Nearly all advisers are discussing sustainable investing with clients as appetite for sustainable investment solutions grows, says Fidelity Adviser Solutions.
New research from the adviser services business shows 92% of advisers are in discussion with clients about sustainable investing, with more than three quarters (76%) saying clients are open to and interested in finding out more about these opportunities and a further 15% reporting significant demand amongst clients for ideas and information.
Environmentally focused (26%) and sustainability focused (25%) solutions are the areas in which most advisers are experiencing client interest.
Despite this, less than a third (30%) of advisers currently have tools in place to help them report on the sustainability of investment portfolios, the research shows. Yet, 78% of advisers said they would like the ability to compare sustainable and ESG funds and 77% would like to find and filter these investments.
Jackie Boylan, head of Fidelity Adviser Solutions, said helping clients to align their investments with the issues they feel strongly about has become a “fundamental part” of the advice process for many advisers.
“Whether clients are actively seeking solutions which are focused on specific issues, or simply want the reassurance that they don’t hold investments which are counter to their beliefs, it is important advisers are able to guide them through this,” said Boylan.
Fidelity Advisers Solutions recently launched a Sustainable Investment Finder, developed to make the process of selecting sustainable funds easier by allowing advisers to browse funds by category, by issues the client feels passionately about or by selecting the aims and approaches of a fund manager.
Its launch comes as the latest sustainable investing tracker report by NextWealth showed that 77% of advisers consider it a regulatory requirement to understand clients’ sustainable preferences. It found that the number of advisers who report the sustainability of investments to clients had increased by 9% to 59%, however most were only reporting for clients who request it.
Boylan added: “We have developed a tool to support advisers through these discussions, helping them to filter and select funds based on a range of sustainable investing categories. The response we have received to our Sustainable Investment Finder has been hugely positive, and we are continuing to look at how we can build upon our existing tools, information and service offering in answer to growing industry demand.”
