Avoiding greenwashing (and bluewashing!) and creating positive social impact since 1840: Matthew Moore from Australian Unity

There’s not many fund managers that can say they can trace their origins back to a pub in Melbourne in 1840, 183 years ago! At that time, a group of eight people formed a friendly society to look after the health and wellbeing of its members. Since then, Australian Unity has continued to grow as a member-owned company, offering their members and customers health, wealth and care services.

Matthew Moore is the Head of Responsible Investment and Stewardship at Australian Unity. He joined them in January 2022 from Uniting Financial Services, where he held the role of Head of Ethical Investments, having oversight of over $1.7 billion in assets under management, and responsibility for building and managing that organisation’s responsible investment program. He was part of the team that issued the first SDG Bond by a Not for Profit in Australia. He is a long-standing member of the Altius Asset Management Sustainability Advisory Committee, currently Chair. He holds Master of Commerce and Bachelor of Economics degrees.

 In this discussion we cover the origin of ethical investment and social impact bonds, Australian Unity’s creation of a highly regarded ‘Wellbeing index’, dealing with modern slavery risks, creating a Reconciliation Action Plan, and a range of other areas. 

I’ll break down some of the acronyms that are mentioned in the discussion – and links to explanations are provided in the show notes: UN SDG’s; SDA: Specialist disability accommodation, HPT: Healthcare Property Trust & PIF: Property Income Fund, REIT: Real Estate Investment Trust, DD: Due Diligence; Semi/Supra Bonds

I hope you enjoy this conversation with Matthew Moore. You can find out more about Australian Unity here.

We wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we recorded on, the Wardandi Noongar people. We pay our respects to them and their culture; and to elders past, present and emerging.