Economy

One week until sustainable investment bootcamp for financial advisers

Published

11 years ago

September 19, 2013

Blue & Green Tomorrow

Blue & Green Tomorrow’s sustainable investment bootcamp for financial advisers takes place a week today (September 26) at the prestigious Lincoln’s Inn in London.

Eighty-three advisers have registered, with a further 30 interested in attending a similar event on a different day or in a different location.

The event’s keynote speaker will be William Day, sustainability adviser to PricewaterhouseCoopers and chairman of the non-profit Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP). Day, who also holds senior roles at the WWF and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), will speak about whether the world’s current economic model is really sustainable.

Other panellists and speakers include Raj Thamotheram, author and president of the Network for Sustainable Financial Markets; Clare Brook, founding partner at WHEB Asset Management; Peter Michaelis, head of SRI at Alliance Trust; Julia Dreblow, founder of sriServices; John Ditchfield, managing partner at Barchester Green; and Julian Parrott of Ethical Futures.

Speaking about the importance of the event, Simon Howard, chief executive of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), said, “More and more IFAs are reporting that their clients are asking for green and ethical investments. We urge all IFAs to get familiar with the issues and join the growing numbers who are developing expertise in these areas.

“Institutional investors increasingly recognise the risks to the value of companies that pollute indiscriminately or which ignore their part in climate change, and some are beginning to look at the growth opportunities in companies and technologies which tackle these problems. These two trends make good financial sense. They will both continue and the scope for IFAs to play their part in developing them – and benefitting from doing so – is significant.”

A Blue & Green Tomorrow survey from earlier this year revealed that three-quarters (74%) of IFAs say their clients are asking for advice on green and ethical investments. Meanwhile, 58% of clients expect IFAs to be able to advise them on how green and ethical issues may shape their investments, and nearly two-thirds of IFAs (61%) believe that requests for ethical advice are growing.