Industry news and views from Panacea and our partners.
Ethical/ESG_
sriServices and Fund EcoMarket news
This one is primarily to let you know that the videos from our 3 October 'Sustainability & Suitability' event are now available on our YouTube site that you can view here!
SRI services: 'Sustainability & Suitability' Intermediary conference
This year's highly topical theme is: 'Sustainability and Suitability' . Sessions will focus on helping attendees to understand and make the most of the opportunities presented by the rapidly growing SRI, ESG, Sustainable, Responsible and Ethical investment market.
Rathbones: From plastic fantastic to plastic pollution
Since its invention in 1907 by Belgiums Leo Hendrik Baekeland, plastic has moulded our everyday lives. More than a century later, plastic fragments in our oceans have created one of the most serious environmental challenges facing the world today.
Sustainability and Suitability
SRI Services & partners are delighted to announce our Sustainability and Suitability conference for financial services intermediaries, to be held in London on 3 October - during Good Money Week 2018.
sriServices: Good Money Week 2017
With Good Money Week 2017 having just started now seems like a fitting time to mention some of the positive work taking place in government and beyond that are likely to drive progress in SRI sustainable, responsible and ethical investment over the coming year.
SRI Services: Good Money Week
With Good Money Week having just started, now seems like a fitting time to mention some of the positive work taking place in government and beyond that are likely to drive progress in SRI sustainable, responsible and ethical investment over the coming year.
London SRI event 'Screened, Themed and Engaged 2017'
In case you missed our earlier email, this is to invite you to our 'Screened, Themed and Engaged 2017' event at the Museum of London on 19 October.
sriServices and Fund EcoMarket news
One of the joys of updating technology is that it can slow things down - but as there is so much happening in the sustainable, responsible and ethical investment world at the moment, I figure this newsletter is better late than never!
Sri Services: Climate risk
Pension Actuaries warned of Climate Risk As users of our Fund EcoMarket and SRI Services websites may know, I have long been of the view that pension investors pay far too little attention to climate change risk, which is likely to affect longer term investors more than shorter term investors. It was therefore with great interest that I heard actuary Nico Aspinall presenting on this topic at a recent Transparency Symposium. His message was that The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) had recently published an alert to all members calling on them to consider climate related risk.
Sri services: Fund EcoMarket announcement new Corporate SRI Activity area added for Good Money Week 2016!
I am delighted to announce that we have gone live with a major change to the way Fund EcoMarket works. We have created a new Corporate SRI Activity filter area, in order to help users recognise the differences between sustainable, responsible and ethical investment related activity that happens behind the scenes (often) across the board in some fund management companies and the policies and features that relate to individual screened and themed funds.
SRI: Environmentally, Socially and Financially Useful
I have just been informed that the CII Thinkpiece that I wrote for the Chartered Insurance Institute is now live on their website and being distributed to their 120,000 members across many countries.
inSRI Newsletter 8 - Fund EcoMarket v2.0 seven months on
Welcome to the 8th 'inSRI' newsletter - updating you on Fund EcoMarket and related goings on. First things first... in the emerging post Brexit vote world I remain hopeful that SRI will continue to go from strength to strength, as it has done recently, for a couple of reasons:
Sri Services: Integrating sustainable, responsible and ethical investment into the advice process
Last week saw Julia Dreblow of sriServices present to PFS members as part of the Insurance Institute of Londons* lunchtime seminar series, discussing how and why advisers can and should discuss this area with their clients.
Sri Services: Panama Papers: from point scoring to progress?
I am delighted to see at least some of the ethical aspects of investment hitting the headlines but have a strong feeling that constructive debate would be more useful than political mudslinging Tempting as it is, I intend to stay well away from specific cases and take a brief look at three areas that I feel would be beneficial for the financial community to consider.
'Appetite and barriers' explored in FCA Social Investment Review
I have reservations about the FCA having lumped Social Impact Investment (not really my area!) in with ethical/sustainable investment options (my area!) in this review. I am also concerned about possible outcomes of this review for the adviser market...
5 steps to delight your ethically minded clients ahead of Good Money Week 2015
Embarking on any new challenge requires a plan, so here is a whistle stop tour of the 5 steps advisers can take to bring sustainable, responsible and ethical investment (SRI) into the advice process
SRI Services: Stranded Assets article for advisers in this months ILP Moneyfacts Magazine
Just published my latest article for adviser publication Investment Life and Pension Moneyfacts! This article explains the high profile issue of Stranded Assets for financial advisers. It sets out some of this years major climate change related investor activity and the issues ahead for all investors retail and institutional, SRI and non SRI. Click here to open this months Dont miss the boat Moneyfacts article.
SRI Services: Join our Find Adviser list
We are in the process of updating the Find Adviser area on Fund EcoMarket ahead of doing some advertising and of course UKSIFs ever profile building Good Money Week (18-24 October). If you are an IFA who ALWAYS offers clients the option to invest in ethical, sustainable and responsible options and would like to be added to the list please get in touch and I will gladly include you (for a small fee!)
Sri Services: Fund EcoMarket 2.0 (beta site) now LIVE!
Fund EcoMarket is our unique, comprehensive SRI and ethical investment database tool for the individual investor world. FEM has been up and running since 2011 and over that time we have learned a great deal all of which has now been brought into 'version 2'
sriServices awarded Highly Commended in Corporation of London Sustainable City Awards
sriServices awarded Highly Commended in Corporation of London Sustainable City Awards.
Fidelity: Can you bank on income again?
UK banks have been in the headlines with Lloyds resuming its dividend and RBS reducing its investment banking operations. Seven years after the government bail-out, Michael Clark assesses what these latest developments mean for UK equity income investors.
Moneyfacts feature: 'SRI: Play Ball or Play Chicken'
In January, sriServices again contributed to 'Investment Life & Pensions Moneyfacts' magasine with a feaure. The article showcased some 2014 SRI highlights and encouraged advisers to look again at the SRI market in 2015.
Welcome 'inSRI' - Newsletter #3
As the festive season approaches now seemed like an excellent time to offer a roundup of sriServices news and other related 'retail' SRI activity.
Standard Life Investment: Ethical investing a changing landscape
Ethical considerations are becoming increasingly important to investors, as governments worldwide seek to establish improved standards of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice.
SRI Services: 302 segmented regulated retail SRI funds (& friends)
sriServices has today completed the quarterly update of the Fund EcoMarket database tool. Regulated retail investment options now total 301.
SRI adviser briefing event videos now available!
Following the success of the sriServices SRI event we are delighted to announce that videos from the occasion are now available for all to see.
Standard Life Investments: Ethical investing for the long term
During the last decade, the Standard Life Investments UK Ethical Fund has returned 149.3%* to investors versus the UK All Companies sector average of 129%* and its ethical subsector average of 120.2%*. The Fund has returned above median performance over all key time periods in the UK All Companies sector and has been a consistent top quartile performer in its ethical subsector*.
inSRI - the 'new' newsletter from sriServices
'inSRI' is to be an 'occasional' newsletter; a resource for those who work 'in' and around 'SRI' (which I define as 'Sustainable & Responsible Investment'). Its core aim of being useful to those in the retail, financial advisory world...
Aberdeen Asset Management: Getting to grips with sustainability
At Aberdeen we are always trying to think of big property ideas that keep us ahead of the curve. Sometimes we need to think about the bigger picture. Ensuring our properties have excellent sustainability credentials has been a key priority.
Only one week to go to the SRI & ethical investment adviser briefing
On Friday 13 June Rayner Spencer Mills Research and sriServices will be holding their first ever joint adviser briefing on Sustainable and Responsible Investment.
Big in Ethics? Adviser SRI event 13 June
June 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of the UKs first retail ethical funds. Assets under management in funds of this kind now exceed £12 billion a figure that is many times greater than early predictions and dwarfed by massive institutional, pension and charity support for SRI (sustainable and responsible investment).
Central London SRI adviser event... Hold the date: 13 June (am)
Rayner Spencer Mills Research and sriServices are delighted to announce that we are holding an event for financial advisers to mark the launch of our new SRI Rated Fund List and Adviser Guide.
SRI Services: Parmenion DFM refreshes ethical SRI portfolio options
Following a review by the Parmenion Ethical Oversight Committee award winning Discretionary Fund Manager Parmenion has launched new ethical (SRI) literature
SRI Services: Missing piece of SRI puzzle found at Threadneedle
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Simon Bond, the aptly named Threadneedle Corporate Bond fund manager. Simon is at the helm of a new fund where the objective is to manage a fixed interest securities (corporate bond) fund that bring both social benefits and competitive returns.
RSMR: There is one EU Directive on the sale of cabbages that contains 26,911 words.
The RSMR research and CPD library might well run to many more words but it contains a wealth of useful information
6 signs that say this client should think about ethical investment and SRI in 2014
People who are interested in Ethical or Sustainable and Responsible Investment will not have it blazoned across their foreheads nor are they likely to ask about it, as they probably dont know it exists.
SRI Services: All things bright (red) and ethical...
Many things ethical investment have made headline news recently. Indeed it is tempting to run a competition to see who can find the most articles that really have nothing to do with ethical investment...
National Ethical Investment Week 2013 est arrive 5 Top SRI Tips for Advisers
Beaujolais it may not be but nouveau this approach really is! With NEIW13 upon us (13 19 October) theres no time like the present to think about how to develop your own ethical investment & SRI strategy.