Jersey has taken a big step forward in sustainable finance, with the addition of a sustainable portfolio range being launched for the offshore market.
The news comes as the Island’s new aggregate washing plant comes on-stream, raising the Island’s green credentials to meet the type of objectives that will be set at the UN’s Climate Change Conference, COP26 at the end of this month.
Tilney Smith & Williamson, (TS&W) the wealth management and professional services group, is to launch the new offshore sustainable portfolio from its Jersey office. While local financial advisers have been promoting sustainable investments to clients on the Island, these diversified discretionary portfolios will have all of their investment decisions made in Jersey. The fund managers will also be able to leverage the track record and experience of Louie French (pictured), TS&W’s UK based sustainable portfolio manager. Mr French runs the Tilney Sustainable Portfolio fund, which recently won Best ESG Strategy at the City of London Wealth Management Awards and the Tilney Sustainable Model Portfolio Service range which has a ten-year track record.
Sustainable investing has grown more sophisticated from the early days of negative screening, whereby investors simply chose not to put their money into companies that for example, were involved in arms manufacturing or tobacco. The TS&W sustainable portfolios invest in companies that are actively leading the way in sustainability and will be available to anyone who wants to save and invest their money in businesses that further sustainable goals. This includes small regular savers, as well as high net worth clients.
Matt Falla, Managing Director at Smith & Williamson International, Jersey said: “This is an incredibly exciting development for us in terms of providing sustainable financial solutions from Jersey. It is something that our industry here is working towards, supporting an environmentally and socially sustainable global economy. By launching and managing this new portfolio service from Jersey, we are making a clear statement about our intentions to do just that.”
To celebrate the launch of the offshore portfolio service in Jersey, TS&W’s Louie French is coming to the Island to share his decade-long experience of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment markets with local investors and advisers.
Mr French said: “I started in sustainable investing when ESG wasn’t a term that was widely recognised, and sustainable portfolios were decidedly niche. The concept of the circular economy is something which is sure to be discussed at COP26, and I’m hoping will also become a mainstream term. I’m delighted to see that Jersey has made a significant step in this direction already with the upgraded recycling facilities at La Collette. I’m looking forward to visiting the AAL Recycling plant* in Jersey, which is the kind of business we would invest in on a larger scale globally. A company that takes waste products and turns them back into useable resources, keeping waste away from landfill and avoiding further depletion of natural resources.”
On Thursday 21st at 3pm, the team will be hosting a webinar with Louie French and Tilney Smith & Williamson’s Investment Strategist, Daniel Casali. To attend the event, register here.
