The Personal Finance Society and Chartered Insurance Institute have launched an environmental social governance (ESG) short course for financial advisers.
The society said this is for those seeking to respond to greater scrutiny from regulators and increased interest from clients about sustainable investments.
Rapid growth in the green finance market, shifts in cultural attitudes to sustainability, and legislative and regulatory changes – such as the FCA’s anti-greenwashing regulations – have fed demand for personal finance professionals who understand the fundamentals of sustainable investment.
Don MacIntyre, interim CEO of the PFS, said: “This is a brilliant opportunity for finance professionals to build their skills and knowledge, and gain valuable understanding of this important topic in order to best meet their clients’ needs.”
The course will help finance professionals to incorporate sustainable investment advice throughout their leadership and business practices.
It will also support advisers in their implementation of the consumer duty, by helping to cater to the sustainable and ethical preferences of clients and therefore achieving good outcomes.
It is written by sustainable finance professionals Rebecca Kowalski and Alan Whittle, who have worked across advice, compliance, supervision and paraplanning.
The PFS and CII said the learning is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the ESG finance space, and covers areas such as sustainable portfolios, exploring client preferences, and how sustainable legislation and regulation can boost business.
Learning outcomes include:
- Understand the nature and complexity of sustainable finance
- Recognise how the global transition to a sustainable economy impacts risk, costs, opportunity, and reward
- Understand the importance of engaging with sustainability in the current consumer market
- Identify sustainable and ethical products and understanding their uses
- Apply practical skills relating to investment selection, education and communication
- Build resilient, high-quality ESG/sustainable advice propositions
The course meets the CII and membership requirements for 12 hours of CPD.
sonia.rach@ft.com
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