Responsible Investment

The numbers are remarkable. Since 2018, according to the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC), Canadian sales of mutual funds and exchange traded funds in the Responsible Investment category (RI) increased by a factor of more than 1700, So it’s not surprising that you’ve heard a lot of talk about it recently. Last November, a panel on the question was organized at the Rendez vous avec l’Autorité, with Guy Cormier, Kim Thomassin and Marie Claude Dumas. As they emphasized, the pandemic played a major role for this trend, with investors becoming aware of the dangers threatening the planet. Faced with the spread of viruses, the exploitation of workers in developing countries, and the perhaps unsurprising disappearance of smog in the planet’s megacities due to public health lockdowns, investors realized it might be appropriate to change their investment strategies and base them on their personal values.

Looking for more information and explanations about investment products, consumers are now asking questions.

That’s when advice from professionals becomes especially valuable, and important.

As demonstrated by the last ÉducÉpargne study on the subject, published in September, investors do not always find answers from their advisors. In fact, 65% of respondents working with a financial advisor or planner indicated that their provider never broached the topic of responsible investments with them. And, among the third of financial professionals who had done so, 17% mentioned the existence of IR without any more explanation. This means that many investors who want to learn about the issue do not get answers from those who should be the best placed to respond.

Professionals must know their clients well and must also be familiar with the products they offer. In this dossier, we are addressing the theme of responsible investment in myriad ways and from less common perspectives. We have interviewed private and institutional managers, as well as female advisors, one of whom is a pioneer in the field, to provide different points of view with regard to responsible investment and diverse information sources. The objective is simple and important for any professional practice: better knowledge leads to better advice.