Walking the talk on SRI

In order to be able to give clients adequate advice on sustainable responsible investments (SRI), a financial planner should “walk the talk” said Dr Rodger Spiller of Money Matters.

“Walking the talk [extends to] how you run your business and how you spend your spare time and having similar beliefs to your clients,” Spiller said.

Spiller was offering his insights at the Ethical Investment Association’s conference on SRI in Sydney yesterday.

Spiller and Trevor Thomas from Ethinvest said fund managers who advise on SRI broaden their client base, attract loyal customers, improve their relationship with their client base and differentiate their service from others offered in the market.

“I think 10 years ago the market [for SRI] was small. Today, those broad brush generalisations [about the SRI industry] are not the same … a broad market exists for ethical investing,” Thomas said.

But Spiller says to appeal to potential SRI clients, it is not enough to just provide a SRI option as part of a portfolio, a financial planner needs to be a part of their client’s world.

According to Spiller, SRI clients are more likely to refer their like-minded friends to a financial planner they have a good relationship with and believe have the same morals as them.

“There are networking opportunities and people know people,” Spiller said.

Spiller also said financial planners needed to be more active in educating the market on SRI.

“Write newspaper articles, contribute to books, get on radio and television and engage with companies based on the concerns of clients,” Spiller said.