From P28
“I tell our staff we have welldocumented challenges, and no-one is perfect or incapable of error, but our sector is standing up and their efforts are to be applauded.”
The investor
As CEO of U Ethical managed funds, Mathew Browning and his 24 Melbournebased team members manage investments across more than 4000 client accounts nationally. Those clients include corporate and institutional investors, charities and not-for-profits, as well as individual investors and selfmanaged super funds. U Ethical invests more than $1 billion on behalf of its clients. Some 80 per cent of the funds under U Ethical’ management springs from charities and not-for-profits, including education, health, community and religious organisations. “Though we have been actively growing our broader client base,” Mathew explains, “the Church, including presbyteries and congregations, still makes up almost 70 per cent, with members of congregations adding to that.” The question arises, does a pandemic affect confidence in the investment market? “Significantly!” Mathew responds. “The economic outlook is, and will continue to be, uncertain and this constrains our ability to forecast and to value investments. Investment managers
like U Ethical are paid to have a view and, ideally, one held with a degree of conviction, but we must also be realistic.” Mathew cites a quote from medical statistician Robert Grant. An acknowledged expert in infectious diseases, Grant addressed the reality of uncertainty and said, “That’s why you don’t see me making any novel coronavirus forecasts”. “Confidence also affects how organisations and individuals choose to invest,” Mark explains, “and this in turn affects how we work with our existing
we learn “willThegolessons on to have a
greater and more longlasting impact than we currently realise. Mathew Browning
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and prospective clients.” The pandemic has seen U Ethical Investors transition successfully to a “working from home force”, with lots of video conferencing across the team and with clients. “Very much a move to ‘business as unusual’,” Mathew quips. “Our investment performance reflects the quality of our investment team, with our Australian and international equity strategies strongly outperforming their benchmarks. The swift and extraordinary
pressure on financial markets, along with ultra-low interest rates, has prompted us to ensure our products are fit-forpurpose and we shall be making some changes to ensure they continue to work effectively for clients over the long-term. “We’ve also increased the frequency of our client communications – this is crucial in uncertain times.” One’s person’s cyclonic flood may well be another person’s drought-breaking rain. “In our portfolios,” Mathew says, “some of our investments in the health sector have done very well. Companies that are struggling include those in sectors like discretionary retail, tourism and hospitality.” Reassuringly, Mathew notes that public concerns about people withdrawing funds against their superannuation has not impacted U Ethical investors. “We manage money for some institutional superannuation funds, and also a number of selfmanaged super funds, which have tended to be less affected,” he says. We all respond to world-changing events in our own way. Mathew notes that “organisations at their core are groups of people”, and that “overall, most are coping and, importantly, making sensible decisions and staying safe”. Mathew believes we can find hope in the quality of resilience. “I am a student of history and pandemics have occurred before, so in a sense nothing is new and yet everything Continued P32
Break camp By Mikaela Turner
No organisation under the Synod’s umbrella has been affected more by COVID-19 than UC Camping, which has seen its entire business shut down during lockdown and all casual and contract staff laid off. Permanent staff (about 10) have been forced to take a 50 per cent pay cut as well. In mid March, the Department of 30
Education told schools to cancel all camps, which meant all remaining term one and all term two bookings were either cancelled or deferred. UCC director Daniel Murray hopes some schools will book day programs during term three and recommit to term four bookings, but he’s not confident. “I think the reality is term four will be heavily impacted and the best we can hope for is term one next year for resumption of normal business,” he says. Daniel says the closures have caused an enormous amount of stress on his staff, even those who have kept their
jobs. “Losing half your pay and not having any work in the foreseeable future is quite an overwhelming feeling,” he says. Daniel too has had many sleepless nights, describing the past few months as “pretty traumatic”. “There’s not been one thing I’ve done that hasn’t had a direct impact on my staff or the operation of the business,” he says. “We know our staff personally and know how important that bit of income and connectivity to the workplace is, so having that taken away is just awful.”