SRI Services and Partners GMW event 2026 slides and thank you’s

I am delighted to report that our  SRI Services and Partners Good Money Week event was a great success last Thursday – and would like to thank everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to be with us – and to help make it happen!

The attendance was great, and the feedback has been incredibly positive…

We are still firmly in follow up – and recovery – phase, but I wanted to share the slides straight away.  (The recordings will follow).

• The full event slides are presented in book form – and can be downloaded here.

The agenda is reproduced below, but I would very much like to thanks our keynote speakers – Lord Deben, Mark Manning and Danielle Walker-Palmour – our other invited guest speaker James Alexander as well as the fund management partner companies who made the day possible.  Their speakers are listed below, listed with the panel session each spoke on.

A big thank you also goes to those who spoke on our Adviser’s Sustainability Group panel sessions, named below – most of whom were on our ASG committee.

I would also like to thank the team who created the People’s Emergency Briefing film, which I firmly believe everyone should watch – and speak, in person, to their MP about the content of.

And finally to the team at Reset Connect – Duncan, Rob and Jodie, and our home team of friends and family – namely: Su, George, Elise,  Tom, Olha, Hannah and Bethan – who helped the day to run smoothly and looked after our guests so well!

Thank you all:-)

With regard to content, some of the key morning messages were:

• the geopolitical backdrop is challenging for this area, and there is some evidence of declining public interest in sustainability,  but interest remains significantly stronger than most in the industry realise – as is business activity.  This is because business fundamentals and lived experience have both now changed. This summer’s heatwave – with its fires and the drought are an easily observed example.  There was also a clear call for our industry to respond to the world as it is, not what we would want it to be – a message that ran through the day.
• transitioning to a low carbon, more resilient, future is now taking centre stage for many and leading investors have developed approaches that are different to strategies adopted by most established retail sustainable and ethical fund strategies.  These newer strategies focus on understanding, assessing and responding to assets’ diverse climate transition journeys, all of which is increasingly being supported by third party initiatives and standards, for example by ISO.
• Assets can be categorised and assessed in different ways with regard to their involvement in AI – which now touches almost all industries, and has the potential to deliver both benefits and significant harm.  When asked for a show of hands, almost everyone in the audience indicated that their clients were asking questions about AI.

The afternoon focused on practical support for advisers and wealth managers – including encouraging intermediaries to ensure the opinions of young adults are heard.

The two Advisers’ Sustainability Group panel sessions discussed  the purpose and structure of the report and its practical application.  The Q&A was lively, with opinions somewhat split on whether to prioritise focusing on client’s personal preferences, which should be relatively straightforward, or responding to climate risk and the need for greater resilience. The ASG’s letter to the FCA asks the regulator to respond to both, as well as calling for training needs to be addressed and improvements to be made to business practices so that advisers are better supported.  The report goes into detail on each of these.

The need to focus on resilience was also emphasised by Lord Deben who gave a keynote address after the ‘People’s Emergency Briefing’ film in the evening.  Both emphasised how vital it is that everyone understands the risk climate change poses to the UK in almost all aspects of our lives – including food, water, health the economy – and of course investment – which is why both called for greater engagement with MPs and a public showing of the brief but hard hitting film.

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AGENDA 1 October 2026, SRI Services and Partners Good Money Week event for financial services professionals 

09.00 – 09.30  Registration

09.30 – 09.55 Welcome – Julia Dreblow, Founder & CEO – SRI Services & Fund EcoMarket

09.55 – 10.05  James Alexander, CEO – UKSIF – Good Money Week and UKSIF update: Latest insights on public attitudes towards sustainable finance

10.05 – 10.50 Fund Manager Session 1: Investing responsibly in a fast-changing, geopolitically complex world. With conflicts raging and established norms under pressure how are sustainable and ethical investors responding, and is taking a longer term view more important than ever, or a risk?

• • • Jenn-Hui Tan: Chief Sustainability Officer – Fidelity International
    • Evgenia Molotova: Senior Investment Manager, Specialist Equities Team – Pictet Asset Management
    • David Harrison: Head of Sustainability & Fund Manager – Rathbones Asset Management

10.50 – 11.10  MORNING KEYNOTE – Mark Manning, Visiting senior fellow – London School of Economics and Political Science; and convener of ISO working group on Net Zero Transition Planning for Financial Institutions – What can financial institutions do to support the transition to a low emissions, climate resilient future? Where are we now, what does ‘good’ look like, and what should you be saying to clients?

11.10 – 11.30  Coffee Break

11.35 – 12.20  Fund Manager Session 2: Climate Transition investment in practice. With increasingly extreme weather front of mind, expert fund managers discuss the need to transition, the role of investors in encouraging and supporting improvement and how they are working to select winners.

• • • Miranda Beacham: Head of UK Responsible Investment – Aegon Asset Management
    • Tom Neugebauer: Principal – ATLAS Infrastructure
    • Vicki Bakhshi: Climate Strategist – Columbia Threadneedle Investments

12.20 – 13.05  Fund Manager Session 3:  Navigating AI’s environmental and social footprint. Big tech’s potential to do both harm and good are immense. Leading responsible investors discuss where they are, and are not, investing – and why?

• • • Peter Michaelis: Head of Sustainable Investment – Liontrust Asset Management
    • Robert Lambert: Portfolio Manager, Investment Grade – RBC BlueBay Asset Management
    • George Crowdy: Senior Fund Manager – Royal London Asset Management

13.05 – 13.25  Fund Manager Session 4: Showcasing Leadership 

• • • Carlota Esguevillas: Head of Sustainable Investment – EdenTree Investment Management – ‘SDR – Beyond the Label’
    • James Corah: Head of Sustainability – CCLA / Jupiter Asset Management – ‘Finding Joy’

13.25 – 14.25 Lunch break

14.30 – 14.45   Welcome Back

14.45 – 15.05  AFTERNOON KEYNOTE – Danielle Walker-Palmour, Director – Friends Provident Foundation – Exploring intergenerational harmony and disharmony in investment planning

15.05 – 15.45  ASG panel 1: Advisers’ Sustainability Group* (ASG) members discuss their new report, focusing on its’ purpose, content and lessons learned – Q&A

• • • Julia Dreblow – SRI Services / ASG Vice Chair
    • Maja Erceg  – PIMFA / ASG Secretariat
    • Lee Coates  – In Accord
    • Amy Clarke – Tribe Impact

15.45 – 16.25  ASG panel 2: ASG members share their opinions on the practical application of the report’s content and what it means for advisers’ and wealth management businesses – Q&A

• • • Julia Dreblow – SRI Services / ASG Vice Chair
    • Jessica Reed – Burges Salmon
    • Sophie Kennedy – EQ Investors
    • Seb Elwell – Switchfoot Wealth
    • Robin Keyte – Wren Sterling

16.25 – 16.30  Close formal conference

16.30 – 16.50  Drinks / break

16.55 – 17.00  Introduction to film & host

17.00 – 17.50  FILM: People’s Emergency briefing .  A short film designed for public, workplace and community viewings.  The film brings together leading experts to discuss the UK’s climate and nature crises, and what they mean.  The film is a call to action hosted by Chris Packham.  It is intended to be followed by a discussion. Shown courtesy of the  National Emergency Briefing team.

17.50 – 18.15  EVENING KEYNOTE: The Rt. Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben will lead discussion of the film

18.15                Event close

Event Partners

• Aegon Asset Management
• ATLAS Infrastructure
• BlueBay Asset Management (RBC)
• Burges Salmon
• CCLA / Jupiter Asset Management
• Columbia Threadneedle Investments
• Edentree Investment Management
• Fidelity International
• Liontrust Asset Management
• Pictet Asset Management
• Rathbones Asset Management
• Royal London Asset Management