Smart Move for Investors

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Planet Ark Environmental Foundation and InvestSMART Financial Services have partnered to deliver positive environmental outcomes through a joint PaperCutz initiative, aimed at Australian retail investors.

The PaperCutz campaign is a long-term programme that works with businesses to encourage the switch from paper-based to electronic communication. In addition to the significant paper conservation of this initiative, waste is minimised, vast quantities of energy and water are saved and carbon dioxide emissions – generated during the paper production process - are also reduced.

Planet Ark’s partnership with InvestSMART aims to increase awareness amongst investors of the environmental benefits of switching to electronic communications. InvestSMART is an online discount broker of managed funds. With over 160,000 clients and more than 4,000 managed funds available, their clients request Product Disclosure Statements (PDS) on over 40,000 managed funds a year. InvestSMART are aiming to encourage at least 50% of their clients to download PDSs electronically, rather than requesting printed versions. Achieving that goal will save an estimated 30 tonnes of wood equivalent to 182 trees, 12 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and 221,000 litres of water.

According to Planet Ark CEO Sean Barrett, Australian businesses, along with the general public, are increasingly responding to the environmental challenge and recognising that simple actions, like opting for electronic, instead of paper communications, significantly reduce our impact on the environment and also represent sizeable cost savings.

“Given the seriousness of the climate change issue and the limited supply of our natural resources, it is not sustainable for us to continue as a paper-heavy and paper-reliant society,” said Sean Barrett. “Consumers and businesses alike are beginning to understand the direct environmental and financial benefits of reducing our paper use; and are making smarter choices in switching to electronic forms of communication.”

InvestSMART will donate 20 cents to Planet Ark for every managed fund product disclosure statement downloaded from their website. Monies raised from this programme will contribute to Planet Ark’s national environmental campaigns, including: Cartridges 4 Planet Ark, National Tree Day and National Recycling Week. For more information, please visit www.planetark.org.

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