Good Money Week, a national week to promote responsible investment, is an apt moment to highlight research from the organisation that shows that the UK public would like ethical investment to be made easier.

In a YouGov survey for Good Money Week, 63 per cent support the introduction of a ‘kitemark’ style label to help costumers identify sustainable financial products – similar to how fairtrade bananas are badged.

Close to 70 per cent of the UK public supports a new law requiring their IFA to ask all customers if they would like to exclude certain sectors, such as tobacco or arms industries, from their investments.

Other results from the survey show:
• 60 per cent of UK believes financial sector can make high returns while investing ethically and responsibly.
• 54 per cent of the GB public is unaware that sustainable and ethical financial products exist, rising to over 63 per cent among millennials (18-34 yr olds).
• 69 per cent want a new law requiring financial advisors to ask customers if they’d like to exclude specific sectors or companies.
• Almost one in four people (23 per cent) are likely to invest 10 per cent of their pension in impact investment (i.e. funds that seek positive social or environmental returns alongside financial returns).
• 35 per cent would like their bank, pension or savings provider to offer a fossil free option, with demand is highest among millennials at almost half (46 per cent).
• London has the strongest support for sustainable and ethical investment in the UK with 53per cent of Londoners wanting to make at least some positive difference with their money compared to 45 per cent nationally.
•
Simon Howard, Chief Executive of UKSIF, the body coordinating Good Money Week, said, “The Good Money Week research throws down a very clear challenge to the sustainable investment sector: to step up on awareness and assurance. Not enough people in the UK know ethical and sustainable options exist for their pensions and savings and not enough are ready to buy without a mechanism such as a kitemark-style label to sort the wheat from the chaff. Creating and managing such a label would be no easy task, but is a job worth doing if it helps build trust and more sustainable capital

Share Story: