Demand for ethical investment advice up 100%

21 August 2006

Demand for ethical investment advice up 100%

IFA market responding – the number of IFAP members listing ethical investment advice in their top 8 business areas is up 33% in last year
Visit www.unbiased.co.uk and download IFA Promotion’s free ethical investment factsheet

Consumers are increasingly seeking to invest their money ethically, according to the latest enquirer statistics from IFA Promotion, the organisation promoting the benefits of independent financial advice. 1,933 people have searched www.unbiased.co.uk for an ethical investment independent financial adviser (IFA) in the last quarter – an increase of over 100% over the same period in 2005!*

And the market for independent financial advice is adjusting to meet this demand. There are now 840 (10%) IFA Promotion member IFA firms genuinely focusing on ethical investments, compared to just 633 (8%) one year ago, and 593 (6%) three years ago.

David Elms, Chief Executive of IFA Promotion commented: “The rise of the ethical consumer is well documented – the popularity of organic food is one example of this. However, whilst ethical investments may be less well known, they are nonetheless rising up the agendas of UK investors. Because we deal with over half a million requests for IFAs a year, we can confidently report the advice areas consumers most demand, and ethical investment is without doubt proving more popular”

There are now an abundance of opportunities for the conscientious investor, all of which can be daunting. With this in mind, IFA Promotion has produced a free factsheet covering the points you should be aware of, and questions to ask prior to making your investment decisions.

The factsheet includes information on the benefits of ethical investment, company disclosure policies and how a specialist IFA can help; it also dispels the myth that ethical investments cannot perform well.

The factsheet answers questions such as;

Why might you consider ethical investment?

How can you find out which companies have ethical policies?

How do fund managers define “ethical”, “socially responsible” or “green”?

Elms concluded: “If you have concerns about your investments then an IFA who genuinely focuses on giving ethical investment advice can help you make informed decisions in this area.”

For a free copy of the factsheet, together with details of specialist independent financial advisers who can advise on your ethical options visit www.unbiased.co.uk or call the IFA Promotion consumer hotline on 0800 085 3250

For further information please contact:

David Elms	Liz Willder/Holly Godden
Chief Executive	Lansons Communications
IFA Promotion	020 7294 3677/020 7294 3674
020 7833 3131

For expert comment or case studies from over 200 media-friendly IFAs, journalists should call IFA Promotion’s Media Services hotline on

020 7294 3682 or search online in ‘Media’ at www.unbiased.co.uk

*There were 896 ethical investment searches from advice-seekers using IFA Promotion’s ‘Find an IFA’ online referral service and consumer hotline between May and July 2005

1. Independent Financial Adviser Promotion

IFA Promotion was established in 1989 to promote the value and accessibility of independent financial advice to the public. It represents around 9,000 firms of independent financial advisers across the UK and is sponsored by 31 leading financial institutions. In the past 12 months, over 530,000 consumers and businesses used IFA Promotion to find local independent financial advice.

IFA Promotion believes Independent financial advice should be:

· Affordable. The option to take independent financial advice should be available, by right, to all- not just the wealthiest in society.

· Convenient. IFAs should be available in the location of the consumer’s choice, wherever they live in the UK.

· Transparent. It must be clearly transparent to consumers who is able to offer independent financial advice and who is not.

2. Independent Financial Adviser Promotion’s sponsors

Aberdeen Asset Management	Mortgage Express
Abbey	National Savings & Investments
AXA Life	NatWest Business Banking
Bright Grey	New Star Investment Funds
BUPA Health Services	Norwich Union Life
Canada Life Ltd	Prudential
The Children’s Mutual	Scottish Equitable Plc
Clerical Medical Investment	Scottish Life
Defaqto	Scottish Life International
Friends Provident	Scottish Widows Plc
GE Life	Skandia UK Group
GMAC Residential Funding	Standard Life Assurance Company
INVESCO Fund Managers Ltd	Unum Provident
Legal & General	Webline Limited
London Mortgage Company	Zurich Intermediary Group
Lincoln Financial Group

Post this article to:
del.icio.us Digg Newsvine Reddit Twitter

Furl MyYahoo! Facebook StumbleUpon