
Lisa Ashford, Director and CEO of Ethex, comments: “Our research clearly demonstrates that interest in positive investment in the UK is high, with those under 40 particularly engaged. However, there is also much confusion and misunderstanding around investing positively. Providers have a lot of work to do in educating people, as well as meeting the growing demand for positive investment products.“
“The research also demonstrates that although the importance of retail investors is often underestimated when it comes to driving change through positive investment, there is potential for this type of investor to have a much larger impact.
“For this to happen, providers need to open up the echo chamber beyond the relatively elite group they are currently communicating with and produce simpler products that tackle the issues people most care about, whilst providing investors with a financial return.
“With 19.5 million people either already investing positively or interested in doing so there is currently a real gap in the market. The traditional financial sector isn’t currently providing the products to meet the demand for positive investment, which is why more and more people are turning to platforms and providers such as Ethex. We would urge mainstream financial institutions to act now to offer a wider range of simpler positive investment products that more fully meet the needs of what their customers are demanding.
“By doing this we can hope to change positive investment from a minority pursuit to a mainstream one.”