Today’s client – particularly those who list yoga as a pastime, show you photos of their eco-tourism adventures and are interested in green energy – is tomorrow’s responsible investor and financial advisers should prepare accordingly.
If responsible investment is the end of the journey, then marketing research by the Mobium Group suggests there are several stops along the way from an interest in organic foods and natural products to installing solar panels and driving hybrid vehicles.
Get on the bus
For canny advisers, this means marketing directly to specific pockets of potential clients who are part of the wider “green” community.
“If asked properly, something like 60 per cent of Australians would like to have some of their money invested in a responsible way,” Paul Harding-Davis, general manager of Premium Wealth Solutions, told delegates at the 8th International Responsible Investment Conference.
“How many want all their money aligned? Maybe only 4 or 5 per cent now, but there are a lot of people on the journey.”
Ethinvest director, Ross Knowles, who has been involved in ethical investment for 24 years, said the single most important piece of advice he would offer advisers considering a responsible-investment advisory model is to be a “fellow traveller” with their clients.
“You have to know what you’re talking about in the ethical space,” he said. “And this must be incorporated into your lifestyle as well.”
Common purpose
This deepening of the adviser-client relationship through a common purpose has further implications in terms of both retaining business and garnering referrals.
Anecdotal evidence suggests ethical practices lost fewer clients over the global financial crisis, with one adviser suggesting investors had crossed from standard practices to responsible-investment practices “in droves” since 2008.
A session on building a responsible-investment advisory model featured some lively debate between Stuart Barry of Tas Ethical, Andrew Gaston of Accord Financial Solutions, Karen McLeod of Ethical Investment Advisers and Trevor Thomas of Ethinvest.
