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Sustainable and Responsible Investment Week kicks off in Italy
Italy’s second Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) Week kicked off on Tuesday, as the industry looks to shed light on the country’s ethical investment opportunities.
A series of events and talks will run until November 15 in Rome, Milan, Venice and Naples. During the week, workshops and conferences about climate change and insurance, impact investing, SRI communication and investor engagement will be held.
The event, organised by the Forum per la Finanza Sostenibile (the Sustainable Finance Forum), a founding member of the European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif), will also hand out an award for the best sustainable investor of the year.
The first event, which took place in Milan on Tuesday, was called Growth, sustainability and cohesion: the role of savers. Francois Passant, executive director of Eurosif, spoke about the European SRI transparency code, a crucial part of SRI practices that can help make investment terms clearer and easier to understand.
Simone Pizzoglio, managing director of customer equity firm Doxametrics, focused on how clients perceived ethical investment, as many do not know exactly what the options are and what SRI means. In fact, only 23% of Italian savers know exactly what socially and responsible investment means, but almost half of them would consider it for their savings.
Senior consultant at ratings agency Vigeo, Federico Pezzolato, also gave an overview about the size of ethical funds in Europe, saying that while Northern Europe and France were taking the lead in SRI retail funds assets, Italy and Spain still have work to do.
The Italian SRI Week aims to raise awareness of the ethical and sustainable options among investors, showing the potential that such investment can have on a national and European scale.
Further reading:
Investimenti responsabili: a glance at Italy’s responsible investment market
Money invested in UK sustainable investment funds increased 30% in a year
63% of UK investors want to be offered sustainable investment options
70% of investors don’t know if their investments are ethical