Fisher's listed Barramundi fund, which invests in Australian shares, has sold out of mining giant BHP as the stock nudged 52-week highs on the ASX this month.
But the decision wasn't based on value. Instead, Barramundi told investors it had "drawn a line in the sand" over BHP's continued production
of thermal coal ¬– burnt in power stations to generate electricity.
In a letter to investors, senior portfolio manager Robbie Urquhart said Barramundi had sold out of BHP because it was deemed to be in contravention of the fund manager's responsible investing policy.
"When we built our positions in BHP and Rio Tinto in 2016, both companies were producers of thermal coal," Urquhart wrote.
"At the time it looked to us as if they were actively exiting their thermal coal operations. For this reason, we felt both companies were permissible holdings under our Responsible Investing Policy. Since then, Rio Tinto has exited thermal coal completely, selling its last mine in 2018 and we continue to maintain a shareholding in the company.
