Sustainable Investing Part 1 | IFA 78 |May 2019

by | Apr 26, 2019

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There can be little doubt that the world is becoming more aware of the negative impact which are actions as human beings is having on the world around us – and the significant environment and social consequences which result from this. As an avid watcher of the BBC’s magnificent Blue Planet series I, like many others, have become even more painfully aware of how we are adversely affecting the health and sustainability of the planet in so many different ways with our modern day habits. As the programme highlighted, it’s about a whole lot more than our use of plastic but that is one particular aspect which has really grabbed attention and is changing people’s daily habits.

Step forward the worlds of investment and financial planning. When it comes to their investment portfolios, clients are not immune to this growing awareness about impact and are becoming more concerned about where their money is invested. As financial planners, making sure that your clients’ investments meet their various objectives has many different aspects to it. This includes their attitudes to broader factors such as investing for good – doing things which positively affect the world in which we live. The ESG, sustainable and impact investment fund sector has grown significantly in recent years as more and more companies recognise the importance of sustainable investing and how it can play a role in encouraging good practice by businesses. It’s not about avoiding the so called “bad” companies – the polluters etc. The focus is now on companies that can bring about positive change – putting sustainability at the heart of the process. It’s an exciting development that looks set to become a much more mainstream concept in future.

 
 

That’s why in this month’s edition of IFA Magazine and also in our June edition, we’re taking a look at sustainable investing and getting the views and opinions of a range of different experts in the sector. Our thanks go to Julia Dreblow, Ben Constable Maxwell, Dr Marc –Olivier Buffle, Audrey Ryan and others for their contributions this month. We hope you find the content of interest and look forward to bringing you more next month.

MARKETING FOR IFAS
With so many different facets to the successful financial planning business, it takes a master of the art of multi- tasking to be good at all of them. Whilst some tasks and functions will come more readily than others – examples that spring to mind here are developing and maintaining sound technical knowledge and client liaison skills – marketing the business tends to be an area which many planners find to be a particularly tough challenge. Yet its importance cannot be overstated. In the modern era it is an essential prerequisite for ongoing business success – and this holds good even if your business is built on referrals. That’s why in this edition of IFA Magazine we’ve gathered together a number of experts all of whom have considerable specialist experience of supporting effective marketing strategies for financial advice and financial planning businesses. Our thanks go to Laura Janes, Faith Liversedge, Jon Pittham and Simon Barbato for sharing their valuable ideas, insight and practical tips with us this month. I hope you will find some little nugget amongst the pages of our “marketing for IFAs” section that sparks an idea or two that you can take away and use to good effect within your business.

With all this as well as our regular features –it’s a bumper edition of IFA Magazine. We hope you like it.

 
 

Sue Whitbread Editor
IFA Magazine

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