A PROGRAM OF THE
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION AUSTRALASIA
SUPERANNUATION FUND:
CERTIFICATION APPLICATION FORM
Last Update: July 2010
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Introducing the Responsible InvestmentCertification Program
WHAT IS THE Responsible Investment CERTIFICATION PROGRAM?
The Responsible Investment Certification Program was created to help investors learn more about responsible investment products and services available in Australasia. The program also provides assurance, independent verification and information for consumers about the way in which responsible investment products and services operate.
The Program provides training, education, marketing support, disclosure and guidance at all points in the investment cycle – for individual investors, financial advisers, dealer groups, fund managers and superannuation funds.
WHAT IS REQUIRED TO BECOME CERTIFIED?
To become a certified responsible investment product or service provider, you must meet the strict disclosure requirements relevant to your licence category. You must also agree to make publicly available specific details of your product or service which will in turn help investors make an informed choice. Once you have become certified, you are licensed to use the Certification Symbol to demonstrate this status.
WHAT IS THE CERTIFICATION SYMBOL?
The Certification Symbol is the Registered Trade Mark all certified products and service providers are licensed to use after receiving certification from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA). The Symbol is owned and managed by RIAA.
The Certification Symbol is designed to encourage informed choice about responsible investment products and services. By definition, the Symbol verifies that a Licensee has adopted the education and disclosure practices required for the category of Superannuation Fund. In turn, the Symbol indicates to investors that they can access information about the Licensee and their services from RIAA’s website.
TERMINOLOGY
There is a range of terminology used to describe the products and services available for people who want to invest responsibly. Many of these terms will be familiar to you such as ethical investment, sustainable investment, socially responsible investment, clean technology investment or simply “SRI”.
The overarching term RIAA uses to describe the “family” of products and services which take environmental, social, ethical or governance issues into account when making investment decisions is responsible investment.
To assist Licensees promote their product or service in a way that is most meaningful to their target market, the Certification Symbol is available featuring four different terminologies – Responsible Investment, Sustainable Responsible Investment, SRI and Ethical Investment.
What you need to know to complete your Application Form
WHAT IS REQUIRED BY RIAA IN ORDER TO BE CERTIFIED?
1. Superannuation Funds can apply to be certified and license the Certification Symbol if they:
▪ Offer a responsible investment product as a member option. The underlying fund manager/s used for this option must have received certification under the Responsible Investment Certification Program. This aspect is a necessary component of the Superannuation Certification category as responsible investment fund managers are required to undergo independent verification by Grant Thornton in order to meet disclosure standards;
OR
▪ Invest 5% or more of the fund’s assets in a responsible investment product or products which have received certification under the Responsible Investment Certification Program. If your responsible investment policy also includes direct stock investments and/or mandated portfolios managed internally or through third parties, your responsible investment methodology will need to be provided. RIAA will arrange to have this methodology independently verified by Grant Thornton;
AND
▪ Provides educational information to members about the responsible investment option or strategy.
2. To this end, this application has been designed to cover the range of responsible investment practices used by superannuation funds. RIAA acknowledges that each superannuation fund will adopt a combination of practices unique to their own organisation. It is therefore not expected that every question will be answered in the positive and each application will be assessed on balance.
3. Superannuation Funds who make direct stock investments and/or have mandated portfolios managed internally or through third parties who wish to be certified must:
▪ Describe in detail their responsible investment methodology and explain the specific processes, management systems and reporting frameworks followed for their responsible investment product/s.
▪ Disclose past performance results and a full list of historical stock holdings or investments (current six months prior for reasons of commercial in confidence). This information must be publicly available within two months of being certified. The Fund Manager can either include this material on their website or provide it to RIAA for inclusion in the Fund Manager’s certification profile.
▪ Submit the Product Disclosure Statement, Information Memorandum or Pitchbook of the product/s they wish to be certified.
▪ Agree to an independence verification of their methodology and processes by Grant Thornton.
4. To assist in building awareness of responsible investment products and services and to promote the role the Certification Program can play in helping investors make an informed choice, successful Licensees must commit to incorporating the Certification Symbol into their marketing and communications material. For example, including the Symbol and information about the responsible investment option in member communications, relevant website pages and relevant advertisements.
5. Successful Licensees must abide by the requirements outlined in the Certification Symbol Licence Agreement and the Certification Symbol Licensee Marketing Guide.
WHO SHOULD I CONTACT ABOUT MY APPLICATION?
If you require any assistance completing your application contact:
Cameron Grant, Certification and Operations Manager –
Email:
Phone: +61 2 9025 5714
Fax: +61 2 8078 0299
Address: Level 2, 60 Castlereagh Street, Sydney 2000 Australia
Frequently Asked Questions
HOW LONG DOES THE LICENCE LAST?
Your inaugural Certification Symbol Licence Agreement lasts for two years from the date that you sign it. Every two years thereafter you will be invited to renew your Licence Agreement.
WHAT COSTS ARE INVOLVED?
The Certification Symbol is available only to current members of RIAA. Undertaking the Certification process is a member benefit and is free of charge. Membership of the Association currently costs $950.00 per year (including GST) for the category of Superannuation Fund.
HOW WILL MY APPLICATION BE ASSESSED?
The information contained in this application is strictly confidential. Your application will be reviewed by the staff of RIAA to ensure that all answers have been thoroughly completed. If your application is complete it will then be submitted for assessment to the Responsible Investment Certification Committee comprising members of RIAA executive and board. A process is in place for the disclosure of any conflict of interest which may arise between the Review Committee and Licence applicants. RIAA reserves the right to seek further information from the applicant and review the application criteria from time to time.
HOW SHOULD I FILL OUT AND SUBMIT MY APPLICATION?
It is essential you read the entire application form before you commence completing your answers.
This form must be completed on a computer and submitted electronically via email. Wherever possible, please insert or type your answer into the space provided for each question and avoid attaching such answers to the end of the document. This ensures that the Responsible Investment Certification Committee is able to review your application with ease and clarity.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER MY APPLICATION IS SUBMITTED?
The review process for the category of Superannuation Fund can take up to two months. Once your application has been reviewed and approved by the Responsible Investment Certification Committee, you will be issued with a Licence Agreement which you will be asked to sign and return to RIAA. Upon receiving your signed Licence Agreement, RIAA will issue you with your chosen Certification Symbols. You will also receive the Certification Symbol Licensee Marketing Guidelines which will help you promote your status as a certified responsible investment Superannuation Fund.
Superannuation Fund:
Certification Application Form
CONTACT DETAILS
ORGANISATION APPLYING FOR LICENCECONTACT PERSON / TITLE / SelectMrMsMrsDr
POSITION / DATE
BUSINESS ADDRESS
PHONE – Direct
PHONE – Reception
MOBILE / FAX
WEBSITE
membership status
1. Only current members of RIAA can apply for Certification.Are you a current member of RIAA? / SelectYesNo
§ If ‘No’, you will need to join RIAA. Please complete the online application form and indicate your preference below:
www.responsibleinvestment.org – click ‘Join RIAA’
Do you intend to become a member of RIAA? / SelectYesNoN/A
products and methodologies
2. Superannuation Funds can apply to be certified and license the Certification Symbol if your fund either:a) Offers members a responsible investment option(s)?
Please list the responsible investment options here.
Yes – continue to Q3 / b) Has an integrated responsible investment strategy, engagement policy or investment overlay which includes investing a minimum of 5% in specialised responsible investment products?
Yes – Go to Q10
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT: MEMBER OPTION
ASIC Section 1013DA (The SRI Disclosure Guidelines) requires full disclosure of the way in which labour standards, environmental, social or ethical considerations are taken into account in the selection, retention and realisation of an investment. This information must appear in the Product Disclosure Statement and must follow the full instructions laid out in the SRI Disclosure Guidelines.
The requirement applies to all Superannuation Funds that provide a responsible investment option, even if that option is outsourced to an underlying fund manager or fund managers. ASIC regards the Superannuation Fund as responsible for the product and therefore responsible to the member for communication of the product’s attributes.
SelectYesNo
4. If yes, please include details of the methodology from your PDS/Annual Report here.
NB – Please do not include attachments to this application form. All information to be reviewed by the Certification Review Committee should be included in this application form.
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5. What percentage of the responsible investment option(s) is invested in a specialised responsible investment product or products? (for instance, some responsible investment options include mainstream investment components for fixed interest, cash or property): / %6. In what underlying managed fund(s) are the responsible investment option(s) invested?
7. Do you provide a full description of the methodology of your responsible investment option(s) on your website?
SelectYesNo
If ‘Yes’, please provide the specific website address for this material:
www.
8. If you have not already provided this disclosure in your current PDS, do you undertake to include this in your next PDS? / SelectYesIn current PDSNo
§ If ‘No’, when will your next PDS be published?
- Go to Q15 / MM / YYYY
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT: InTEGRATED STRATEGY
9. Please explain the nature and operational features of your superannuation fund’s integrated responsible investment strategy.10. To what percentage of your total investments does this integrated strategy apply?
Additional information / %
11. Is the investment analysis/research which applies to your integrated responsible investment strategy conducted internally?
Yes
No – Please list the asset consultants and/or research firm/s that you use:
12. Please list all responsible investment funds and fund managers used in your integrated responsible investment strategy.
13. If a certain proportion of funds are invested through mandates, rather than investing in responsible investment funds, please describe the process and responsible investment methodology used. Also please detail the proportion (or percentage) of total funds invested through responsible investment funds as well as through mandates:
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RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT DISCLOSURE
14. Do you undertake to provide RIAA with a web link to a page on your website which contains information about the performance of your responsible investment option/strategy?These performance figures may be presented in the same timeframe that you would normally provide to all of your members (ie once per year, twice per year etc). / SelectYesNo
15. The Responsible Investment Certification Program requires that all Superannuation Licensees disclose the historical stock holdings of their responsible investment option/strategy via our website. The reason for this is that the most commonly asked question by members of the public and superannuation members relates to the particular stocks held in a product or fund.
As you may be aware, most responsible investment fund managers are already certified under the Program. As part of their own Certification, these fund managers are also required to disclose their fund’s stock holdings. That means that the stock holdings of your own underlying fund manager/s are probably already available via RIAA’s website.
To make the process easier for you, RIAA will set up these links to the stock holdings of your underlying fund manager/s on your behalf and locate that link within your own Certification Profile on RIAA’s website.
Do you provide consent for RIAA to proceed with this disclosure?
SelectYesNo
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT PROMOTION
16. Do you currently provide educational material to your members explaining the features of your RI option/strategy?Yes – How often? SelectEvery few daysAbout once a weekAbout once per monthEvery couple of monthsEvery six monthsAbout once per year
No
More information
17. Do you undertake to provide information and education to your members at least twice per year which draws their attention to your RI option/strategy and explains its features?
It is a requirement for Superannuation Fund Licensees to the Certification Symbol to provide specialised educational material to your members on your responsible investment option(s). This requirement for Superannuation Fund Licensees acknowledges that one of the greatest barriers that investors have about responsible investment is a lack of understanding and knowledge about the area, as opposed to a lack of desire to invest in this way.
SelectYesNo
More information
18. Please insert two examples of the most recent communication or materials in which you have educated members about your RI option/strategy. Ideally these should be links to current pages on your website. Alternatively, please attach copies of the communication.
Example 1:
Example 2:
19. If your application is approved, do you undertake to include the Certification Symbol on your communications, marketing and member engagement material?
SelectYesNo
20. Where will you use the Certification Symbol to promote your status of being certified superannuation fund?
Advertisements Brochures
Website Newsletters
PDS or offer documents Monthly/Quarterly reports
Presentations
21. Would you like to provide any further information or comments regarding your Application?