Welcome to the 8th 'inSRI' newsletter - updating you on Fund EcoMarket and related goings on.

First things first... in the emerging post Brexit vote world I remain hopeful that SRI will continue to go from strength to strength, as it has done recently, for a couple of reasons:

One is that some pretty difficult social challenges have been unmasked by the vote.  These should be addressed - and this may (should) help to move 'values' up the national agenda. 

Another is that the sustainability argument is irrefutable.  We are seeing big shifts following COP21 - and these will impact company strategy and success no matter what happens in the political arena. 

Both of these indicate that investors personal opinions should not be ignored. 

My plan is that Fund EcoMarket will make it ever easier for financial advisers - and others - to build stronger client relationships by helping people to bring the things they care about into their investment srategies. 

The following couple of pages set out where we are so far in this journey.

I hope you continue to find the our still relatively new service useful. Feedback and comments are always welcome.

Julia

EMail: julia@sriServices.co.uk  Twitter: @JuliaDreblow

Having conquered a range of other technologies I now plan to use the Fund EcoMarket LinkedIn Group more regularly. 

My feeling is that amongst the 400+ people who now receive this newsletter there are lots of interesting discussions to be had.

You can ask to join here or search 'Fund EcoMarket LinkedIn User Group'... please give it a try and it will be adapted over time if needs be.

(IFAs and other retail financial services professionals only please.)

In May I ran a lunchtime seminar for the PFS/IIL in London on the subject of 'Integrating SRI into the advice process'.

Slides, a podcast and a dowload of the brief 'guide' opposite are available via the sriServices Literature area.

This event  has been followed up with a generic CII Thinkpiece on SRI - that I finished drafting only a few days ago. (Due to be issued to all CII & PFS members soon).

Activity such as this highlights the hugely important role Fund EcoMarket's sponsors play in enabling me to carry out such work.

A huge thank you must therefore go to Alliance Trust Investment, Rathbones, Pictet Asset Management, Sarasin & Partners, Quilter Cheviot & Triodos.

• New Responsible Ownership and ESG Integration 'Corporate' fund manager level entries on FEM -  from a number of leading fund managers.  These help showcase the full diversity of SRI options. (Select 'Corporate Activity' in 'Product' filter field to see the replies we have received to date.)
• New Help area on Fund EcoMarket.  This includes printable downloads for advisers (eg printable fact find questionnaire, 5 step guide, SRI styles overview), and explanatory text.
• Twitter feed changed to show '@JuliaDreblow' Tweets on FEM homepage
• Updated online 'Fact Find Questionnaire' tool (StyleFinder tool ) to reflect revised SRI Styles (this now includes 'ESG Integrating' and 'Responsible Ownership' questions).
• Lots of display related improvements to make searching SRI / ethical funds even easier.

• Citywire (New Model Adviser) Adviser Knowhow  - 'Integrating Ethics' video is now available on the www.FundEcoMarket.co.uk homepage.
• Asset TV 'SRI & Ethical Investment Masterclass' - interviewed alongside Mike Appleby of Alliance Trust.  (Also available via Fund EcoMarket homepage)
• PFS event podcast, slides and literature now on sriServices. 
• CII 'Thinkpiece' coming soon (see above)
• Synaptic Connections magazine 'Enquiring Stewards' article - on sriServices literature area.
• Article for Transparency Times (as I have recently joined the Transparency Task Force)
• New RSMR materials are due out soon

The Pensions Regulator published a draft 'Guide to Investment Governance' in April which may prove very constructive for those who agree ESG/SRI should very much be part of DC scheme arrangements. 

My thanks to UKSIF for bringing this to my attention.

Search the following to download:

http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/docs/draft-dc-investment-guide-2016.pdf    See pages 7, 8 & 16.

Don't forget you can generate a comprehensive list of SRI pension fund options by going to the Fund EcoMarket 'Product' field and selecting 'Pensions'.

Fund EcoMarket is intended to be self-explanatory. However this market is not easy to navigate so if you want help getting started or would like to arrange a training event contact me on julia@sriServices.co.uk

A question I am regularly asked is 'How can I help you?' so up front, these are the things that will help move Fund EcoMarket forwards:

1. Help spread the word about Fund EcoMarket... Please encourage advisers, service providers, colleagues and other contacts to start using FEM (or to contact me). 

2. Fund managers and product providers - contact me about sponsorship and support so we can grow this area together.

3. IFAs - first and foremost this tool is for you.  In addition to free fund research and downloads you can add your name to our 'Find an Adviser' list (for a small fee), join the Fund EcoMarket LinkedIn Group, join me on Twitter and/or contact me if you have other requests.

FYI - when I receive information that I think is useful for advisers I circulate it in the following ways (time permitting):

• Tweet / RT (if format permits) .  This means it appears on the FEM home page.
• Add it to the external literature area of SRI Services website if appropriate / possible.
• Encourage companies to add their SRI information to their websites so that it appears when people click through via Fund EcoMarket fund entries.

Items I have enjoyed recently that you can find via these routes include articles, impact reports, research, stewardship activity and  diverse commentary from groups including WHEB, Mega.online (Pictet), First State, Alliance Trust, Impax, Rathbones, EdenTree and Sarasin.

To finish off (or is it 'show off'?)... a snapshot of how Fund EcoMarket 'bringing sustainability, ethics and investment together' is now looking!

And in case you need a reminder - things that you can do now that you might have struggled to do before Fund EcoMarket existed include being able to:

• list (and compare) all the retail SRI/ethical options for a particular product or fund type (and link through to fund manager websites to find out more about them).
• segment SRI options by 'SRI Styles' so that it is easy to find funds with broadly comparable strategies.
• filter all SRI options by popular criteria such as 'avoids tobacco', 'coal/oil/gas majors excluded', 'measures positive impacts', 'in-house voting expertise', ' publishes stewardship report', 'sustainability policy'.
• direct your client to a printable online SRI fact find questionnaire (nb you should send clients the exact fact find url if you do not want them to view Fund EcoMarket).
• print a free client specific, bespoke SRI fund report to compliment your other research.

Wishing everyone a wonderful summer!

Julia

ps if you have not done so already please join the Fund EcoMarket LinkedIn Group here.

pps Use the 'unsubscribe' button if you do not wish to be contacted in this way.