KiwiSaver investors care if their savings cause environmental or social harm. And many more would care if major fund managers backed up their commitments to responsible investment with action.

New Zealand investment managers may be neglecting their duty to put investors' interests first by taking an exclusion-only approach to responsible investment, a major KiwiSaver provider has warned.

Kiwi Wealth, a KiwiSaver provider which is owned by the government, ACC and the NZ Superannuation Fund, has published a white paper on its take on responsible investment at the New Zealand Responsible Investment Conference in Auckland today.

KiwiSaver provider Kiwi Wealth says it will cut out investments in weapons, tobacco and whaling companies as part of a new responsible investment strategy as well as companies with a poor track record in environmental, social and governance areas.

The move comes a year after Radio NZ and the Herald highlighted controversial investments made by KiwiSaver providers.

There's been a dramatic increase in ethical investments since the public outcry over KiwiSaver investments send fund managers scrambling to dump millions of dollars in weapons and tobacco companies.

Investment in ethical funds that exclude such companies jumped 2500 percent to $42.7 billion by the end of 2016, up from $1.6bn in 2015, a Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA) report showed.

ANZ today announced a new international equities fund which excludes investments in companies involved in weapons and tobacco, following pressure from consumers.

The fund recognises changing views on responsible investing, with ANZ saying that they will be able to invest or divest quickly depending on investor attitudes.

350 Aotearoa is calling on ANZ to show the same responsiveness when it comes to divestment from the fossil fuel industry.

ANZ Investments today announced details of a new international equities fund that can be tailored to meet the changing views of New Zealanders on responsible investing.

ANZ Wealth managing director Craig Mulholland said today the new fund tracks an index of international equities that excludes investments in companies involved in controversial weapons and tobacco.

The government won't put a deadline on when it expects KiwiSaver providers to exit investments in banned weapons' makers instead insisting they should act as "quickly as possible."

The Green Party has called for a hard line to be drawn on when fund managers should have to exit the investments after Radio New Zealand reported ANZ, Kiwi Wealth, Westpac and Mercer still had passive investments in companies linked to cluster bombs, anti-personnel mines and nuclear weapons.

ASB bank is the last major KiwiSaver provider to continue holding investments in tobacco companies after AMP and Westpac confirmed they will pull out this year.

The bank, which is the country's second largest KiwiSaver fund manager, confirmed today it still has an exposure to tobacco companies which was worth more than $20 million last month.

Bank of New Zealand has developed a responsible investment policy which excludes companies involved in the production of cluster munitions, anti-personnel mines, nuclear weapons and tobacco or tobacco products from its international equity holdings, it said.

Consumer polling released today highlights just how strongly New Zealanders believe their KiwiSaver providers should consider environmental, social and ethical factors as part of delivering good investment products and financial returns.