Ethical wealth manager Australian Ethical cited research from the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia that found nine in 10 Australians expect their super or other investments to be invested responsibly and ethically.
Despite this, Australian Ethical head of client relationships Leah Willis said both advisers and consumers are struggling to obtain a complete picture of many funds’ holdings.
“Our experience suggests that Australians want more alignment between their investments and their values but a lack of transparency makes it difficult for advisers to point them in the right direction,” she said.
“The current lack of disclosure by super funds is preventing Australians from knowing exactly where they are invested and what activities they are funding through their superannuation and other investments.”
Ms Willis said Australian Ethical’s experience with Australia’s adviser community indicates that demand for ethical and responsible investing is client-led rather than advice-driven, which is why adviser education is so important.
Further, she said one of the simplest ways advisers can gain transparency over investments and ensure due diligence is by asking the funds directly about their investment process.
“Advisers need to be able to respond to clients’ queries about the impact of their investments accurately,” Ms Willis said.
“For advisers to attract and retain clients and appeal to future investors, it is critical they realise ethical investing is not a fad. It is here to stay.”
Rubbish. Another product spruiker saying the same old thing. “Our distribution would be so much better if only Advisers were more “educated” about our business model”.
I would also say, the problem in this country is that just about every fund is negative screening, which is so subjective. Does anyone believe that AMP and CBA are ethical companies but they are in Australian share ethical funds. We need to see more international offerings which are positive screening, and more ways to invest that you are making a difference for retail investors.