26th March 2013

Panacea Adviser links up with sriServices for Twitter Q&A

London, 26 March 2013 – Panacea Adviser, the online resource for directly regulated financial advisers, today teamed up with Julia Dreblow, Director at sriServices, to carry out a twitter Q&A on ‘Responsible engagement and ethical investing – what does it mean?’. 

Panacea Adviser invited its followers to pose questions to Julia who gave her views on the issues surrounding ethical investing and SRI as well as advice on how a business can engage more actively with SRI and what it means for the industry as a whole.

Derek Bradley, CEO of Panacea Adviser, commented: “With SRI and ethical investing becoming more important than ever, we were extremely pleased to give our community the opportunity to ask Julia Dreblow questions.  As the Director of sriServices Julia is truly an expert on the topic and we welcome her input.”

Julia Dreblow, Director of sriServices, commented: “It is great that Panacea Adviser is highlighting SRI with this twitterview.  I am excited to educate the adviser community about what exactly ethical investing is and how advisers can more actively become involved with it.”

The following questions were asked and answered:

Q: What is SRI?  I gather it stands for sustainable and responsible investment but what does that mean in practice?

A: SRI includes any investment that looks at issues like sustainability, environment, human rights, governance & ethics.

Q: So SRI funds take these issues into account when deciding whether to buy or sell investments?

A: Some styles do, like ethical & sustainability themed funds, others like ‘responsible engagement’ do not.

Q: What do responsible engagement options do then?

A: They are regular funds where FMs encourage investee companies to adopt higher standards for the benefit of investors.

Q: This is not something we generally come across. Are they run by niche fund managers then?

A: No.  Good examples include most equity & bond funds run by F&C, Kames, Jupiter, Standard Life, SWIP, Aviva & L&G.

Q: How do you know about this area?

A: I have worked in SRI for nearly 20 years. I previously ran SRI marketing & comms at Friends Prov.

Q: Why should advisers be thinking about this area when there is so much else going on?

A: It’s good for business & helps build relationships. It’s about issues people are interested in. Ignoring it is a risk.

Q: So are there any regulatory requirements to talk about this area?

A: Not specifically but advisers must understand client’s individual needs and it’s in the best practice Adviser ISO.

Q: What is the easiest way to get started offering SRI to clients?

A: Visit http://www.sriservices.co.uk/  for free tips, tools and an online client fact find.

For further information about sriServices see http://www.sriservices.co.uk/about-us 

Press Releases