Economy

Majority of financial advisers would vote to remain in EU and the UK to remain united

Published

10 years ago

January 22, 2014

Simon Leadbetter

In the year of European elections and the Scottish referendum, Blue & Green Tomorrow’s annual Voice of the Adviser survey asked whether they would vote to remain or exit the European Union, and whether Scottish advisers would vote to end the union in favour of independence.

Forty-nine per cent of financial advisers would vote to remain in the European Union, compared to 35% who would vote to exit.

On Scottish independence, a larger majority of 58% would vote to remain part of the UK, compared to 42% who would vote for independence. If all UK advisers are asked about preserving the union, 78% would vote in favour compared to 24% who would vote for Scottish independence.

The results suggest that financial advisers as a group, on balance, favour the status quo over significant constitutional and diplomatic change in our status on the island of Great Britain and across the continent of Europe.

Each year Blue & Green Tomorrow surveys the universe of financial advisers to explore the state of the overall market.

The survey found there had been a marginal rise, from 73% to 76%, of advisers receiving requests for sustainable, responsible and ethical advice from clients.

Friends Provident, Ecclesiastical and Aberdeen emerged as the most popular fund managers for financial advisers giving advice to clients on ethical investment, while Ecclesiastical, Aberdeen and Kames were the top choices for specialist ethical advisers.

Simon Leadbetter is the founder and publisher of Blue & Green Tomorrow. He has held senior roles at Northcliffe, The Daily Telegraph, Santander, Barclaycard, AXA, Prudential and Fidelity. In 2004, he founded a marketing agency that worked amongst others with The Guardian, Vodafone, E.On and Liverpool Victoria. He sold this agency in 2006 and as Chief Marketing Officer for two VC-backed start-ups launched the online platform Cleantech Intelligence (which underpinned the The Guardian’s Cleantech 100) and StrategyEye Cleantech. Most recently, he was Marketing Director of Emap, the UK’s largest B2B publisher, and the founder of Blue & Green Communications Limited.