Imagine a tobacco-free world.
Let’s start with tobacco-free finance.
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Tobacco Free Portfolios is an accomplished team of medical doctors, ethics experts and sustainable finance professionals, located in three different key financial markets and actively working across more than twenty countries. Working collaboratively with finance leaders – spanning banking, insurance, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset management and rating agencies – the Tobacco Free Portfolios team puts tobacco-free finance on the agenda. Tobacco exclusions are increasingly considered a fundamental step on the journey to integrate sustainability, responsibility and transparency into the fabric of mainstream business. In the process, a new bridge is being built between the health and finance sectors and a novel approach to bring an end to the world’s greatest cause of preventable death, is being embraced.
Tobacco Free Portfolios is an accomplished team of medical doctors, ethics experts and sustainable finance professionals with a global reach. Working collaboratively with finance leaders – spanning banking, insurance, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset management and rating agencies – the Tobacco Free Portfolios team has put tobacco-free finance on the agenda across Europe.
Tobacco exclusions are increasingly accepted as a fundamental cornerstone and step on the journey to integrate sustainability, responsibility and transparency into the fabric of mainstream business. In the process, new bridges have been built between the health and finance sectors, and a novel approach to bring an end to the world’s greatest cause of preventable death, is being embraced.
The European finance sector has led in implementing tobacco-free finance, with some of the world’s largest pension funds, banks, insurers and asset managers celebrating the global health benefits and positive financial outcomes of a tobacco-free position.
Financial institutions across the USA are rapidly expanding offerings of sustainability-aligned products, as unprecedented demand surges. Sustainability is now entrenched as a material issue in corporate boardrooms, where frameworks are being drafted, tested and refined. Tobacco-free finance is a crucial step on this journey.
Dr Bronwyn King AO, MBBS, FRANZCR – Founder, Director and CEOFounder, Director and CEO
Dr. Bronwyn King AO began her medical career working as a doctor on the lung cancer ward at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. While doing her best to treat her patients (many of whom had started smoking in childhood) Dr King observed first-hand the truly devastating impact of tobacco - many deaths and much suffering. She was unaware that at the very same time she was investing in Big Tobacco via her compulsory superannuation (pension) fund. Tobacco Free Portfolios was set up in response to that uncomfortable discovery. Since then, Dr King has assembled an accomplished team that has been instrumental in advancing the switch to tobacco-free finance across the globe. Her 2017 TEDxSydney talk on tobacco-free finance has been viewed more than three million times.
Rebecca E. Brown, CFP® – USA DirectorUSA Director
Rebecca serves as USA Director for Tobacco Free Portfolios and is responsible for collaborating with organizations to forward the work of tobacco-free finance across the United States. Previously, Rebecca worked for Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, LLC (CRM), a boutique asset manager, as Director of Marketing and Client Service for over 16 years. There she was responsible for both institutional and high net worth client service, marketing, and business development. Importantly, she led the firm’s responsible investing efforts including drafting and oversight of its policies and procedures. She also successfully advocated for CRM to become a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2017 and the firm’s formal exclusion of tobacco from its investment portfolios in 2019.
Clare Payne – AdvisorAdvisor
Clare advises businesses and leaders on ethics, good governance and trust. She is a former employment lawyer who managed the integrity office of Macquarie Bank and founded The Banking and Finance Oath, a Hippocratic-type oath for those in finance. Prior to the global financial crisis, Clare’s paper titled, ‘Ethics or Bust’ was awarded the inaugural Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize by the Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva. Clare then went on to co-author, A Matter of Trust - The Practice of Ethics in Finance (2018).
Lisa Nicolaou – Executive AssistantExecutive Assistant
Lisa has extensive administrative skills and experience, primarily in travel, tourism and public health in both Australia and the UK. Lisa first worked with Dr King over a decade ago, at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, where she supported the Radiation Oncology specialists. Lisa clearly remembers the day in 2010 when Dr King had ‘the conversation’ with her superannuation fund and discovered that she was unwittingly investing her money in tobacco.
Allison Biggin – Operations ManagerOperations Manager
Allison has extensive experience across various industries in the areas of governance, process improvement, information technology, project and change management. She spent a large portion of her career within the financial services industry in various operations roles covering Customer Relationship Management, Digital and Contact Centre.
Kaye Hawkins – Financial ControllerFinancial Controller
Kaye met Dr King in 2015 and was inspired to hear of her work as an advocate for the switch to tobacco-free finance. When the opportunity arose to join Tobacco Free Portfolios, Kaye was delighted to join the team and become part of the movement driving change.
Dr Bronwyn King AO, MBBS, FRANZCR – Founder, Director and CEOFounder, Director and CEO
Dr. Bronwyn King AO began her medical career working as a doctor on the lung cancer ward at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. While doing her best to treat her patients (many of whom had started smoking in childhood) Dr King observed first-hand the truly devastating impact of tobacco - many deaths and much suffering. She was unaware that at the very same time she was investing in Big Tobacco via her compulsory superannuation (pension) fund. Tobacco Free Portfolios was set up in response to that uncomfortable discovery. Since then, Dr King has assembled an accomplished team that has been instrumental in advancing the switch to tobacco-free finance across the globe. Her 2017 TEDxSydney talk on tobacco-free finance has been viewed more than three million times.
Rebecca E. Brown, CFP® – USA DirectorUSA Director
Rebecca serves as USA Director for Tobacco Free Portfolios and is responsible for collaborating with organizations to forward the work of tobacco-free finance across the United States. Previously, Rebecca worked for Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, LLC (CRM), a boutique asset manager, as Director of Marketing and Client Service for over 16 years. There she was responsible for both institutional and high net worth client service, marketing, and business development. Importantly, she led the firm’s responsible investing efforts including drafting and oversight of its policies and procedures. She also successfully advocated for CRM to become a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2017 and the firm’s formal exclusion of tobacco from its investment portfolios in 2019.
Clare Payne – AdvisorAdvisor
Clare advises businesses and leaders on ethics, good governance and trust. She is a former employment lawyer who managed the integrity office of Macquarie Bank and founded The Banking and Finance Oath, a Hippocratic-type oath for those in finance. Prior to the global financial crisis, Clare’s paper titled, ‘Ethics or Bust’ was awarded the inaugural Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize by the Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva. Clare then went on to co-author, A Matter of Trust - The Practice of Ethics in Finance (2018).
Lisa Nicolaou – Executive AssistantExecutive Assistant
Lisa has extensive administrative skills and experience, primarily in travel, tourism and public health in both Australia and the UK. Lisa first worked with Dr King over a decade ago, at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, where she supported the Radiation Oncology specialists. Lisa clearly remembers the day in 2010 when Dr King had ‘the conversation’ with her superannuation fund and discovered that she was unwittingly investing her money in tobacco.
Allison Biggin – Operations ManagerOperations Manager
Allison has extensive experience across various industries in the areas of governance, process improvement, information technology, project and change management. She spent a large portion of her career within the financial services industry in various operations roles covering Customer Relationship Management, Digital and Contact Centre.
Kaye Hawkins – Financial ControllerFinancial Controller
Kaye met Dr King in 2015 and was inspired to hear of her work as an advocate for the switch to tobacco-free finance. When the opportunity arose to join Tobacco Free Portfolios, Kaye was delighted to join the team and become part of the movement driving change.
Dr Bronwyn King AO, MBBS, FRANZCR – Founder, Director and CEOFounder, Director and CEO
Dr. Bronwyn King AO began her medical career working as a doctor on the lung cancer ward at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. While doing her best to treat her patients (many of whom had started smoking in childhood) Dr King observed first-hand the truly devastating impact of tobacco - many deaths and much suffering. She was unaware that at the very same time she was investing in Big Tobacco via her compulsory superannuation (pension) fund. Tobacco Free Portfolios was set up in response to that uncomfortable discovery. Since then, Dr King has assembled an accomplished team that has been instrumental in advancing the switch to tobacco-free finance across the globe. Her 2017 TEDxSydney talk on tobacco-free finance has been viewed more than three million times.
Rebecca E. Brown, CFP® – USA DirectorUSA Director
Rebecca serves as USA Director for Tobacco Free Portfolios and is responsible for collaborating with organizations to forward the work of tobacco-free finance across the United States. Previously, Rebecca worked for Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, LLC (CRM), a boutique asset manager, as Director of Marketing and Client Service for over 16 years. There she was responsible for both institutional and high net worth client service, marketing, and business development. Importantly, she led the firm’s responsible investing efforts including drafting and oversight of its policies and procedures. She also successfully advocated for CRM to become a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2017 and the firm’s formal exclusion of tobacco from its investment portfolios in 2019.
Clare Payne – AdvisorAdvisor
Clare advises businesses and leaders on ethics, good governance and trust. She is a former employment lawyer who managed the integrity office of Macquarie Bank and founded The Banking and Finance Oath, a Hippocratic-type oath for those in finance. Prior to the global financial crisis, Clare’s paper titled, ‘Ethics or Bust’ was awarded the inaugural Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize by the Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva. Clare then went on to co-author, A Matter of Trust - The Practice of Ethics in Finance (2018).
Lisa Nicolaou – Executive AssistantExecutive Assistant
Lisa has extensive administrative skills and experience, primarily in travel, tourism and public health in both Australia and the UK. Lisa first worked with Dr King over a decade ago, at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, where she supported the Radiation Oncology specialists. Lisa clearly remembers the day in 2010 when Dr King had ‘the conversation’ with her superannuation fund and discovered that she was unwittingly investing her money in tobacco.
Allison Biggin – Operations ManagerOperations Manager
Allison has extensive experience across various industries in the areas of governance, process improvement, information technology, project and change management. She spent a large portion of her career within the financial services industry in various operations roles covering Customer Relationship Management, Digital and Contact Centre.
Kaye Hawkins – Financial ControllerFinancial Controller
Kaye met Dr King in 2015 and was inspired to hear of her work as an advocate for the switch to tobacco-free finance. When the opportunity arose to join Tobacco Free Portfolios, Kaye was delighted to join the team and become part of the movement driving change.
Our vision is for a world free from tobacco.
Our mission is to inform, prioritise and advance tobacco-free finance.
Board members
Global Advisory Council
Leaders in finance, health, government and philanthropy support Tobacco Free Portfolios through our Global Advisory Council.