For the second time this year, TAM Asset Management were selected as guest speakers to present their ethical proposition at the Standard Life Investments (SLI) ethical seminar. The event was held last month during the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association’s (UKSIF) annual campaign, ‘Good Money Week’, at 30 St Mary Axe – more popularly known as The Gherkin.
Good Money Week is a campaign to raise awareness of sustainable, responsible and ethical finance to help people make good money choices, and ensure that everyone knows they have sustainable and ethical options when it comes to their financial decisions.
Rebecca Maclean, SLI Analyst, kicked off the seminar reporting on the trends and developments in ethical considerations of their clients.
To follow was Lesley Duncan, Fund Manager of the SLI UK Ethical Trust, who presented on the performance of their three ethical funds, one of which TAM Asset Management invests in – the Standard Life Investments UK Ethical Equity fund – and is currently ranked 6th on Trustnet’s ethical funds performance league table.
Up next was Lester Petch, CEO of TAM Ethical who highlighted that one of the most important benefits for TAM Ethical clients, was “the full transparency of investment rationale within the socially responsible focused portfolios.
Among the guests at the seminar were Nick Scarborough of Smith & Williamson and Lizzy Moir of Charles Stanley, both of whom provided positive feedback on the TAM Ethical presentation, and commented that they “Enjoyed the guest speaker”.
A recent study conducted by TD Direct Investment suggested that ethical investment is no longer a niche market, with 64% of UK investors planning to pick ethical funds over the next few years. However, over half of respondents said they need more information about such stocks to make an informed decision, and 42% said they struggle to find any information about specific shares within a fund.
To conclude, it would seem that If UKSIF are to achieve their aim in encouraging everyone to consider green and responsible investment and finance options, they must provide more detailed information about ethical funds, and in particular, their performance. This heightens TAM Ethical’s desire to be significantly involved with Good Money Week and other such campaigns, such as Ownership Day – which raises awareness of the financial benefits of active ownership by pension funds.