Simplicity faces responsibility questions

In June, the fund manager added fossil fuel extraction, military and civilian weapons, pornography, gambling and casinos and alcohol to its list of exclusions. It already excluded companies involved in tobacco, landmines and nuclear weapons.

But the broker basket for the Vanguard Ethically Conscious International Shares index, in which Simplicity’s KiwiSaver invests for its international equities, has exposure to energy manufacturing firm Phillips 66 and Marathon Petroleum.

Stubbs said those were not involved in fossil fuel extraction, only refining.

It also invests in companies that have been excluded by others for responsible investment reasons, such as Toshiba, excluded by Kiwi Wealth for its nuclear power involvement and Tokyo Electric, excluded by Kiwi Wealth and the NZ Super Fund for the same plus environmental damage and human rights concerns.