[GRTV] Adviser’s obligations in ethical investing

Philip Macalister sits down with Pathfinder CEO John Berry to talk about Pathfinder’s ethical investing and advisers obligations when working with clients.

Friday, April 28th 2023, 6:46AM 1 Comment

Pathfinder started in 2009 and a year later launched its first ethical fund – the Global Water Fund – in 2010.

Berry says during that time discussions on climate change and the world’s water crisis didn’t resonate with advisers or investors but in the last decade there has been a shift in the approach of what ethical and responsible investment are.

“Back then, the fall out of the GFC was still resonating with markets, so it was an interesting time to set up a financial services business.

“Over time, there has been a significant shift in the last decade with the approach from advisers and investors towards ethical and responsible investing.”

Berry says, “Responsible investment uses a long term lens for looking at an analysis of a company or sector and therefore something like climate change is important because it is a risk over the long term of the company.” Meanwhile ethical investing “goes a step further and puts a values-based lens on it.”

While responsible investing is now mainstream, Pathfinder is one of just a handful of ethical investment companies with a values-based lens and says advisers need to understand value and risk when working with clients.

“It’s important for advisers to understand who is investing and why. Advisers should be doing their own research like looking at sustainability reports and making sure clients understand what they are investing in and the suitability – the code of conduct for advisers.”