There has been enough discussion of recent events surrounding guns and weapons in other countries, that I am sure that I don't need to go into it here. Suffice to say that 'gun control' (or the lack thereof), continues to be an issue.
It now appears more likely than not, that in America at least, there will be no change to their gun laws, at least in the short term.
While the stats in the attached article are a few months old, they highlight the ease with which guns are available in America, and the way that they have been 'normalised' in society.
But in Australia, we have tighter gun laws. Phew. We don't own nearly as many guns per capita as other countries. But, whether you know it or not, you own the companies that make them.
A very quick skim through this Guardian article shows the largest manufacturers of arms in the world. There are many companies that have names that makes it impossible to know what they do (no doubt a coincidence), but there is one or two names in the top 20 that people will have heard of. General Electric, or GE is one of them. Now, GE is not the worlds biggest maker of arms (this report says 18th). And they don't even have a large percentage of their business revenue being generated by arms sales (a measly 3% of revenue according to this report). But, on the other hand, in 2010, they sold $4.3B US in arms. Further, fund managers are pretty tight with their share holdings, so I would imagine it is fair to say, without looking beyond the first page of the first fund manager I looked up, that this is not the only investment in weapons that js been made on behalf of Australian superannuation investors.
What's that got to do with you. A quick scan of one super provider QSuper shows that GE makes up a part of their international share portfolio. So investors utilising the services of Qsuper (public servants at the least, and many others in Queensland), own a part of the company. For some, this would not be a problem, but for others, it may well be.
And that is where the concept of responsible investing plays a part in the financial planning process for individuals. You may have the ability to screen out the companies and sectors from your portfolio that operate in areas that you feel uncomfortable with, or even support those companies that produce products or services that you can get behind.
The above example with GE and QSuper is just one small look at the type of companies and products that people may unwittingly own. There is something you can do, and it starts with asking,
"What's my Money up to?"
Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Find out more at www.sociallyresponsibleinvestment.com.au
It now appears more likely than not, that in America at least, there will be no change to their gun laws, at least in the short term.
While the stats in the attached article are a few months old, they highlight the ease with which guns are available in America, and the way that they have been 'normalised' in society.
But in Australia, we have tighter gun laws. Phew. We don't own nearly as many guns per capita as other countries. But, whether you know it or not, you own the companies that make them.
A very quick skim through this Guardian article shows the largest manufacturers of arms in the world. There are many companies that have names that makes it impossible to know what they do (no doubt a coincidence), but there is one or two names in the top 20 that people will have heard of. General Electric, or GE is one of them. Now, GE is not the worlds biggest maker of arms (this report says 18th). And they don't even have a large percentage of their business revenue being generated by arms sales (a measly 3% of revenue according to this report). But, on the other hand, in 2010, they sold $4.3B US in arms. Further, fund managers are pretty tight with their share holdings, so I would imagine it is fair to say, without looking beyond the first page of the first fund manager I looked up, that this is not the only investment in weapons that js been made on behalf of Australian superannuation investors.
What's that got to do with you. A quick scan of one super provider QSuper shows that GE makes up a part of their international share portfolio. So investors utilising the services of Qsuper (public servants at the least, and many others in Queensland), own a part of the company. For some, this would not be a problem, but for others, it may well be.
And that is where the concept of responsible investing plays a part in the financial planning process for individuals. You may have the ability to screen out the companies and sectors from your portfolio that operate in areas that you feel uncomfortable with, or even support those companies that produce products or services that you can get behind.
The above example with GE and QSuper is just one small look at the type of companies and products that people may unwittingly own. There is something you can do, and it starts with asking,
"What's my Money up to?"
Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Find out more at www.sociallyresponsibleinvestment.com.au
