Adviser views sought on regulatory barriers to Social Investment

Adviser views on regulatory barriers to Social Investment sought – to feed in to Cabinet Office ‘Red Tape Challenge’

ACTION: Please reply by 7 SEPTEMBER to Julia@sriServices.co.uk  

ref:  RED TAPE

One of the most common reasons investors opt to invest in an ethical or responsible fashion is to ‘make a difference’ whilst making money. 

Yet, although the adoption of higher (or more ‘ethical’) corporate standards correlate with levels of investor interest – the immediate impact of individual retail SRI funds is not easy to quantify.

For investors for whom ‘making a difference’ is a key aim the nascent field of ‘impact’ or ‘social investment’ can form an attractive part of a portfolio – and help show advisers in a very positive light. 

Such investments may not be suitable for all investors all of the time, yet it is clear that there is significant growth potential – particularly amongst wealthier investors.

To help unlock the potential of this area the government is reviewing the legal and regulatory framework for social investment as they believe there are ‘inconsistencies and omissions that may present barriers to both institutional and individual social investors’ and they are using the the Red Tape Challenge to develop policy options to tackle the barriers they find.  

The Cabinet Office is calling for input to inform their thinking – and in particular are looking to identify ‘any burdensome or inappropriate law or regulation holding back the growth of social investment in the UK.’

sriServices would like to support this area by gathering advisers’ views on:

 ‘What changes would help the financial advisory community to offer Social Investments more easily and/or more often?’

If you have views on what would help you to make more of this area – or what you would like to see change – please email Julia@sriServices.co.uk by 7 September (referenced ‘RED TAPE’).

Areas you might like to comment on may include – laws and regulation, authorisation, listing or PI implications or distribution, investment , marketing, product / pricing issues … for example. You may also like to make comments that build on the BWB report on this area.

Your views will be used to form a brief report that will be submitted to the Cabinet Office and may  be made available to Social Investment fund managers on request. 

The closing date for submissions to the Cabinet Office is 14 September 2012.  To allow for collation and thinking  time please reply to sriServices by 7 September.   

Advisers who respond by 7 September will qualify for a free 6 months entry on our new ‘Find an Adviser’ list which will be linked to our soon to launch on-line client SRI Fact Find questionnaire – the ‘SRI Style Finder’ microsite.   

PLEASE NOTE: sriServices is not authorised to offer financial advice.  Tools and services are provided for information purposes only.