The biggest super funds in Australia have poured over AU$4.2 billion of workers’ retirement savings into the gambling sector – including poker machine manufacturers, lottery and casino operators – although some investment options claim to be socially aware.
Investors in the largest poker machine operator in Australia – Endeavour Group – that currently operates 12,539 poker machines in 300 hotels across the nation, include the “Socially Aware” option run by AustralianSuper, the nation’s biggest fund, and the so-called “Sustainable Growth” option offered by Rest, a retail employee fund.
Aristocrat Leisure Ltd, the largest poker machine manufacturer, has also been investing in the Socially Aware option of AustralianSuper, along with some other casino operators. The third-biggest super fund in the country, Aware, is also reported as a big holder of gambling stocks, including the two previously mentioned ones, Endeavour Group and Aristocrat Leisure.
Under some laws that were brought in by the Morrison Government in 2021, superannuation funds are required to provide details of what they invest in twice a year. The latest available data that was correct as of June 30th, 2022, reveals that the 10 biggest super funds all make investments in Aristocrat Leisure and currently own a total of no less than AU$1.67 billion worth of sales.
Australians Spend Heavily on Controversial Poker Machines Every Year
According to recent estimates provided by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian residents lose approximately AU$25 billion to legal forms of gambling on an annual basis. In 2021, they lost over AU$11.4 billion to so-called pokies alone.
Currently, 6.6% of Aristocrat’s shares are held by AustralianSuper, which boosted its share in the company from 5.05% in June 2022, when it had almost $921 invested in Aristocrat Leisure through Balanced, which is its most popular option. The Balanced option also invested a smaller amount – about AU$624 million – in Endeavour Group, as well as AU$661 million in Lottery Corporation, and AU$148 million in Tabcorp. It also had an investment amounting to more than AU$100 million in the casino operator SkyCity Entertainment, and another AU$4 million in the troubled Australian casino company Star Entertainment.
The Socially Aware option of AustralianSuper also holds AU$16-million invested in Aristocrat Leisure’s shares, along with holdings in four other Australian-listed gambling operators, which amounted to almost AU$45 million in 2021. Currently, however, AustralianSuper’s marketing does not mention gambling, even after a spokesperson for the company noted that no particular industries, other than tobacco, were excluded by the fund.
The spokesperson of AustralianSuper further noted that the fund had been actively engaging with gambling operators to understand the initiatives they have to make sure that the appropriate governance practices are in place in order to meet the high standards of responsible gambling rules.
As revealed by a representative, Aware Super champions’ most popular option had invested about AU$460 million in Australian gambling companies, including almost AU$220 million in Aristocrat Leisure. A spokesperson confirmed that the gambling sector is just one of the industries they invest in, and noted that its Sustainable Growth option excludes companies that have over 5% of their overall revenue generated from gambling.
For the time being, Endeavour Group has not revealed how much of its revenue is generated from its 12,539 poker machines across the country. According to estimates provided by shareholder activist Stephen Mayne, who is also known as a long-time opponent of pokies, Endeavour Group gets between AU$1.5 billion and AU$1.6 billion of its revenue from its poker machines on an annual basis.
- Author
Daniel Williams
