UKSIF elects new director to its board

John Ditchfield, a managing partner at independent financial advisers (IFA) Barchester Green, has been elected to the board of directors of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF).

Ditchfield, who spoke with Blue & Green Tomorrow last year about the “mainstream opportunities” surrounding ethical investment, has spent nearly a decade working for Barchester Green, the UK’s longest-established ethical IFA.

His confidence in the sector’s future exponential growth and increasing importance to tackling some of the world’s biggest issues was seen as key in his election to the role.

“I am delighted to bring to the UKSIF board my knowledge and perspective as a financial adviser with over 10 years of experience in advising private and charity clients on ethical and environmental investment“, he said.

“Over the past five years I’ve seen rapid growth in the level of interest in responsible and sustainable investing.

“The banking crisis made many people question the way that they save and invest and I believe that UKSIF, as an influential organisation which represents the full spectrum of sustainable and responsible investment stakeholders, is well placed to play a key role in developing the market for responsible investment.

“I look forward to helping to shape the association’s – and its members’ – success.”

Meanwhile, Amanda Young, socially responsible investment (SRI) officer at Newton Investment Management, and David Harris, head of responsible investment at the FTSE Group, were both re-elected.

Harris, who is vice chair of UKSIF, forms part of the management team of FTSE’s environmental social governance (ESG) service unit, along with Kevin Bourne and Gordon Morrison, who both outlined the then-newly-established team’s premise to B&GT in June this year.

UKSIF’s chief executive, Penny Shepherd, is often seen as the figurehead of the UK’s sustainable investment movement, and she too spoke with B&GT earlier this year about the current and future trends in the field.

The interview formed part of our Guide to Sustainable Investment, an in-depth guide that aims to take you on a journey of discovery—embarking at ethical origins, travelling through the green and growing fields of sustainable and socially responsible investment and disembarking at a new, enlightened destination.

You can download it here for free.

Further reading:

Ethical investment has taken off despite a ‘great deal of misunderstanding’

FTSE’s ESG unit can “shed light” on responsible investment

The dynamic future of sustainable investment

The Guide to Sustainable Investment