Compliance

From a compliance perspective, there is no mandatory certification or qualification as such for ESG investing. Fund managers that are members of the Financial Services Council have a mandatory asset stewardship code that is compulsory for its fund manager members, but that is a voluntary industry body.

RIAA offers a Responsible Investment Certification process for financial advisers and investment products. RIAA evaluates financial advisers based on criteria relating to commitments to offering responsible and ethical advice to all clients, experience in offering specialist advice, and the presence of responsible investment products on the approved product list (APL). RIAA’s RI Certification for investment process certifies that the product has a detailed investment process for investment decisions, disclosures around the process, and that the investment process has been audited.

Again the FASEA Code of Ethics Standard 6 requires that advisers take into account the broad effects arising from the client acting on their advice and actively consider a client’s broader, long-term interests and likely circumstances.

The CFA Institute has established an ESG Working Group that is “exploring the development of an ESG investment product standard,” according to their website.