The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) have warned advisers that they will need to step up on sustainable investing, with details on future plans to be published in the coming months, according to an article in FT Adviser.

At ABSTRACT we think this is a competitive advantage, irrespective of whether the Regulator imposes the guidance - firms can steal a march on their competitors.

Simply put; if you are not engaging in conversation with your clients and prospective clients on Sustainable Investing now, then others certainly will do.

The FCA also expect fund managers to assess how they are meeting rules and guidance in relation to their ESG and sustainable investment funds. The FCA regulate the conduct of nearly 50,000 businesses in the UK and aim to support a healthy and successful financial system, where firms can thrive and consumers can place their trust in transparent and open markets.

The UK Regulator has recently tested how investment managers are embedding ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and sustainable investment funds.

Disclosures should be easily available to investors, according to the FCA, and firms should help consumers to make investment decisions. However, amongst other findings, the UK regulator found that ESG and sustainability information was often not explained or put into context and information was not always presented coherently and accessibly to consumers.

The importance of the ESG agenda continues to grow, with new regulatory requirements and pressure from investors, boards of directors, and a range of stakeholders,  from current and prospective employees to consumers. ESG is now a market differentiator for employees, customers, and investors. Investors are increasingly applying these non-financial factors as part of their analysis to identify material risks and growth opportunities.

More widely, the focus on ESG has expanded, with some companies including aspects such as organisational culture, talent management, learning and development, pay equity and transparency, and often equality, diversity & inclusion under this banner. This trend is helpful only if companies are genuinely taking action to close the gap between their good intention and desired outcomes.

A recent BBC article offers the view that ESG has come to mean everything and nothing!

It says;

Here are some delegate feedback comments from one of our most recent training sessions: