Church of England dumps coal

The Church of England will dump its holdings in coal and oil-sand producers and has ruled out backing companies with exposure to the most polluting fossil fuels, joining the movement that wants investors to help fight climate change, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The church's investment arm said on Thursday that it will sell its £12 million ($24 million) coal and tar sands investments. The church also vowed not to invest in any business that get more than 10% of its revenues from the fuels, ruling out companies including Peabody Energy and Suncor Energy.

New Mitsui chief looks beyond resources

The new head of one of the biggest investors in Australian resources, Japanese trading house Mitsui, is planning to devote more energy to developing non-resources businesses as part of a global realignment of the company, which will involve it taking more operational control over its sprawling global network of investments, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Newly appointed chief executive Tatsuo Yasunaga said Mitsui wanted to focus more on agriculture in Australia but would also be pushing for more use of labour-saving technology in its Australian mining investments in a bid to boost efficiency after the end of the commodities boom.

South32 index cash set for shift south

Australian index funds will pile into a forced buy-in of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of shares in South32 this month ahead of its local listing in June to satisfy their index-linked mandates, which will help counter a wave of forced selling in London, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Three key proxy advisers have come out in support of the much talked about spin-off, which is expected to sail through this Wednesday when parent BHP Billiton puts it to a shareholder vote.