Opinion

Coronavirus and ESG – some early (personal) reflections

This has undoubtedly been a memorable (and pretty miserable) week, month and indeed quarter. My first thoughts, when the horrible seriousness of Coronovirus started to become clear, may however have been a little different from some in that they were not entirely negative… Aside from the fears about relatives – my mother-in-law is recently bereaved, […]

SRI Services and Partners 2019 event videos now live

I am delighted to announce that our event videos are now live on the SRI Services YouTube channel. Each session was recorded – so for anyone who was unable to attend this is the next best thing. (nb The event was CPD accredited so you may like to keep a record of the sessions your […]

Understanding Greenwash

Recent media coverage, generated in part in response to a recent report by SCM*, indicates that greenwash fears are growing apace. This is of course a huge shame as when we talk about funds that focus on environmental, social and ethical issues we would all much rather be talking about their benefits relative to their […]

Understanding Sustainability funds

A growing number of funds are now marketed as being ‘sustainability themed’ or having sustainability related themes (often in addition to ethical, ESG or other SRI strategies). These funds employ many different strategies, methods and ‘lines of thought’. For most, sustainability is demonstrably central to their investment proposition (via various policies, themes and research criteria). […]

Three new videos now live – Introducing Fund EcoMarket, SRI & SRI Jargon

After working out that recording ‘live’ videos is not in fact a walk in the park… I am delighted to say that we now have three brand new introductory SRI training videos on YouTube. Before you click through can I please ask you to help us by clicking ‘Follow’ when you go on to the SRI Services […]

SRI Services response to ESMA Consultation Paper ‘On Integrating sustainability risks and factors into MIFID II’

SRI Services was delighted to have had the opportunity to respond to the ESMA Consultation Paper ‘On Integrating sustainability risks and factors into MIFID II’ earlier this week (even though it did seem a bit strange doing so given Brexit…) In brief, the paper (European Securities and Markets Authority – ESMA35-43-1210) proposes ESG/Sustainability related fact […]

Its a cultural thing.

The FCA issued a discussion paper today on ‘Transforming Culture in Financial Services’ – DP18/2. I have written and spoken on this topic many times – as I too believe that retail financial services would benefit from a cultural shift. My concern is that the financial services system as it stands is not particularly conducive to recognising the importance […]