Whilst there has been some reprieve from imminent regulation in the form of the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regime, the desire to help financial advisers and paraplanners expand their knowledge and understanding of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) has not abated. Psigma Investment Management continues with its education programme and is hosting another exclusive CPD-qualifying webinar entitled, ‘Delivering the dual objective: positioning positive impact with clients’ on 11th March at 9.30am.
In this one hour session, Psigma’s Head of SRI, Mike Myers and guest speakers from Eversheds Sutherland and award-winning fund manager, WHEB, will look at how to report back to clients on the positive impact that SRI strategies can have and help paraplanners and financial advisers assess and better understand SRI opportunities for their clients.
Speakers will discuss the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) regulatory landscape, including the potential MiFID II changes being introduced, and provide tips for paraplanners and financial advisers on how best to discuss and position SRI with clients in order to help them make the most informed choices about the range of SRI propositions available.
Psigma’s Mike Myers said,
“Increasingly, investors are seeking investments with a dual purpose – to generate attractive returns but also have a positive impact and make the world a better place.
“The cornerstone of financial planning is understanding customers’ needs and financial objectives; SRI is increasingly becoming part of that mix. We want to help expand the knowledge and understanding of paraplanners and financial advisers so they are on the front foot and can give their clients informed advice.”
Myers highlights that with the potential changes to MiFID II on the horizon, all financial advisers may soon need to embed ESG and sustainability preferences into their advice suitability assessment.
He explains, “If the changes to MiFID II are introduced, financial advisers will be obliged to include ESG and sustainability preferences in their client fact-finding exercises in quite an in-depth and meaningful way. They can’t simply ask them if they are interested in ethical investing. They will need to really understand their clients’ non-financial investment preferences and objectives in the same way they understand their financial and risk preferences, and make informed recommendations.
“SRI is quite a complex area, and as the industry grows, many advisory firms are looking at how they can best embed SRI into their advisory process. This is where we can help. We are working with several advisory firms to deliver training and education, and ultimately deliver better client outcomes.”
In 2019, Psigma Investment Management launched a Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) Service, which provides multi-asset discretionary portfolio options and a range of strategies designed to meet the dual objective of both achieving a client’s target investment return and at the same time creating a positive societal impact. The range is based on their already highly rated asset allocation expertise* with a range of risk-return profiles catered for through inflation-plus targets. Its SRI framework comprises four key pillars of Socially Responsible Investing: ESG Integration, Sustainable Investing, Impact Investing, and Engagement.
The webinar is open exclusively to paraplanners and financial advisers who can book here.
