Our 
Investment governance

Engagement involves two-way constructive communication between us and investee companies on matters such as the organisation’s performance, strategy, ESG issues, leadership, quality and level of reporting.

Hostplus engages with companies primarily through its membership of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) and service provider Hermes EOS.

By taking a collective engagement approach, we are able to exert greater influence beyond our own shareholding in an investee company and to manage resources more effectively. As an ACSI member, Hostplus also actively influences ACSI’s priority engagement themes and companies each year.

To see how engagement delivers positive outcomes, view the recent reports below:

As a shareholder, Hostplus favours engagement over divestment.

Our policy is to retain exposure to a broad range of sectors and, where feasible, seek to create change within companies through engagement, rather than divest from a company or sector and lose influence. 

Hostplus is a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

These principles establish a collective international framework for institutional investors to integrate ESG considerations into their investment decision-making.

The principles are:

• Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.
• Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.
• Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest.
• Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry.
• Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles.
• Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles.

Each year, the PRI surveys signatories on their responsible investment practices. The reported information is published through public transparency reports and assessed by the PRI.  Hostplus is proud to have received a rating of 4 out of 5 stars for our responsible investment and stewardship policy from PRI. We also received ratings at or above the median for all other reported asset classes.

Read our PRI Transparency Report and find further information on the PRI assessment methodology.

At Hostplus we have a Valuations Policy for the Superannuation Fund (‘Fund’) and for the Pooled Superannuation Trust (‘PST’).

As the Fund hold units in the PST, it therefore does not have direct exposure to the underlying Investment Managers and assets within the PST. Accordingly, the valuations that underpin the unit prices are the primary responsibility of the PST Trustee, who is governed by the Valuations Policy – PST (to which the Trustee is privy, as the Trustee of the Fund and the Trustee of the PST are trustees in common).