A new financial advice firm, set up specifically to tackle the climate emergency, is on the hunt for financial advisers looking to battle climate change.
The Path was founded last year by ex-St James’s Place partner David MacDonald to help battle climate change by investing in portfolios which in one way or another have a positive impact on the world.
The firm is now urging more independent financial advisers to join its movement for change, arguing growing concern and awareness about climate change would lead to increasing consumer demand for firms dedicated to the cause.
According to The Path, IFAs are set to benefit from impact investing by making the “early” move to offer this kind of portfolio now and become part of the firm’s network.
Mr MacDonald said: “We’re the first financial adviser set up with a clean sheet of paper to address the issue of climate change.
“It is not something that is part of our business, it is our whole business model.”
He added it was often assumed there had to be a trade-off in performance if consumers wanted to invest in a way that had a positive impact, but argued “all the evidence” showed the reverse was true.
“After all it seems inevitable to me that financial returns will be found in the solutions to the climate crisis and not in the dying industries that are causing the problems.”
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing takes into account ESG factors alongside financial markers in the investment decision-making process.
It has become a more commonplace part of the global investment space in recent years, and data shows investors piled a hefty £4.4bn into UK ESG funds in the first 10 months of last year.
Fund houses have also been keen to capitalise on the increased interest in ESG, launching 23 funds into the ESG market in the same period.
Mr MacDonald said he was interested to hear from any financial adviser who wanted to use their experience to make a “positive contribution to the climate emergency” while still providing sound financial advice to their clients.
He said: “We want to help create a movement of people who think about where their money is invested and deliberately choose to put their money where it will do the climate most good.
“We believe financial advisers can play an important role in helping the planet while at the same time ensuring that people’s savings grow — it doesn’t have to be one thing or the other.”
imogen.tew@ft.com
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