Doug Goodwille from Kayne Anderson speaks to Drew Meredith from The Inside Network on market thinkers.
While a surging gold price is on hold as the world adjusts to a Trump presidency, all the factors that saw its price rise more than 50 per during his first term in office – trade disputes, fiscal deficits and geopolitical tensions – are almost certainly guaranteed the second time around.
What the Federal Election result means for the economy
The Federal Election may well be remembered as one of the most important and unexpected in history. Whilst many had expected a shift away from the traditional parties, few predicted that as many as one in three voters wouldn’t vote for them at all. The popularity of the major parties is both well into the 30s, with a resounding issue being a lack of climate policy.
Teal independents combined with the Greens may have changed the political direction of Australia for decades to come, with Simon O’Connor of the Responsible Investment Association of Australia saying that “Australians have voted for a more sustainable future”.
Speaking in an update released shortly after the election was called, he congratulated the income Government, led by Anthony Albanese, whilst calling for a national sustainable finance strategy to “unlock investment opportunities and underpin strong action on climate change and other key societal issues”.
The days of kicking this can down the road are clearly gone, as is the ability to fly under the radar. And the pressure is also coming from the Greens already, who flagged concerns about the waving through of major gas and oil projects in Western Australia.
“From climate change to housing affordability to gender equality, many of the issues the electorate has deemed important at this election mirror the big issues which investors are pushing for action on,” said O’Connor.
In the view of the RIAA, the future of sustainability lies in the financial system, which requires a ‘whole of government approach to embed’ it into the way we do business at every level. “Finance can be mobilised to support Australian Government policy objectives in many of the areas that Australians have voted on at the ballot box”.
“We look forward to seeing strengthened climate change commitments, greater support for investment in green energy, along with greater action to value and protect natural capital.”
One key reason is because Australia’s financial system is so closely linked to the US, Europe and New Zealand, who are among the most advanced when it comes to regulation of ESG concerns. “For Australia to remain an attractive market for investors, and to best leverage private finance to drive this Government’s agenda, we must play our part in shaping the new standards and regulations that are rapidly emerging around the world” he says.
“Over $1 trillion of assets are now managed in Australia with consideration of ESG factors” according to the RIAA. But this is only the start. Importantly, it must look beyond the use of ESG overlays and towards a rethink and complete integration of what really matters into business and investment decisions.
