Australian Retirement Trust to Invest in Green Funds

Superannuation giant Australian Retirement Trust (ART), one of Australia’s largest super funds which holds over $230 billion of retirement savings of its members, will accelerate the growth of impact investing with a target to deploy at least $1.32 billion by 2030 toward assets which can deliver returns for members, whilst seeking to generate social and environmental benefits in areas prioritised by ART.

ART’s first major investment towards the 2030 impact goal is an almost $660 million investment in the Macquarie Green Energy and Climate Opportunities Fund (MGECO).

MGECO includes Australian and international assets, such as Aula Energy which has active projects in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, headlined by the Boulder Creek Wind Farm near Rockhampton.

Nicole Bradford, ART’s General Manager of Sustainable Investment and Planning, on Thursday said that this investment is a significant milestone.

“As a large investor with globally diversified portfolios, we recognise that some of our investments can serve a dual-purpose, delivering financial returns and seeking to make a positive difference,” she said.

According to her, one of the many attributes of climate change is that it is an investment risk, but as they seek to transition to a low-carbon economy it also represents an investment opportunity, and investors like ART can demonstrate how the capital they steward on their members behalf may contribute to the solution.

Scaling impact investing is challenging; many opportunities are too small or fragmented for institutional capital. With our size and long-term investment horizon we can help bridge this gap and shift impact from niche to mainstream, Nicole said.

“We are at the start of our journey. And this commitment to deploy at least $2 billion to impact investing by 2030 goes beyond just climate change, and may include assets in the health, social housing and aged care sectors among others,” Nicole added.

Unique Investment Opportunity

ART’s General Manager of Mid Risk Assets & UK Michael Weaver said that MGECO presented a unique investment opportunity for ART. MGECO will initially target investment opportunities across solar, onshore and offshore wind, and batteries in OECD countries including Australia.

“To the extent that commercial scale can be achieved, it may also target other technologies such as hydro and geothermal, bioenergy and energy storage, or natural climate solutions. The primary investment objective of MGECO is to make equity and equity-like investments in a diversified portfolio of sustainable infrastructure, real assets, and businesses,” Weaver said.

“At a local level, we are excited about MGECO’s investment in Aula Energy, an existing portfolio company of MGECO and we look forward to working with Macquarie Asset Management through MGECO to deliver returns for our members while seeking to generate measurable environmental benefits,” he added.