We believe that how an organisation manages its environmental and social issues, and the quality of its corporate governance, directly influences its ability to sustain returns over the longer term. In line with this philosophy, we created the CFS Thrive+ Sustainable Growth investment option to deliver competitive market returns and advocate for better outcomes for our members and society.

 

Investment objective

Investment objective

To provide capital growth and income over the long term. To outperform the option’s composite benchmark over rolling three-year periods before fees and taxes. 

 

Minimum suggested timeframe

5 Years

 

 

Investment strategy

Investment strategy

The option is managed to sustainable investment criteria that encourages investment in companies with a sustainable business and strong environment, social and governance characteristics. It seeks to avoid investments in certain companies or activities that have a highly adverse effect on the environment or society. This option is governed by the Thrive+ Sustainable Investment Charter.

Risk level

Risk level

Standard Risk Measure

Estimated number of negative annual returns over any 20-year period is 4 to less than 6 years. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Performance

The CFS Thrive+ Sustainable Growth option has a strong combination of leading investment managers and a high (80%) allocation to growth assets such as Australian and global shares, and 20% to defensive assets such as fixed interest and cash. The option aims to provide capital growth and some income over the long term that broadly reflects the performance outcomes of these asset classes.

The fund managers

We believe that an investment option like this requires active management of inclusions, exclusions and stewardship. To manage the screening process, we've partnered with specialist external managers that are aligned to our sustainable investment criteria and have robust frameworks in place for selecting, retaining and selling investments. Please refer to the Manager Profile for a list of the specialist managers we have appointed, and you can also review the portfolio holdings of Thrive+.

Join or switch to CFS' Thrive+ Sustainable Growth

Become a member

You can choose to invest in Thrive+ <br>through:

You can choose to invest in Thrive+
through:

To invest in Thrive+ through FirstChoice Employer Super

To invest in Thrive+ through FirstChoice Employer Super

If your employer has chosen CFS FirstChoice Employer Super as their default fund, to join the fund simply contact your HR or Payroll team with a completed Super Fund Nomination form. Once your  account is open and your first contribution has been received, you’ll be able to switch to the Thrive+ Sustainable Growth investment option. If you wish to update your investments before your first contribution, please contact us on 1300 654 666. 

I'm an existing member

I'm an existing member

How to change your investments

If you’re an existing member with CFS you can add Thrive+ Sustainable Growth to your existing super, pension or investments portfolio. 

I'm an adviser

I'm an adviser

Talk to us today

To learn more talk to your local BDM today.

 

Related reading

Our responsible investing journey

Our responsible investing journey

We began our journey to become a more responsible investor in 2015 with work that led to our Responsible Investment Framework. This has evolved and continues today with the renewal of our commitment in our Responsible Investment Policy. 

 

The CFS Thrive+ Sustainable Growth option not only adheres to this policy, but goes beyond with specific exclusions and areas of focus, governed by the Thrive+ Sustainable Investment Charter, to ensure we continue to work towards providing you with the means for sustainable, long-term wealth protection and enhancement. 

To invest in Thrive+ through FirstChoice Employer Super

To invest in Thrive+ through FirstChoice Employer Super

If your employer has chosen CFS FirstChoice Employer Super as their default fund, to join the fund simply contact your HR or Payroll team with a completed Super Fund Nomination form. Once your  account is open and your first contribution has been received, you’ll be able to switch to the Thrive+ Sustainable Growth investment option. If you wish to update your investments before your first contribution, please contact us on 1300 654 666. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Sustainable investing is a holistic approach to investing, where social, environmental, corporate governance are considered alongside financial performance when making an investment. 

A sustainable fund is different to our other traditional funds because it has a dual purpose – the first, like all other funds, is to generate competitive investment returns over the longer term. The second is to do so in a way that that is good for people, planet and policy. So before an investment in a company is made, three ESG factors are considered. They are: 

  1. Social factors [People]: Workplace health and safety, labour rights, Modern slavery, Healthcare,
  2. Environmental factors [Planet]: Fossil fuels, Waste & pollution, Water, Biodiversity and
  3. Governance [Policy]: Board composition, Remuneration & alignment, Diversity and Inclusion, Transparency & Reporting, Conduct & Culture.

These three ESG factors will be at the heart of the investment decision making process. 

The CFS Thrive+ investment option will be suitable for investors who seek a ready-made diversified portfolio who seek a competitive market return with the opportunity to invest in a manner that aligns with their personal values. 

For the selection of investment managers, along with a sustainability criteria, a robust and consistent selection process is used to ensure that the fund achieves its financial objective. This includes investment and operational due diligence to assess the business, people and incentive structure, investment process, ability to implement exclusions, performance and additional quantitative metrics to ensure alignment of process, performance and portfolio characteristics. The manager research process also involves a series of manager meetings and is supplemented by quantitative assessment using specialist third party providers. 

Our in-house investment team regularly monitor the investment managers including any change to their investment process, performance and characteristics of the portfolio. We also review the people, planet and policy factors and the climate metrics using a third party data provider and methodology. This ensures investments are aligned to our Thrive+ Sustainable Investment Charter and we have a portfolio positively aligned to Sustainable Development Goals, better than benchmark ESG practices and carbon metrics lower than their respective benchmark. 

Responsible Investment – quick links

Responsible Investing

Our journey

Our beliefs lead to our approach

Active ownership

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Disclaimer

Avanteos Investments Limited ABN 20 096 259 979, AFSL 245531 (AIL) is the trustee of the Colonial First State FirstChoice Superannuation Trust ABN 26 458 298 557 and issuer of FirstChoice range of super and pension products. This information may include general advice but does not consider your individual objectives, financial situation, needs or tax circumstances. You can find the Target Market Determinations (TMD) for our financial products at www.cfs.com.au/tmd, which include a description of who a financial product might suit. You should read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Financial Services Guide (FSG) carefully, assess whether the information is appropriate for you, and consider talking to a financial adviser before making an investment decision. You can get the PDS and FSG at www.cfs.com.au or by calling us on 13 13 36. Past performance is no indication of future performance. This information is based on current requirements and laws as at the date of publication. Published as at 19 September 2022.