30 September 2025
Australian Ethical is one of Australia's leading ethical fund managers. By investing responsibly in well-managed ethical companies, we deliver competitive financial performance to our clients and positive change to society and the environment. Since our inception in 1986, our Ethical Charter has guided all investment decisions and underpinned our business practices. Every year 10 per cent of our profits* are distributed to charitable organisations and social impact initiatives through The Australian Ethical Foundation.
To provide long-term growth by investing in small capitalisation companies that meet the Australian Ethical Charter. The fund aims to significantly exceed the return of the S&P/ASX Small Industrials Total Return Index after taking into account management costs over a 7 year period.
The opportunity to invest in a diversified portfolio of shares in small capitalisation companies on the basis of their social, environmental and financial credentials. The Fund utilises an active stock-picking management style with stocks selected for growth rather than income. All stocks are chosen on the basis of relative value where we deem the risks are being adequately priced.
| 1m | 3m | 6m | 1y | 3y | 5y | 10y | Since inception | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund | -0.8% | 13.0% | 19.2% | 12.2% | 13.9% | 8.0% | 12.3% | 12.5% |
| S&P/ASX Small Indust. | -0.7% | 11.2% | 20.6% | 12.9% | 14.7% | 7.1% | 7.9% | 7.7% |
| CY 2024 | CY 2023 | CY 2022 | CY 2021 | CY 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund | 15.4% | 9.7% | -25.8% | 14.4% | 35.1% |
| S&P/ASX Small Indust. | 12.1% | 11.4% | -21.8% | 13.7% | 5.9% |
Portfolio diversification: Diversify your portfolio by investing in companies and sectors not well covered by other fund managers and brokers.
Help build a better world: Invest in the new, low‐carbon economy, fund medical and technology breakthroughs, efficient transport and more.
Promote human rights: We strive to avoid any investment in companies involved in the poor treatment of asylum seekers or the exploitation of workers through poor working conditions.
The Emerging Companies Fund (Retail) outperformed its ASX Small Industrials benchmark (13.0% vs 11.2%), over the 3 months to 30 September 2025.
The Fund’s holdings in the Information Technology sector were the strongest contributor to relative investment performance with vehicle fleet monitoring company EROAD (+77%) getting a boost from likely favourable legislation change in NZ, hotel room management company Siteminder (+63%) and digital education software group Janison Education (+47%) all performing strongly on good results and positive outlook over the August reporting period.
The sectoral laggards included utilities with electricity generator-retailers Contact Energy (-4%) and Meridian (-11%), both underperforming the Small Industrials as they reported subdued results due to major droughts affecting electricity generation in New Zealand and uncertainty over the outcomes of a regulatory review weighed on the sector. Conditions have improved, regulatory risks are manageable and we retain positions in both companies due to a better outlook.
The consumer discretionary sector also detracted from relative performance due to digital hotels marketplace operator WEB Travel Group (-11%) still fine tuning its organisational momentum after its de-merger last year and had also seen some subdued travel demand across Europe. We see the company representing compelling value and have increased our position.