ESG Clarity and Square Mile unveil IFA educational initiative ESG Pathway

4 Aug 2020

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Natalie Kenway

ESG Clarity is delighted to announce a joint initiative with Square Mile Investment Consulting & Research named ESG Pathway, an educational forum and webinar series for the IFA community

Despite a strong rising interest in ESG investing across the investment industry, recent research carried out by Square Mile concluded considerable educational work needs to be carried out in the adviser sector where nearly half of an 184-strong pool of IFAs surveyed said they were unaware of mandatory MiFID II changes that determines ESG needs to be part of their suitability processes.

In response, ESG Clarity and Square Mile have worked together to create ESG Pathway; an interactive series of webinars that will expand dialogue between advisers, asset managers and independent expert commentators, while also giving a voice to the IFA community.

Beginning in September, there will be four live virtual events chaired by industry experts from Square Mile including managing director Richard Romer-Lee and senior investment consultant Jake Moeller, and ESG Clarity group editor Julian Marr and editor Natalie Kenway, as well as Last Word Media’s editorial director Lawrence Gosling and content editor Adam Lewis.

The virtual events will explore the following topics:

An IFAs perspective on ESG: Educating clients and demystifying the key elements when selecting funds and groups.
The platform debate: What are the three questions you need to ask your platform provider and how are platforms planning to better serve ESG info?
Ask the expert: Live interactive forum for advisers to pose questions to asset manager experts.
Ratings and rankings: Cutting through the noise.
Asset manager debate: How are groups evidencing their ESG credentials?
Climate change: What data is available and should be used?
Diversity and Inclusion.
What do tomorrow’s funds look like?
Meet the experts on compliance.

Ten asset managers have signed up to support the initiative these are: Kames Capital, Janus Henderson, Fidelity International, Federated Hermes, JP Morgan Asset Management, Schroders, L&G Investment Management, 7IM, Aberdeen Standard Investments, Jupiter, and BNY Mellon.

As part of the initiative, ESG Clarity will also be following up the series with more educational elements on its website including reports, research and videos.

Steve Kenny, commercial director at Square Mile, said: “When we spoke to both asset managers and IFAs, it was clear that everyone recognises the integration of ESG, be it into a centralised investment process or within an asset management business, is a journey.

“The idea of ESG Pathway is to find a way through the fog, for want of a better expression, to enable them to integrate ESG and responsible investing into their centralised investment proposition to help clients get better solutions.

“When considering the idea of providing a forum on ESG and responsible investments the obvious choice was ESG Clarity. The publication is managed to strike the right note in providing its audience with sensible, understandable communications on the subject of ESG. It is helping inform the audience on this issue as we enter 2021 and the inevitable changes to the suitability requirements under the MiFID regulations.

“The benefit to Square Mile of working on ESG Pathway is helping IFAs to understand the importance of this issue, but also to help them develop investment solutions to meet the need of the audience.”

Patrick Ponsford, managing director at ESG Clarity’s parent firm Last Word Media, added: “We are delighted to be partnering with Square Mile on this initiative to fulfil the needs of advisers looking to further their education and understanding of ESG investing and integration.

“Having established ESG Clarity for European fund selectors in 2017 – a time when many investors were still sceptical about the benefits of responsible investing – we are well-placed to provide expert commentary, debate and product/company knowledge through our in-depth analysis of key industry trends, editorial panel of leading industry commentators, Last Word Research, and Responsible Ratings Index.

“Combining this with Square Mile’s extensive research and considerations of ESG integration at the company and fund level, we believe ESG Pathway is a vital addition to our expanding ESG virtual events suite to serve the needs of the adviser audience.”