Mint instrumental in the establishment of RIAA’s new Aotearoa Collaborative Working Group

Mint became a member of Responsible Investing Association Australasia (RIAA) in May 2023. Its mission is to "promote, advocate for, and support approaches to responsible investment (RI) that align capital with achieving a healthy and sustainable society, environment and economy". RIAA has more than 450 members managing over US$29 trillion in assets globally.

For Mint, becoming a member of RIAA means we can access a range of research, resources, and support to allow us to continue to improve on our approach and commitment to responsible investment. Another benefit of joining RIAA is access to very effective working groups which have fostered many successful collaborations between Australian fund managers and superannuation funds. The purpose of the working groups are to build and share resources of important aspects of responsible investing and sustainable finance, encourage the implementation of RI approaches within the industry, and address some of the challenges in the RI industry and work together to achieve a pathway forward.

The challenge with working groups to date is that participation from New Zealand fund managers has been lacking and as a result the work these groups carry out tends to be Australian-centric. There has been a gap in the New Zealand market for collaborative working between fund managers for a long time.

Mint has been working with RIAA and like-minded counterparts from other fund managers in NZ to fill this gap. At RIAA’s Aotearoa conference held recently in Auckland, Dean Hegarty Executive Manager at RIAA announced: the Aotearoa Collaborative Working Group. Open initially to Asset Owner, Asset Manager, Banking and Trust members of RIAA, this group will leverage the knowledge and resource of the current RIAA working groups that do so much in Australia but apply it to the Aotearoa landscape. It will also be a space for fund managers to come together and focus their engagement efforts as a group, with both corporates and policy makers.

We hope this is a step in the right direction to bridge the gap and become a collaborative solution from New Zealand financial service providers. As the saying goes, if you want to go far, go together. Mint is excited to be involved in this collaborative group and we look forward to providing our clients with updates from the group’s activities in future.