Ausbil manages fairly concentrated portfolios and focuses on Australian-listed equities, which means many international collaborative engagements are not directly applicable to Ausbil.
Ausbil prefers to engage directly with companies. However, Ausbil acknowledges that some issues, which are systemic by nature, require a collaborative approach. Therefore, Ausbil participates in collaborative engagements when deemed appropriate, often in combination with company-specific direct engagements. For instance, Ausbil has been an active participant in industry-wide engagements on labour and human rights by contributing with insights and co-signing letters and statements complementing Ausbil’s direct engagements with Australian companies. Ausbil has also been an active participant in terms of educating other investors and sharing both research and best practice in terms of engagement.
In addition, in 2017, Ausbil was engaging directly with the Federal Australian Government on several occasions in regards to the establishment of a Modern Slavery Act in Australia and also engaged more broadly with interested advocates and other stakeholders on this topic. The engagement opportunities are identified through Ausbil’s proprietary ESG research and liaison with peers / industry events – both through formal relationships and informally.