Press Release

7th September, 2016

Call For Simplicity to Exclude Fossil Fuels

350 Aotearoa is calling on Simplicity Kiwisaver Plan to exclude fossil fuel companies, along with cluster bombs and nuclear weapons, in their new ethical Kiwisaver plan. Recent news about KiwiSaver’s investments in munitions created an explosion of outrage among New Zealanders, and they also invest in climate-destroying fossil fuels. Currently, Simplicity KiwiSaver’s non-profit plan is based in Vanguard International funds. After pressure from Simplicity and other KiwiSaver providers, today Vanguard International expressed its willingness to providing an ethical investment fund specifically for New Zealand.

“We know that no fund can be ethical while it has fossil fuels in the portfolio. Fossil fuels are comparable to munitions when it comes to the havoc they wreak - they destroy entire towns and villages, create starvation and drought, and collapse ecosystems,” said Niamh O’Flynn, Executive Director of 350 Aotearoa.

“We’re really excited about the possibility of an ethical KiwiSaver plan that Kiwis can move to, knowing that their savings for the future aren’t destroying that future.”

Simplicity Managing Director, Sam Stubbs, stated today that Simplicity will take their business elsewhere if Vanguard does not provide an adequate fund.

Last year, the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, the largest managed fund in the world, divested from coal, due to its impact on the climate. Globally, over $3.4 trillion USD, representing over 500 institutions, has been divested from the fossil fuel industry since 2014.

“Simplicity is a new provider, and they have been presented with a real opportunity to lead in the ethical investment space in Aotearoa. By adding the fossil fuel industry to their list of unethical investments, they can shape the behaviour of one of the biggest fund managers in the world. They would be following world leaders, and trail-blazing for other New Zealand providers.”

ENDS.

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