Wealth Adviser Newsletter 01.07.22

Shades of green

Reporting platform, Workiva, published a new survey this week and the firm’s Head of Global ESG, Mandi McReynolds, talked to Harriet O’Brien about the results which show that 63 per cent of senior decision makers in the UK feel their organisation is not well prepared to meet ESG reporting mandates and 73 per cent don’t have confidence in the data currently being reported to stakeholders. Conducted in April and May 2022, the study examined 1,300 global organisations’ current processes and confidence in their ESG reporting.
"Stakeholders are calling for more detailed and uniform data related to ESG," says Workiva’s Head of Global ESG Mandi McReynolds. "With the recent Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) directive in Europe, the ESG disclosure rule proposed by the SEC in the US, and the Singapore Exchange’s recommended 27 core ESG metrics, the ESG reporting environment is becoming more complex."
Only 37 per cent of UK respondents said their organisation uses technology and data very well to make decisions on advancing ESG strategy, showing significant scope to improve performance in this area.
Other news this week brought more acquisition stories, following on from last week’s announcement from AssetCo. Neil Moles’ Progeny Group is to acquire The Fry Group, a firm that offers tax, estate and financial planning across four offices in the UK (London; Worthing; Cheltenham; Exeter) and four international offices (United Arab Emirates; Singapore; Hong Kong; Belgium). The acquisition represents Progeny’s first step overseas from its native UK and increases its assets under management to GBP5.5 billion.
In the news this week, we see research from London-based Nickel Digital Asset Management that revealed that 69 per cent of professional investors predict over the next two years that wealth managers will come under growing pressure from their clients to offer advice and investment vehicles focusing on crypto and digital assets. Some 23 per cent expect clients to place considerably more pressure on them to do this.
Those of you who caught my live session on Asset TV this week, will have seen Grayscale’s David LaValle and HANetf’s Andre Voinea defending the crypto sector as it sits in its crypto winter, drawing interesting parallels between cryptocurrencies and oil. "Why are cryptos never allowed to go down?" La Valle asked, while both panellists pointed out that difference in the oil price year on year. Given the Nickel research, some of you might want to catch up on the sector…if you missed the panel, it will be available on catch up soon.
Our In My Opinion this week comes from Luke Hyde-Smith of Waverton who writes that absolute return funds are back in fashion as investors try to shelter from the uncertainty and volatility that has coloured the last six months. He writes: "This is especially true given fixed income has not offered the protection that many investors have hoped, and the traditional 60:40 portfolio has, in performance terms, seen its worst start to a year in a decade."
Beverly Chandler, managing editor, Wealth Adviser
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