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Socially responsible investment

Briefs .....

The Association of British Insurers has published its responsible investment disclosure guidelines, which update and replace its socially responsible investment guidelines launched in 2001. In addition to calling on boards to report on their approach to managing, social and governance risks the guidelines also aim to help companies to comply with the business review requirements in ways, the ABI believes, that will be useful to investors.

The UK Social Investment Forum will launch a free online training course for financial advisers on green and ethical investment and a guide for them on how to develop a more environmentally-friendly business this month. This follows on from training seminars held for advisers, and the launch of the UKSIF toolkit on responsible investment, last year. A survey of financial advisers who attended the training seminars found that 98% rated them as useful or very useful and 84% of respondents rated the toolkit either useful or very useful. Responses indicated that through their increased knowledge financial advisers had been able to grow their socially responsible investment business.

A survey of the public has found that 48% had an interest in socially responsible investment (SRI) with only 17% ruling out this option, according to F&C Investments. The survey of 2,193 people, carried out for the fund manager by 72 Point, also found that 47% thought that companies should take take social, environmental and ethical issues very seriously, and 40% said they should take them fairly seriously. Jason Hollands, head of communications at F&C said the findings indicated that there was latent demand for SRI funds which meant the market could greatly expand beyond its current size.

February, 2007

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