The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has appointed Daniel Godfrey as chair and Julia Dreblow as vice-chair of a new working group to build capabilities in sustainable finance across the financial advice sector.
The Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association (PIMFA) will provide the secretariat to the working group.
Daniel Godfrey was chief executive of the Investment Association between 2012 and 2015, and also served as director general at the Association of Investment Companies from 1998 until 2009.
Currently, Godfrey is senior adviser to Moneybox and NGO ShareAction and is part of Legal and General’s independent governance committee. He is also a member of FRC’s Independent Advisory Panel.
Meanwhile, Julia Dreblow is the founding director of SRI Services and the Fund EcoMarket, as well as a member of ESG Clarity’s Committee. She has specialised in retail sustainable investment for over 25 years.
The creation of the working group follows on from the SDR policy statement last November that announced a package of measures to improve the trust and transparency of sustainable investment products.
The group’s aim is to support the industry in advising consumers on products making claims about sustainability.
As chair, Godfrey will appoint the group’s membership across the advice sector, including small and larger industry participants. The group will also engage with stakeholders – including consumers – to ensure a balanced representation of views.
The FCA will sit as an active observer and has asked the group to report on how the advice sector can be supported in delivering good practice from a sustainability claims perspective in the second half of 2024.
Godfrey said: “We intend to move quickly to appoint a set of members to the group that represents all stakeholders. The project will additionally seek the widest possible range of views.
“It is vital that advisers are empowered to fully comprehend and integrate sustainability risks as material financial considerations. Collectively they can help to steer the whole investment industry towards an alignment of investment strategies with the long-term needs and values of clients.”
Dreblow added: “I am very much looking forward to working with chair Daniel Godfrey and PIMFA secretariat helping to create and run an industry working group that will help move retail sustainable investment forward.”
Senior policy adviser at PIMFA, Maja Erceg, commented:
“We are delighted to be working in partnership with the FCA on this project. Sustainable finance and approaches to it continue to grow in popularity among savers and investors.
“We believe it is vital advisers feel empowered to understand and implement the considerations needed in building a valuable proposition when considering sustainability factors.
“Industry input here will be vital and we look forward to working extremely closely with all firms across this sector during the course of this project and beyond it.”
