Our world today is dominated more than ever by concerns over the environment and the future sustainability of our planet. We recognise that many of our clients want to play their part in helping solve some of the problems that the world faces, whether this be climate change, the transition away from fossil fuels or the way companies and businesses are run, and especially in relation to how they treat their staff.
In the past, achieving good financial returns from investing in such funds where there was a focus in these areas, was a challenge due to higher charges and lower performance. This has now changed, with charges becoming more competitive and increasing investment returns. The days of investors having to decide whether to invest in line with their own beliefs or investing to produce a good return are now over.
Responsible investing, however, can involve making compromises. Rarely is there such a wholly 'clean' or 'good' organisation, fund or portfolio, and very often there is a 'positive' to be found where our perceptions may be mainly negative. For example, an oil company may not be an obvious choice to invest in, but they may well be making huge financial commitments to develop more sustainable natural sources of power.
With sustainable trends continuing to grow across the globe, more and more governments and businesses have made environmental, social and governance commitments, which can only be good news for our planet. Within our researched panel of funds available to Montgomery clients, we have chosen to include a selection of funds that specially target these issues, and we can provide more information should this be an area of interest to our clients.
Our approach to ESG and Sustainable Financial advice
Current regulation and additional regulatory proposals indicate that we must assess our clients' Sustainability Preferences as part of our advice process.
At Montgomery Estate Planning we strive to deliver financial advice which genuinely meets all our clients' preferences.
We are keen to assist clients wishing to make Sustainable and Responsible investment choices. We can assist you by helping you understand how strongly you personally feel about Environmental, Social, and Governance factors and how strongly you feel to invest into companies that take these factors into account.
At Montgomery Estate Planning we offer advice across the whole ESG and Sustainable Finance spectrum.
The ESG and Sustainable Finance spectrum ranges from clients who may not wish to consider ESG and Sustainability risks in their investment decisions (perhaps because their investment time-line is very short or they are investing for a specific target purpose) to clients who prefer and have objectives in line with ESG, Responsible, Sustainable, aligned to the UN SDGs, and Impact Investing, right through to Ethical considerations.
ESG - Environmental, Social and Governance Factors
What are Environmental factors?
Natural world factors and the biosphere. Includes the interaction and use of renewable and non-renewable resources (ecosystems, biodiversity, water, minerals)
Examples of this are climate change, waste, pollution, deforestation, resource depletion.
What are Social factors?
Factors that affect lives of humans, communities, and management of human resources.
Examples of this are employee relations, work conditions, human rights, child labour, human rights.
What are Governance factors?
Factors involving the issues within business models and industry practices which may be of interest to broader stakeholder groups
Examples of this are executive pay, bribery and corruption, board diversity.