UniSuper’s marketing and investment decisions have again been referred to the federal corporate watchdog, ASIC, after Environmental Defenders Office client John Dixon lodged a complaint about potential greenwashing by the industry giant last week. [1]

Mr Dixon, a former head of human resources at Sydney University, alleges UniSuper may have misled its members by continuing to market its Global Environmental Opportunities (GEO) product as “sustainable” and “environmental” even after it changed the environmental standards it applied to GEO investments.

GEO’s underlying rules now allow it to invest in companies with as little as 20% of revenue linked to “environmental themes”. That threshold was halved from 40% in March 2025, without any change to the option’s name, marketing and with minimal notification to fund members.

Mr Dixon is also writing to the Vice-Chancellors of 36 universities, which are shareholders of UniSuper Ltd, UniSuper’s corporate trustee.

“UniSuper’s decision to retain its Global Environmental Opportunities name and continue to market it as one of its ‘sustainable and environmental’ investment options may have misled or deceived fund members,” Mr Dixon said.

“I certainly feel as though I was misled. All super funds should adhere to the highest standards of probity, but I think the public expects a fund created by the university sector to uphold the very highest standards. I believe in this case UniSuper has failed to do that.”

Mr Dixon wrote last August to UniSuper, which manages almost $160 billion for more than 670,000 members, regarding his concerns in relation to the GEO option, but found its response unsatisfactory so approached EDO to make a formal complaint to the corporate regulator.

He said UniSuper should either change the product’s name and the way it is marketed or apply more rigorous environmental standards to its investments to ensure it meets the pro-environmental claims made by the product’s marketing.

The complaint raises fresh questions about greenwashing in the superannuation sector, and comes amid ASIC enforcement action against Vanguard, Mercer and Active Super in relation to sustainability claims.

EDO Acting Managing Lawyer (Corporate & Commercial) Katarina Thompson said: “Super funds are responsible for the investment of billions of dollars every year.

“The choices these funds make can have a significant impact in the real world.

“That’s why many members ask to have their money invested in environmentally themed products like UniSuper’s GEO.

“Greenwashing slows the transition to the sustainable future that many investors hope to accelerate.

“It is incumbent upon super fund managers to be transparent about how members’ money is being invested and the impact those investments are likely to have.”

About Mr Dixon

Mr Dixon worked in higher education for about 30 years, including more than 27 years at the University of Sydney, before retiring in 2017. Most of that time, Mr Dixon worked in human resource management, which frequently involved superannuation issues.

REFERENCES

[1] 260219 John Dixon – complaint to ASIC re UniSuper

MEDIA CONTACT

EDO Media Adviser | James Tremain | 0419 272 254