Nice to know that mine is not a lone voice, and that there is at least some 21st century, forward-thinking in the wider adviser community. You may remember my rather irritated and somewhat incredulous reaction to last week’s article and survey, in which a ‘majority of financial advisers’ said that their clients ‘don’t care’ about responsible or sustainable investments, ‘ethical’ in old money. In my, for better or worse now long experience, it depends on what and whether you ask. Some are genuinely not bothered, but it’s they, I’d say, who are in the minority. Most will tick the ‘I’d like to know more’ box on our investment risk questionnaire, with increasing numbers saying ‘it’s very important to me’. In both cases, as with the level of risk we agree, there are shades of grey, from what we would class as ‘vegan’, the most ethical, to pescatarian which just exclude the main ‘nasties’, fossil fuels, guns, fags and so on. The ‘how you ask’ is, of course, just as important. Older readers may remember Dr Finlay’s Janet’s (a Scottish housekeeper, insert accent) catchphrase for all visitors: ‘You’ll have had your tea’. Now there’s a ‘kids etc.’ if ever I wrote one.
“Long live the 60/40 portfolio?”
Sounds a bit investment/tech/nerdy, I know. The ’60/40’ portfolio is what we call ‘Balanced’, with 60% in shares, 40% in fixed interest bonds, loans to companies and governments.
