University to divest holdings in seven companies

3 October 2014

The Council of The Australian National University has agreed to a proposal by Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Young AO to commence divestment of stocks in seven companies following an independent review of ANU domestic equities.

The review, commissioned by the University as part of its Socially Responsible Investment Policy and undertaken by CAER, provided Environmental, Social and Governance Ratings on ANU-held domestic stocks.

As a result of the ratings, the University will divest its holdings in Iluka Resources, Independence Group, Newcrest Mining, Sandfire Resources, Oil Search, Santos and Sirius Resources.

The stocks to be divested represent around 5.1 per cent of the University's Australian equity holdings and approximately one per cent of its total investment holdings.

The University Council also agreed to move to an outsourced management of domestic equities using an enhanced index manager. The selection of the manager will include assessment of their ability to meet the University's SRI requirements.