Thursday 24 October: New Market Forces analysis reveals that the Future Fund has more than $1 billion invested in three of Australia’s biggest fossil fuel expanding companies, Woodside Energy, Santos and Whitehaven Coal.
The analysis finds the Future Fund is a top 10 shareholder in all three fossil fuel companies, owning more than 1 per cent of the shares on issue in each.
Analysis of investment holdings data has found that the Fund increased its stake in all three companies in the six months to 30 June 2024.
Brett Morgan, Superannuation Funds Analyst and Campaigner, Market Forces said:
“Increasing investments in companies with massive fossil fuel expansion plans undermines the Future Fund’s stated purpose of investing for the benefit of future generations of Australians.
“It’s alarming that Australia’s sovereign wealth fund has an outsized stake in three of Australia’s worst climate wreckers.”
The analysis found the Fund is allocating a larger proportion of its Australian share investments to Woodside Energy, Santos and Whitehaven Coal than their relative size in the market.
Analysis of the Future Fund’s voting disclosures also reveals it has failed to support a single climate-related shareholder proposal at the annual general meetings of Woodside, Santos and Whitehaven since 2021.
The Fund’s voting activity has aligned with nearly all of the recommendations put forward by the Boards of these three fossil fuel companies over that timeframe, with the exception of votes against Whitehaven Coal’s remuneration plan in 2021-2023 and a vote against Woodside’s climate transition plan in 2024.
The Fund acknowledges climate risk as a material financial risk and claims to incorporate climate considerations into its proxy voting decisions.
“The Future Fund must act in the best interests of a safer and more secure Australia by ending the fossil fuel expansion plans of portfolio companies and divesting where this fails,” said Mr. Morgan.
“We urge the Future Fund to vote against Whitehaven’s coal growth-focused remuneration plan and the directors responsible for it at the company’s annual general meeting next week.”