Never mind bombs or tobacco: pornography is what Kiwisavers are most worried about

A large majority of Kiwisaver investors do not want to see their funds invested in the pornography industry. Photo/123RF.

Investing in the pornography industry is the biggest worry for KiwiSaver members concerned about where their money is going - ranking ahead of weapons, gambling and tobacco, according to Consumer New Zealand research.

Consumer's annual KiwiSaver survey asked people where they stand on certain industries and whether they knew if their KiwiSaver fund was invested in them.

While 77 per cent of those surveyed were concerned about their fund investing in the pornography industry, nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) said they had no idea if their fund did invest money in it.

Weapons (73%), gambling (70%) and tobacco (69%) were the next three largest areas of concern but people were similarly unsure as to whether their fund invested in these industries.

In 2016 a raft of KiwiSaver providers pulled out of investments in weapons makers including cluster bombs, landmines and nuclear weapons as well as tobacco after the New Zealand Herald and Radio New Zealand revealed the industry had millions of dollars invested in the controversial investments.

The Consumer Research found seven out of 10 people wanted their money to be invested ethically but only around 8600 people had signed up to invest in specially targeted ethical investment funds.

More than 2.7 million people are signed up to KiwiSaver with around $40 billion invested.

KiwiSaver investors can find out where their money is being invested by searching the Companies Office's Disclose register

But Consumer also warned the register may not give all the information people needed to know.

"Most schemes invest in global tracking funds, which means you need to dig deeper to find where these funds invest."

It urged members to question their KiwiSaver provider.

"Quiz your fund manager about its approach to responsible investment. Look for details on industries the fund screens, rather than general commitments to do the right thing. You can also ask what the fund is doing to support sustainability investing."

The research survey 1531 adults in March.