Bronwyn King is not a fund manager, she’s a cancer doctor, and ever since she found out her super fund was invested in tobacco companies she’s led a personal crusade to shift institutional investors away from this deadly business.
And as of last year her team were responsible for getting a massive US$10 trillion in pension dollars globally, to be invested under tobacco-free policies.
It’s a huge achievement (a trillion dollars is a difficult thing to imagine) and it goes well beyond the AUD$1.3 trillion figure that they achieved in Australia alone, up to 2019.
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On this episode…
Cigarettes kill millions of people every year. And the unfortunate truth is that many Australians actually have money invested in these companies. Whether they know it or not, many super funds still have big holdings in big tobacco.
Bronwyn’s approach is to work with institutional investors, they’re her best ally, and together they’re chipping away at a very powerful and very deadly industry.
My key takeaway this week…
“Engagement with the tobacco industry is futile.
The only acceptable outcome would be that they cease their business. There’s no nuance.
There’s no sustainable tobacco.
There’s no ethical tobacco.
The only outcome we want is for the industry to end.”
Good Future’s Good Books
By: Luca Bonaccorsi
My side-table has about 25 books on it. But at the top right now is How to Live a Plastic Free life. Which is very useful in 2020, there’s a big movement about reducing single-use plastics. And we can all be part of that. My interest is deep in that area, because cigarette filters are such a huge problem. I haven’t finished it yet, but maybe when I come back I can give you an update.
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