Australian Ethical offloads Lendlease shares over development threat to koala population

The fund believes itself to be ‘one of the first’ in Australia to divest from a company over a concern for an endangered species

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One of Australia’s leading ethical investment managers says it has sold its shares in Lendlease over concerns a planned housing development in south-west Sydney threatens the survival of Sydney’s largest healthy koala population.

Australian Ethical has divested $11m in shareholdings in the property developer’s listed assets, saying Lendlease had failed to provide “critical information” about the width of planned koala corridors at stage two of its Gilead housing development.

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