective peers over 10 years to 30 September 2024.*
And we've been awarded the 20-year platinum performance rating from SuperRatings — the highest rating possible.*
Take a look at the latest performance for all the HESTA super investment options.
View our investment performance
*Balanced Growth, Conservative and High Growth option rankings in the respective SuperRatings Accumulation Fund Crediting Rate Surveys September 2024. Sustainable Growth ranking in the SuperRatings Sustainable Fund Crediting Rate Survey September 2024. Product ratings are only one factor to be considered when making a decision. Visit SuperRatings for important information about this rating. Investments may go up or down. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
responsible investment
We believe that members' best financial interests are served by having a deep commitment to responsible investing.
Responsible investment is an approach to investing that incorporates the consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities into investment decision making and active ownership, to deliver strong long-term returns.
Read our Responsible Investment Policy (PDF), which outlines the principles and commitments that direct our approach to responsible investment.
Responsible Super Fund Leader 2023
HESTA is recognised as a Responsible Super Fund Leader 2023 by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA). This acknowledges our commitment to good governance and accountability; implementation and measurement of responsible investment approaches through activities such as engagement and voting and ESG integration; proper measurement of outcomes; and high degrees of transparency.
Our responsible investment approach
We integrate responsible investment factors throughout our investment process to enable a better understanding and management of risks and opportunities, and to deliver strong long-term returns for our members. We seek to partner with organisations who demonstrate alignment with our values, culture, purpose and investment beliefs, including our commitment to responsible investment.
Our approach to responsible investment is underpinned by industry codes and frameworks including:
Managing systemic issues
As a large and diversified asset owner, the financial performance of our portfolio is supported by a strong and stable market and influenced by systemic risks. Factors such as gender equality, decent work, and good health and wellbeing support strong market fundamentals including economic growth that drive member investment returns, while systemic risks such as climate change and biodiversity loss have the potential to undermine these.
System level issues cannot be mitigated through diversification or divestment. We endorse the ambitions of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals ('SDGs') as an ambitious framework to address systemic risks and identify areas of opportunity.
Our resourcing prioritises a number of SDGs:
- Climate Action
- Good Health and Wellbeing
- Gender Equality
- Decent Work
- Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Biodiversity
We aspire to contribute to outcomes aligned with the aims of these priority SDGs through our capital allocation and active ownership. HESTA has more than $13 billion invested across the total portfolio in alignment with the priority and broader SDGs (at 30 June 2024).
Learn more about the Sustainable Development Investment taxonomy and our approach to responsible investment in our FY24 Responsible Investment Report (PDF).
active ownership
Active ownership is the process by which HESTA seeks to leverage its rights as a shareholder or lender to influence management of responsible investment factors that can impact long-term returns at both the company and market level.
As a long-term investor that expects to own an asset for a number of years, we see active ownership as especially important in serving the interests of our members.
Watch this short video to find out more.
Our purpose is to invest in, and for, people who make our world better.
We bring our purpose to life by supporting members to face the future with confidence, being a gutsy advocate for a fair and healthy community and delivering investment excellence with impact.
That’s Super with impactTM.
At HESTA, we recognise how important a growing, sustainable and inclusive economy is to delivering strong, long-term returns for members.
As a diversified super fund with global investments, we need to respond to risks related to some of the world’s biggest issues.
That’s why we use ‘active ownership’ of the companies we invest in on your behalf.
As an investor and active owner, by engaging with the companies we’re invested in, we can seek to protect and enhance the value of those investments and the returns we can deliver to members.
We endorse the ambitions of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a framework to address issues that are at odds with a growing, sustainable and inclusive economy.
Factors like good health and gender equality support strong economic growth that drives member returns, while risks such as climate change can threaten them.
We can use our shareholder rights – “our seat at the table” with the aim to influence companies to improve their practices related to these issues.
Active ownership includes engaging with company boards and management, voting at annual general meetings and advocating to support strong corporate governance and sustainable financial markets.
Engagement takes shape in many forms. Engagement can be HESTA:
- writing to companies
- meeting with industry partners and community groups
- meeting directly with companies on key issues, and
- meeting indirectly with other investors through service providers and collaborative groups.
Collaborating with other investors enables us to amplify our voice and drive action while using our resources efficiently.
We also use our shareholder rights to vote across thousands of company holdings each year.
Voting is a key part of our active ownership and an important link in the chain of accountability between a company and its shareholders.
When deciding how we’ll vote, we assess how companies are managing risk and if they’re doing so in a way that protects the best financial interests of our members.
Sometimes engagement and voting alone won’t achieve the change needed to improve members’ retirement outcomes.
That’s when we may use our voice, both independently and collectively, on policy issues that build and maintain strong and stable financial markets.
We focus on choosing the active ownership levers that can most effectively support strong, long-term returns while delivering Super with impactTM.
You can find out more at hesta.com.au/responsible
Engagement
This involves a constructive communication with companies to help us better understand their business model and influence their performance and practices. Engagement with portfolio companies is undertaken directly by HESTA through collaborative initiatives and indirectly through specialist service providers and our external investment managers.
HESTA believes in the power of collective action for tackling systemic issues, as collaborating often enables us to amplify our voice and drive action while using our resources efficiently. By combining these different approaches to engagement, we're able to achieve both breadth in terms of the number of companies covered by our engagement program as well as depth by focusing our direct engagement on those issues or holdings that are most material.
We partner with the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) for engagement with Australian companies and with Federated Hermes EOS for international companies. Read more about engagement through our partners:
- Engagement with Australian equities - ACSI
- Engagement with International equities - Federated Hermes EOS
We provide regular input into and monitoring of annual engagement plans and receive regular reports on upcoming engagements, recent engagements undertaken and any improvements to company activities that have occurred as a result of engagement activities.
In the case of ACSI, members of our team are represented on both the ACSI Board and Member Council. We may also attend and participate in service provider-led engagements.
Where we consider that companies have failed to demonstrate adequate change, resulting in significant responsible investment risks remaining, we can use our engagement escalation framework. Escalation can include use of either one or a combination of escalation tools such as a ‘watchlist’, votes against ‘Say on Climate’ resolutions, Director re-elections, support or filing of shareholder resolutions and/or consideration of divestment where we consider that progress has been insufficient to address the risks, and where we consider this to be in the best financial interests of our members. The escalation framework is responsive to engagement/new information and may not be sequential.
Voting
This involves exercising our voting rights in both listed and unlisted markets as a key element of our active ownership approach. It is an important link in the chain of accountability between a company and its shareholders.
Read about our voting activity:
Advocacy
As a large superannuation fund, we seek to influence meaningful change on responsible investment issues. We use our voice to address systemic issues that are at odds with maintaining and building stable financial markets and generating strong long-term performance. This may involve seeking change to laws, regulations, standards or guidelines that we believe will deliver better financial outcomes for our members.
Read more about how we advocate for change.
the power of collaboration
We believe in the power of collective action for tackling systemic issues as collaborating enables us to amplify our voice and drive action. We work with a variety of stakeholders to undertake research on responsible investment issues, develop solutions to responsible investment challenges and to encourage companies and governments to improve their governance arrangements, risk management and disclosure on systemic risks.
 Principles for Responsible Investment |
 Responsible Investment Association Australasia |
 Australian Council of Superannuation Investors |
 30% Club |
 Paris Aligned Investment Initiative |
 Investor Group on Climate Change |
 Climate Action 100+ |
 Transition Pathway Initiative |
 GRESB - Real Estate and Infrastructure |
 Australian Sustainable Finance Institute |
 Better Futures Australia |
 International Corporate Governance Network |
 Asian Corporate Governance Association |
 Investors Against Slavery and Trafficking |
 Nature Action 100 |
HESTA has been a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) since 2006. The PRI principles establish an international framework for institutional investors to integrate ESG considerations into their investment decision-making and active ownership. HESTA was recognised through the PRI Leaders Group 2019 for its breadth of responsible investment excellence and specifically, selection, appointment and monitoring of external investment managers.
Each year, the PRI surveys signatories on their responsible investment practices. The reported information is published through public transparency reports and assessed by the PRI.
You can read our PRI Transparency and Assessment Reports below:
- HESTA PRI Responsible Investment Transparency Report (PDF)
Note: survey data was reported in 2023 based on the period ending June 2022.
- HESTA PRI Full Assessment Report (PDF)
Note: survey data was reported in 2023 based on the period ending June 2022.
We’re proud to have been a signatory to the Australian Asset Owner Stewardship Code since its foundation in 2018. As a signatory, we’ve developed a Stewardship Statement (PDF) to explain how we apply the Principles of the Code.
learn more about super with impact™
Gutsy advocate for a fair and healthy community
We use our collective voice to help address inequities impacting our members and those we see falling behind.
Facing the future with
confidence
We use our deep understanding of our members to design information, tools and support to make a meaningful impact on their confidence about the future.
Facing the future with confidence >
* SuperRatings 10 Year Platinum Performance 2014-2024 (MySuper)