No shades of grey when going green

While advisers should take a bigger role in promoting responsible investing, they must make sure they are delivering the right message to the public, according to Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) development manager Megan Lewis.

Lewis said investors were now more responsive to talk about green issues such as energy efficiency and water recycling, but advisers needed to work out where responsible investing fitted into their practice and the level of ‘greenness’ they wanted to have.

This ranges from ‘dark green’, which is fully committed to the environmental movement, to ‘light green’, which is embracing some responsible investment activities.

“You have got to show your clients the level of commitment in the practice and do it in a sound bite,” Lewis said.

“The adviser has to look at what they feel comfortable talking about when it comes to responsible investing.” Lewis told the RIAA’s conference in Melbourne that advisers who wanted to offer responsible investment needed to plan their strategy and allocate a budget for promoting it.

“The practice also needs to allocate the task of promoting responsible investing to somebody to make sure it happens.” Promoting the practice as being a responsible investment specialist can be achieved through a website, but Lewis said it must be updated regularly.

“Think about what your clients want to know about you and put that information on the website,” she said.

“The website should point out responsible investing is not a small industry, but a major investment strategy.” Information on approved responsible investment products should also be put on the website.

Lewis said getting a planner’s business on Internet search engines, such as Google, is another strategy for attracting new clients.

For those advisers completely dedicated to this form of investing, talking to local groups or attending sustainability events is another way of attracting new clients.

“The key to promoting responsible investing in a practice is to have a plan and not to make it too big,” she said. “Keep the list to about three things or they will never be done.”