Secondother InvestBased on environmental, social and corporate sustainability (ESG), it is becoming more and more popular with customers. Many consumers believe that their investment can point the way for change. But this means that other information is more important to your decision than in the past. Customers and financial intermediaries must deal with complex ESG issues.
Chairman of the Board of Directors Jörg Arnold (Jörg Arnold) said that intermediaries are facing an important new task Swiss life in Germany. This also includes the financial sales team Swiss Life Select (formerly AWD). In investigation and practice, the basic interest in sustainability can be determined.
But this does not automatically generate demand: “People will only be interested when they know the expert’s offer,” he said. The task of the sales team is to let customers know how the new product meets their financial needs. “Through this pilot task, the consulting service ensures that elderly care services not only meet people’s personal needs, but also strengthen sustainable development,” he said.
Brokers also provide pilot functions through sustainable investments
Part of the pilot function is that intermediaries only provide quotations to customers who can withstand rigorous scrutiny. This means that financial intermediaries will set standards for product suppliers. “So it’s also about separating wheat from the chaff of sustainable financial products. Arnold said that quality competition is a positive result.
Brokers that do not act on behalf of the provider, such as brokers, independent financial distributors (MLP, Swiss Life Select), have always assumed this role. Recently, however, sustainability has been added to the task of finding the best performance for consumers.
In Arnold’s concept of a fair financial market, low- and middle-income people should also have the opportunity to obtain investment in ecological, social and well-run companies. On this point, he contradicts the opinions of many politicians who have sympathized with the proposal against fees in recent years. In the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, this has even led to the prohibition of commissions and brokerage services for financial product brokerage businesses.
Low-income groups should retain access to counseling
But Arnold said from the standpoint of many financial service providers that providing free advice before the end of the product will benefit families with low incomes. “This also allows low- and middle-income groups to obtain sustainable investment,” Arnold said.
In his view, this shift to sustainability should also be accompanied by a shift to diversity. “Today’s brokerage business is still largely male-dominated,” he said. In order to further expand sustainable investment, other life realities must also be touched. Arnold said: “I believe that the diversity of counseling will benefit people today who may feel under-supported because of their age, gender, origin or sexual orientation.”
The difference in the level of financial investment between men and women (gender pay gap) is a problem that financial distributors must address. But this is not only their job, but also the job of financial service providers. The industry must ensure that the financial intermediary industry is more attractive to previously underrepresented groups. Only if it succeeds, sustainable investment will be accepted by all consumers in the market.
