Economy

UKSIF asks members to help shape its sustainable investment support for 2014

Published

11 years ago

January 10, 2014

Blue & Green Tomorrow

The trade body for the sustainable investment industry is seeking its members’ opinions on how it can improve its work for 2014, in the form of an online survey.

The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), whose members include asset management firms, financial advisers, pension funds and large banks, was formed in 1991 when less than £1 billion was invested in UK ethical retail funds.

Twenty-two years into the organisation’s existence, the figure is now closer to £12 billion, according to the responsible investment research firm EIRIS. Meanwhile, assets under management in the Blue & Green Investor fund library exceed the £20 billion mark.

Simon Howard took over the reins from Penny Shepherd as UKSIF chief executive in May 2013. He said there was “a lot to do” as he embarked on his first full calendar year at the helm.

“I think UKSIF can be crisper and more commercial – we need to show our utility to members and we will”, he added.

The first piece of work on UKSIF’s agenda for the year, Howard said, was formulating a response to the Law Commission on fiduciary duty. The responsible investment charity ShareAction recently published its own reaction to the consultation, calling for clarification on investors’ ability to take into account non-financial factors.

Howard continued, “Beyond that we want to develop and grow everything – Ownership Day, National Ethical Investment Week, the analyst programme and public policy.”

To help UKSIF represent its members to the best of its ability, the organisation has created a 10-minute survey that asks respondents what they feel it is strongest at and how they think it could improve.

Split into seven themes, it has a total of 59 questions, many of which are multiple choice. Members are invited to provide feedback between now and the January 29 deadline.

The UKSIF Member Survey 2014 can be completed here.