A raft of regulatory changes introduced in recent years are placing environmental social and governance (ESG) funds at the centre of the advice process, industry experts have claimed.
According to the guests on the second episode of FTAdviser's Responsible Investing: The New Normal podcast series, changes in Europe in particular have seen advisers turn their minds to ethical investments.
Ryan Medlock, senior investment development and technical manager at Royal London, said: “There have been a raft of new regulations, mostly coming from EU level, and they leave the US and Australia playing catch up.
"One area that is likely to be at the forefront of advisers' thoughts is the Mifid requirements around suitability, and really placing suitability and ESG at the heart of the advice process."
Steve Kenny, commercial director at consultancy Square Mile, agreed. He said: “There is a lot of confusion among advisers around ESG and the terminology used, lots of terms in this space are used interchangeably, which doesn’t help.
"But I think the changes coming will help with that and sustainable investing will come to the forefront of an adviser's mind.”
You can listen to the full episode of the podcast by clicking on the link above or through Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher.
Keep an eye out for the next in the series of podcasts on the topic of the future of responsible investing, which will be released next week.
