CCLA Investment Management has announced eight further advisory firms have signed up to its corporate engagement coalition AdviserAction.
Launched last year, AdviserAction supports advisers wanting to engage with companies on sustainability but are held back by the structure of the industry. The new firms bring the total membership to 16 with £8bn in assets under advice.
The new joiners are Ethical Futures, Foster Denovo, Henson Crisp, Holden & Partners, Kingsfleet Wealth, Prydis Wealth Scotland, TAM Asset Management and Unburdened Solutions.
These have joined founding members Castlefield, Clear Financial Advice, ESG Accord (Accord Initiative), Fintel, Kellands Chartered Financial Planners, Lyndhurst Financial Management, Paradigm Norton and SRI Services.
See also: Q&A with CCLA’s Corah: Focusing on sustainable leaders is not unleashing the power of our industry
As initial engagement focus, the AdviserAction members chose to focus on mental health in the workplace, and signed up to the CCLA-convened Global Investor Statement on Mental Health. Through its secretariat, the group is leading engagement with Frasers Group and IBM on this issue.
Commenting on the new members, Jasper Berens, head of client relationships and distribution at CCLA, said: “We are delighted to have already seen such high levels of interest in AdviserAction since launching just last year. This is a timely initiative that allows advisers to play an active role in supporting their clients to use their money to do good. We have already seen a lot of traction in the market and we hope this coalition will go far in driving positive change by harnessing the so far untapped influence of advisers.”
Dan Babington, portfolio manager at TAM Asset Management, added: “TAM is thrilled to be the first DFM to sign up to this innovative scheme. We believe that our industry can do more to drive sustainable outcomes, but it is only achievable if we all pull in the same direction. Advisers have an invaluable insight into what clients value from a sustainability perspective, as well as a wealth of expertise which has been underutilised. Therefore, we are delighted to be a part of this industry-wide effort to invite them to the table and build on the fantastic work they have done in raising client awareness in this space.”
