Foresters ANA Friendly Society Ltd was formed in 1999 when the Ancient Order of Foresters Society Queensland merged with the Australian Natives Association of Queensland. Both societies emerged in the 19th century when "ordinary" people pooled their resources to provide each other with a range of mutual aid benefits, including unemployment payments, sickness benefits and health insurance.

Today, Foresters ANA, which has more than 2000 members, offers a wide variety of opportunities for local community capital growth, including micro-finance (a financial distress fund which provides no-interest loans of up to $2000 to members, a community credit fund, and various savings and loans circles); mutual aid (the Foresters ANA Eco-fund, which assists members through no-interest benefits to make their homes more environmentally friendly); and ethical investment opportunities, such as the Foresters ANA Community Trust and the ANA Ethical Superannuation Fund.

An environmentally friendly house of an ANA member

In 1993, Foresters ANA set up the ANA Ethical Superannuation Fund, the first of its kind in Australia. The fund, a public offer superannuation fund, managed by Foresters ANA invests in projects and companies that protect the environment and help people to improve their quality of life. Only 15 per cent of its funds are invested in the share market. The remaining 85 per cent are invested in positive projects and programs such as housing for the disabled, community kindergartens, solar water systems, and credit unions operating in remote areas where banks have either withdrawn services or are not interested in setting up business.

A meeting of ANA directors

On average the fund returns around 5-6% on investments and has performed much better than many of the major funds that saw negative returns last year. The recent fall in the stock market makes it likely that many mainstream funds will return a loss again this year.

Richard de Simone

Richard de Simone, General Secretary of Foresters ANA says, "Clients of many major funds are not laughing now they're seeing negative returns on their investments. Not only are our members' funds protected from the massive fluctuations in the share market, they get the sort of dividends you can't achieve from investing in banks and mining companies - the knowledge that they're making a contribution to their future and their kids' future."

For information on Foresters ANA, their programs or the Ethical Superannuation Fund click on: www.forestersana.com.au.