Square Mile has joined forces with Royal London to produce a series of educational videos and guides for financial advisers to help them navigate the range of Responsible Investment (RI) solutions open to them.

Alongside considerable interest in Responsible Investment strategies, there is a level of confusion among advisers surrounding the specific outcomes they aim to achieve, their suitability for end investors as well as the terminology used to describe them. Square Mile and Royal London have therefore collaborated in the production of a suite of material to help identify appropriate solutions for clients, aimed at cutting through jargon and accelerating the adoption of a common set of terms.

As investors have differing priorities and expectations regarding Responsible Investment, this series of videos and supporting guides offers practical support in establishing where client preferences lie. They then provide an overview of the four principal approaches to RI, as defined by Square Mile. These are:

• Ethical exclusions funds which will avoid businesses or sectors that do harm to society or the planet;
• Responsible practices funds which consider the operational practices of the companies they invest in, while encouraging them to improve their environmental and social performance;
• Sustainable solutions funds which actively seek to invest in companies that provide solutions to social and environmental challenges and believe in the long-term financial benefits of doing so; and
• Impact investing funds which aim to make a wider measurable positive social and environmental impact, as well as meet financial objectives.

This suite of material, which also describes how the differing approaches to Responsible Investment are put to work across Royal London’s fund range, will be shared with advisers over the coming weeks and is freely accessible via the Royal London website.

Steve Kenny, Chief Distribution Officer at Square Mile, said, "One of Square Mile's guiding principles is to help people to be better informed when making investment decisions. Perhaps nowhere is this more relevant than in making sense of Responsible Investment. Funds which are aimed at making a better planet for all, whilst tackling some of the greatest challenges society has ever faced have become a mainstream investment option. However, we acknowledge that the funds industry has some way to go in establishing a common terminology framework to address any confusion among advisers and their clients.

"Royal London is highly-regarded in the field of Responsible Investment and the clarity it uses around its proposition is widely recognised by advisers. We were therefore delighted to partner with them in the production of these videos and guides to counter any misunderstanding and to encourage greater participation in Responsible Investment solutions."

Ryan Medlock, Senior Investment Development Manager at Royal London, said, “One of the most striking observations is that advice firms are all currently at very different stages in the adoption of Responsible Investment within advice processes. “We’re delighted to collaborate with Square Mile in this area and tap into their unrivalled expertise of both the advised market and Responsible Investment. The material produced will not only support advisers’ understanding of different Responsible Investment approaches, it’ll also help them embed Responsible Investment considerations within existing fund research and due diligence processes to combat the evolving threat of greenwashing.”